Poop and the Aftermath

My grandfather always said that if you don't learn something every day, you have wasted your day. Since the day he first said that to me, I have tried to learn something new. Some have turned out to be little things, some that I thought were little things have actually been life lessons, some "big things" have proven not to be, and I will never make macaroni and cheese with a tablespoon of dry mustard even if a world-renowned chef says it is delicious.

Until now, I knew that septic tanks were where waste went when living in areas without large sewer systems.  Until I went off to college I lived in a house with a septic tank.  I knew they had to be pumped from time to time, and smelled real bad when opened for pumping, but I never thought that disposing of poop would be an interesting subject. Sure the whole idea of eat-process-dispose-flush-septic/sewer/hole-in-the-ground can be a lesson in creative engineering, and require more physics than I can wrap my head around, but I never thought it would be the subject of a book that I could not put down.

"The Septic System Owner's Manual" is a book about dealing with what you ate yesterday today.  A combination of technical-but- interesting text and illustrations make it a book that has been hard for me to put down.  The book has everything from design to maintenance to information on the new composting toilets.  I have learned how soil types and bacteria play a prominent role in waste disposal.  I have learned about the good and bad, the right and wrong, the icky and not so icky about septic systems.

The author is one of those people who would make a great dinner guest, or be someone to sit next to on a transcontinental flight.   Lloyd Kahn is the Editor-In-Chief of Shelter Publications, writes a very interesting blog, and from his blog and books I have read, knows a lot about a lot of things,  had a great deal of experience in doing many, and is not afraid to try something new. He has written books on building, architecture, health and fitness and many other subjects.  He is a great storyteller, which is essential when writing a book about septic tanks.

And the way the chapters are written, in short, concise chapters, it could rival People Magazine for what to read when.....