Effluent filter for septic tanks and other on-site waste disposal systems

An effluent filter in combination with a pipe T component and an outlet port of a septic tank, said effluent filter including:

• a plurality of stepped filter levels oriented on each of an inlet side and an outlet side of the effluent filter, each of said filter levels having a plurality of slits therein and being oriented at an angle in a range of +45° to −45° with respect to the horizontal plane;
• a vertical boundary separating said inlet side from said outlet side, said vertical boundary being defined by a pair of integral elongated side legs;
• alternating pairs of adjacent said filter levels connected at an outer edge of each of said filter levels by wall members;
• at least one of said wall members having an integral horizontal wiper blade extending outwardly therefrom;
• a vertical filtering wall;
• and
• means for requiring effluent to pass through at least one of said filter levels and said vertical filtering wall and to meander tortuous paths before reaching said outlet port of the septic tank.

A multi-pass effluent filter in combination with a septic system having a septic tank having an outlet opening in a sidewall thereof, a pipe T component having an outlet port in sealed communication with a drainage pipe extending through said outlet opening of the septic tank, and a length of pipe in sealed communication with and extending vertically downwardly from said pipe T Component, the multi-pass effluent filter comprising:

• a generally cylindrically silhouetted effluent filter body member received in said length of pipe and said pipe T component;
• a pair of elongated side legs defining a boundary separating an inlet side from an outlet side of the multi-pass effluent filter;
• an integral vertical wiper blade extending outwardly from each of said elongated side legs and sealingly engaging an inner wall of said length of vertical pipe and an inner wall of said pipe T component;
• a plurality of stepped filter levels on said inlet side and said outlet side, each of said filter levels including a series of generally horizontally-oriented filtering slits, with alternating pairs of said filter levels on said inlet side and said outlet side being connected by wall members provided at an outermost edge of the filter levels;
• and
• an integral horizontal wiper blade extending outwardly from at least one of said wall members and sealingly engaging said inner wall of the length of vertical pipe.

An effluent filter comprising:

• an inlet side including a plurality of stepped inlet side filter levels;
• an outlet side including a plurality of stepped outlet side filter levels;
• each of said stepped inlet side and outlet side filter levels including a plurality of generally horizontally oriented openings;
• a vertical boundary separating said inlet side from said outlet side, said vertical boundary being defined by a pair of integral elongated side legs, and said boundary permitting effluent to pass between said inlet side and said outlet side.

An effluent filter in combination with a septic system having a septic tank having an outlet opening in a sidewall thereof, a pipe T component having an outlet port in sealed communication with a drainage pipe extending through said outlet opening of the septic tank, and a length of pipe in sealed communication with and extending vertically downwardly from said pipe T component, the multi-pass effluent filter comprising:

• a generally cylindrically silhouetted effluent filter body member received in said length of pipe and said pipe T component;
• a pair of elongated side legs defining a boundary separating an inlet side from an outlet side of the multi-pass effluent filter;
• an integral vertical wiper blade extending outwardly from each of said elongated side legs and sealingly engaging an inner wall of said length of vertical pipe and an inner wall of said pipe T component;
• a lowermost first level including a first angled deflector plate extending over substantially the entire outlet side;
• a second level spaced vertically above said first level and including a second angled deflector plate extending over substantially the entire inlet side;
• a first semi-cylindrical wall member extending between said lowermost first level and said second level on the outlet side of the effluent filter at an outermost edge of said first angled deflector plate;
• an integral horizontal wiper blade extending outwardly from said first semi-cylindrical wall member and sealingly engaging said inner wall of the length of vertical pipe;
• and
• a plurality of filter levels on said inlet side and outlet side, each of said filter levels including a series of generally horizontally-oriented filtering slits, with alternating pairs of said filter levels on said inlet side and said outlet side being connected by wall members provided at an outermost edge of the filter levels.