54F and partly cloudy @ 09:30, high today of 74F.
Went in and got the board up done on two more windows yesterday. Also stopped on the way in and talked to Mike's neighbor Bill about septic systems.
Earlier this month I got a letter from Summit County Public Health about their new deal on septic. Bill got one too.
Starting about 5 or 6 years (?) ago SCPH started coming out every couple of years and inspecting septic systems for "proper operation". They were out here at least twice, no problems or issues. For this honor, one was presented with a bill ($30 I think) for the "license" (good for two years) to operate an STS.
Now it seems that they've gone to a system where they are no longer doing the inspections themselves, but are having licensed pumper/haulers/septic contractors do the inspections. IOW: the folks that have a invested interest - aka profit motive - will be the ones examining your system and telling you whether or not it's up to snuff ... and whether it needs work done or, heaven forbid, needs replaced.
Absolutely no possibility of unintended consequences there I'm sure ...
Anyways, I called our tank pumper/hauler - who we've been dealing with for 30 or 40 years - to see what they are currently charging to pump the tanks ... and what they get for the fee to do the "inspection".
The call lasted
7 minutes ... a several minutes of which the guy spent away from the phone locating our records. The call did not go well IMO.
The young man first informed me that since we were a long time customer we "qualified for billing". Later in the conversation, he stated that because it had been so long since they had been out, we DIDN'T "qualify for billing". I have no idea what that actually means (have to pay in advance ? at time they do it ? what ?) ... because the conversation didn't last long enough for me to ask.
According to his records, they hadn't been out since 2004 to pump the tanks. That doesn't seem right to me ... but I guess it's possible, time flies. I do remember that the last time they were out, the guy that did the pumping said there wasn't much in the tanks. That was with 4 people living here. Just me and the wife at this point and has been for years.
Basically, I wanted to know what they charged to pump the tanks, and what they charged for the inspection. Found out that it was $75 for the inspection and - I think - around $290 to pump the two tanks.
The reason why I say "I think" is that by that point the conversation had started to go off the rails ... and the guy was starting to talk fast and was getting a little hostile. I was civil and polite ... at least until the very end, and even then ...
The reason for that apparently was I asked him
"How full do the tanks have to be, before they need pumped ?"
Apparently, this is some form of sacrilege against the septic gods.
His reply was that since they hadn't been pumped since 2004, they most assuredly did need pumped.
Well, okay ... that's probably true (OTOH, I've heard of tanks not being pumped for 20 or 30 years and the systems were still working fine)
But how full ? (objective standard)
His reply:
12" (of sludge)
I asked the guy at the septic pumper/hauler:
"Is that 12" of sludge from the bottom of the tank or 12" from the overflow ?"
He said
"The bottom"
(Later I told Bill this and he laughed (Bill was in construction all his life and worked, at times, for various septic contractors before he retired) ... and said "At that rate, you could be pumping them every 6 - 12 months ...")
So I explained to the guy from the pumper/hauler that I was just trying to get a handle what on the LEGAL REQUIREMENTS were, and the costs involved ... to be in compliance.
The letter from Summit County Public Heath lists out what needs to happen every two years on the inspection (check sludge levels, check distribution box, check inspection port, check discharge pipe, evaluate final effluent quality, etc.) ... but they DO NOT mandate a time frame for how often the tanks have to be pumped.
That makes total sense ... since the septic load is going to vary from residence to residence. No way a residence with a family of 6 year-round is going to have the same load as a residence occupied by a retired couple who spend 6 months of the year in Florida.
About this time the guy from the septic pumper/hauler says to me:
"Look, I can't spend an hour on the phone with you going over all this ..."
Hmmm.
So I says:
"Well, I certainly don't want to take up any more of YOUR EXTREMELY VALUABLE time ... perhaps I'll give you guys a call at some point if we decide to use your services ..."
Like I said: I was completely polite and civil throughout the entire conversation ... until the every end, when he informed me that he couldn't spare a couple of minutes to answer a few questions ... from a long-time loyal customer. And even at the end, when I told that I didn't want to take up any more of his time, I expressed it without rancor, in a more or less matter-of-fact way. It wasn't until after I got off the phone and got thinking about it that the
slow burn really started ...
Had I been treated in a manner which indicated that they valued our business, I probably would have gone ahead and just scheduled the pumping and inspection with them. As it stands now, I'll at least be checking with other pumpers/haulers in the area for a price.
On another note, while we were over at Bill's I got to alert Bill and share ol' Seth's mugshot and warn him to be on the look out ...
He shared his photos of two thieves he caught ... in broad daylight - and held at gunpoint with a 12 gauge pump until the police arrived - that were trying to rip his neighbor off. The clincher was that they tried lying to the officer that responded to the call ... and at that point the officer said
"Ok, you're going to jail ..."
Pretty funny seeing those dudes laying face down on the ground with their hands behind there backs ... :laughing:
Either one of them could have easily been mistaken for Seth (same look, shaved heads, etc.)
