Repairing a cracked spetic tank

[mjarrels]

Just found out the septic tank (above ground) used as a cistern (spring fed) has a crack in the botton and won't hold enough water to supply the house. Have not looked at it yet. I'm thinking of maybe a can of spray foam, tube of calk or expoxy might fill the crack and at least slow the leak. Changing the 10,000 pound tank isn't a option right now. The other option might be using the old Navy damage control method and drive a wooden plug into it. There is a constant flow of water into it 24/7/365. Just need to keep more water in then what leaks out.

mark

 

[rswyan]

There is a caulk/sealing product called Lexel which you might want to check into .... it can be applied to wet surfaces and it will still seal and cure .... it is extremely sticky - almost like honey but stickier .... and about 2x or 3x as thick ....

Dunno about using it in a potable water situation tho' ....

Lexel - the superior alternative to silicone

Ace Hardware carries it.

 

[RDrancher]

You didn't say, but I'm assuming this is a concrete tank? If so there's a polyurethane injection product I've used for sealing cracked swimming pools and daylight basement walls that works great. It expands to seal cracks and works in the presence of water. Here's a link to the smallest kit. 10 ft. Foundation Crack Repair Kit - Polyurethane Foam - Emecole, Inc.

 

[radioman]

I wouldnt use lexel. its toxic until it fully cures and that takes 3-4 weeks. I'd use a marine type of caulk or use hydraulic cement if your "cistern" is cement. If you can get the water to drain or diverted for 20 mins from the cistern - I'd use the hydraulic cement as it will set in 10 mins or less. By the time you drain it, prepare, mix it it shouldnt take more then 20 mins for whole process.

 

[s219]

Yep, I'd suggest hydraulic cement as well. We used to call it "water plug" cement when I was growing up.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

http://www.thoroproducts.com/pdf_appl/appl_waterplug.pdf

Wear protective gloves. Seriously. The stuff has a pH of about 13.

 

[mjarrels]

Update, checked it out this afternoon. Leak is about the same that it has been for the last twenty years. Didn't realize how dry it really is now with lack of rainfall. Spring and creek are really running low. Input flow is way down and can't keep up with demand. Nothing flows from the overflow pipe, just runs out below overflow pipe. Toilet flushes fine but showers are out of the question. Might have 50 gallons in the cistern at any one time. Praying for rain.
Barely enough water flowing in the creek to water the cattle (about 35 head).

mark

 

[vtsnowedin]

Update, checked it out this afternoon. Leak is about the same that it has been for the last twenty years. Didn't realize how dry it really is now with lack of rainfall. Spring and creek are really running low. Input flow is way down and can't keep up with demand. Nothing flows from the overflow pipe, just runs out below overflow pipe. Toilet flushes fine but showers are out of the question. Might have 50 gallons in the cistern at any one time. Praying for rain.
Barely enough water flowing in the creek to water the cattle (about 35 head).

mark

Been there, done that , a long time ago so my memory is fussy. had to sell about half of the cattle as we couldn't haul enough water to them in milk cans to keep them going and the grass was so starved for water that it didn't grow. The spring that fed the house water got so low that it wouldn't syphon and we had to get reaquanted with the out house built into the end of the garage/carriage/ wood shed. If your taking it from a ten gallon milk can you hauled five miles from the river you learn to learn to use all of it as many times as possible. The water you boiled the corn in (don't remember where the corn came from as ours dried up and amounted to nothing) became the water you washed the dishes in and then was used to flush the john. This was back about 1965 and lasted about three years. At one point they were hauling water from lake Champlain to cow herds fifty miles away to keep them alive.

 

[Aging TOO Fast]

I have not read all the above posts, but if it is concrete (assuming due to the weight)
look into hydraulic or hydrolic (spelling ?) cement/ concrete. at home depot or lowes.
It expands to seal cracks in concrete. also make sure it would be potable safe....

 

[reggiejr]

I repair catch basins all the time using hydraulic cement.
This stuff will set up in a minute or two and will works very well even in water.
Mix small batches at a time and be ready to move quickly because it sets up very fast.
A helper mixing for you would be your best bet in tight spots a gloved hand works best to get it applied then clean it up with a trowel.
P.S. do not get this stuff in your eyes.Don't ask me how i know that
It comes in 5 gallon buckets and a bucket goes a very long way.