Septic Tank Maint.

SPIKER · Mar 3, 2006

if you have a septic tank you need either a leach field or a cesspool the cess pool is above ground and the water runs out of the septic tank and into the pool for draining, evaporation & seaping into the groudn these have been outlawed in many locations, the leachfield is below ground and has a bunch of perferated pipes which lets the water seep into the ground and is usually constructed with a large bed of gravel for it to seep into/through and this cleans the remanants of water waste and into the ground. it looses some through evaporation too but not much. there is a 3rd system which uses a large pile of sand and sprinkler heads to basically spray it up onto and the sand then cleans it and it evaporates too which is what a lot of NEW homes are required to go to. most of the systems also require a certain amount of airation, some systems depend soley on this and let it go from there but usually are some form of combination of the above.

now the waste still usually has to have a septic tank in pretty much all but the "out house" designs. the tank gets the solid wastes first and this is where it bio-degrades and eventually becomes solid and sinks to the bottom and is much smaller in size but will still fill up eventually... anyhow pumping for 2 people is not as big as deal, a 5 yr schedual is usually more than enough when no garbage disposal and the NON degradable stuff is kept out of it, it is hard to pass a toy dump truck through the system with out it building up /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif lol

also I had to laugh when my old boss who lives at his parrents house and has kids had his pumped and it (the septic pump) clogged up with condoms. he had to clean it out needless to say he wondered HOW these condoms got in there lol teenage kids and all I was rolling practacally... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif anyhow talk about some embearesed kids when he called em out to ask HOW this happened roflmao...

anyhow it was a treat to be witness to this guy was a real hot head anyhwo but when his teen age (I think 14/15 at the time) daughter turned bright red I had to walk away from fear of falling over from laughing...

anyhow I just had to share that to let other know how fun it is having kids.

mark M

Wood_Butcher_Dav · Mar 4, 2006

Well I'm going to disagree. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif ( if you have a septic tank you need either a leach field or a cesspool ) . The household waste systems that have been installed around my area are aerator types. They basically have 4 chambers connected together, first one has a motor with shaft to aerate the sewage, next two separate and let mother nature do it's thing and the last chamber has a sump pump. The discharge usually goes into a french drain, or open ditch. Mine discharges into 100ft. 4in. black plastic drain pipe with the end running towards road ditch. This was/is the only permit and inspection that is required by county for new building outside any city or town limits. The aerator motor has a timer. When they perked my land this was my only option. Other than the electric usage I have no complaints.

Dave

Mike_Lipke · Mar 4, 2006

3 years, 4 years, 5 years...no matter what the interval, the trick is remembering to do it. I am bad at that.
My installer gave me a great hint. He said that it should be pumped every 3 - 4 years so the solids don't end up in the leach fields.
So, he told me every time there is a national election, have it pumped. That is easy for me to do, because with all the B S being slung around, it reminds me to have my tank pumped. In this area, it is about $60. Works out to $15/year.
My pump is sitting on a 16" block to prevent it from pumping out solids. At four years, the solids are about 6-8" deep. 4 years is good timing.
Next election is is 2008, the B S is starting already, but I'll wait til summer of '08 to have it pumped again.

PILOON · Mar 4, 2006

Interesting subject--POOP!
LOL.

In Quebec law says every 2 years for permanant home and 4 yrs for seasonal dwellings.

I have one that is seasonal whereby I cast my own tank complete with baffles etc and a cedar cover, this all as per available government approuved plans. It uses a 'dry well' vs leach field due to the terrain.
Afetr 22 years I decided to pump 'just in case' and found that it was totally normal , little sludge and a healthy top float of about 6" of solids. The pumper marked on the invoice 'callback in 20 yrs'.

The 'secrets' were shower vs bath tub, very low flush commode (we used a trailer unit) never any bleaches as they kill off the enzimes/bacteria that chomp the solids and convert to what they call 'grey water'.

Also one should never add the miracle additives as nature will provide the necessary bacteria due to the nature of the contents.

Some other facts that were presented to us by government specialists.
White TP will disinergrate faster than colored TP.
Use only low phosphate dishwasher detergants.
Unbleached TP is best.
Avoid garberators.
Low flush commodes and shower usage prolong life of system.
Never route sump pumps into system or eavestroughs.(commonly done by city contractors).Same would go for garage drains and basement drains as well.

If you ignore all the above then 2 year pumping would be necessary for sure.

My 2 cents.

LBrown59 · Mar 4, 2006

Next election is is 2008,
the B S is starting already ,
but I'll wait til summer of '08 to have it pumped again.

 Do you suppose there is any way you could have that pumped now so we don't have to listen to it for the next 2 years?

SnoFalls · Mar 4, 2006

each politician would need 3-4 trucks cause they are all so "full of ...."

LBrown59 · Mar 4, 2006

( each politician would need 3-4 trucks cause they are all so "full of ...." )

LOL a Goddy

Mike_Lipke · Mar 4, 2006

"Do you suppose there is any way you could have that pumped now so we don't have to listen to it for the next 2 years? "

You know, if that would work, I'd pay to have it pumped once a month!

midlf · Mar 4, 2006

In WI the pumping mandate is local. It can be county, town or village mandated. In my county it is not mandated by the county. It is mandated by some of the townships in the county. My township does not mandate any pumping schedule. The only state mandate is a pump and inspect before property is sold. Seller has to make any repairs or improvements.

midlf · Mar 4, 2006

Try this website for pumping info.

jwnge · Mar 4, 2006

In my area, we have to pump and have the pumper sign off every 2 years.. In southern part of Wisconsin when we built a new home in 92, we had to put in a 6000 gallon holding tank and have it pumped when full. which was about every month and a half. Our land would not perk for mound or leech type /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gifseptic system. It cost about 75 bucks per pump...

LBrown59 · Mar 4, 2006

My buddy is just breaking ground on a new house and wanted to put one of these in and the
1*county permit guy said they now prefer leach fields if the soil and area will support them.
2*His reasoning being that if the maintenance is not kept up they are worst for the surrounding area because the discharge can go to open ditches.
Dave 
1*2* So we screw it up right from the start cause we're afraid it might not be maintained.
A leach bed is prone to more problems than an aerator with a drain pipe.
Where does the county permit guy think the discharge from a malfunctioning leach bed is going to go?

The only raw sewage problems I've seen involved Leach beds.
I've never seen it happen to an aerator system with just a drain pipe.

LBrown59 · Mar 5, 2006

3*most of the systems also require a certain amount of airation, some systems depend soley on this and let it go from there but usually are some form of combination of the above.

===== 
3*This is sorta backwards: Leach beds don't require Tanks but some Tanks may need a leach field.
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MY FIRST CAR http://chevy.tocmp.com/chevyscrapbook/files/kamp50.jpg
OUR FIRST CAR http://www.hubcapcafe.com/ocs/pages01/chev6003.htm
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LBrown59 · Mar 5, 2006

1*The household waste systems that have been installed around my area are aerator types.
2* The discharge usually goes into a French drain, or open ditch.
3*Mine discharges into 100ft. 4in. black plastic drain pipe with the end running towards the road ditch.
4*his was - is the only permit and inspection that is required by the county for new building outside any city or town limits.
5*When they perked my land this was my only option.
Wood_Butcher_Dav
Silver Member
**************** 
1*Mine is too. These are not designed for a leach bed. In fact a leach bed will defeat the purpose of them.
2*That is where mine discharges and that is where to discharge them ( not into a leach bed) because that is the way they are designed to function correctly.
3*My discharge line goes into the bottom of a road ditch 15 to 20 feet below the road surface. This is another reason not to bury the tank pump out opening. To have buried mine would have required that the hole for the tank would have to have been dug another 2' deeper.
Lowering The tank another 2 feet would have made the end of the discharge pipe 2 foot below the bottom of the ditch it drains in to. We all know a drain pipe for anything has to be above the bottom of the ditch it's draining into not below the bottom of said ditch.
4*As it should be, however a lot of places are screwing up on this by requiring leach beds with aerators thus reintroducing the problems shortcomings and headaches associated with leach fields. Adding a leach bed requirement brings back the very problems the aerators eliminated
5*The purpose of your percolation test was not to determine if a leach bed would be needed with your aerator it was to determine if you could get by with a septic tank instead.
There is no need for a perk test if you're going to install an aerator because there is nothing to perk.
I can't think of a better way to ruin my system than adding a leach bed to it.

~~~~~~~~~

rambler · Mar 5, 2006

Very little is allowed here in Minnesota - perhaps the cold climate, never heard of an airation setup. A drainfield might be allowed, but mostly everything is a mound system. No seperate greywater setup allowed. No cesspool, no french drain type thing. Only done by licenced people, and pumped every 3 years I believe. I have heard of the holding tank, which needs to be pumped when full, but as that is raw sewage it needs to be hauled somewhere & treated, so is a very spendy thing to do.

This is the first thread on septics that was actually full of good advice, generally the question gets answered with use lots of yeast & ridex, etc...... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

--->Paul

Highbeam · Mar 5, 2006

Our state requires primary and secondary treatment for homes. Primary is typically anaerobic decomposition of scum and sludge in the septic tank. Pretty much like all areas described in this thread.

Secondary is aerobic and is done by aerating the septic tank effluent using one of several methods like aerators, sand filters, recirculating gravel filters, mounds, or drainfields. The secondary aeration is most cheaply done in my area through a drainfield (leechbed). The effluent dribles through the non-saturated ground and the air loving bugs eat it up. If your ground is saturated with liquid either from groundwater or backed up effluent then there is no oxygen to provide the secondary treatment and your system will not be providing secondary treatment. Almost all the problems come from the secondary treatment stage filaing since keeping it non-saturated depends on many variables like loading volume, loading strength, drainfield infiltration rate, drainfield aeration, etc that an uninformed homeowner can screw up.

Adding bacteria is not necessary. Doing so would demonstrate that you do not understand the prevelance of bacteria on everything you touch. Ubiquitous is the word.

The final step is disposal. After secondary treatment, it can be dumped on the ground in a ditch or whatever and shouldn't smell or be dangerous. There is the yuck factor and most people, and agencies, do not want to see finished discharge so some sort of underground disposal is almost always required.

The above described process is almost exactly how a large scale sewage treatment plant works too. Using aeration basins and sludge digesters. They often dump into a river.

It may be poop to you but it is my bread and butter. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

PILOON · Mar 5, 2006

Re Pumping:

Last time I had a pumpout done the operator did indeed pump the tank dry.
Disturbing to me was that he then filled the tank with what he claimed was 'my liquids'.
In other words he claims he carts away only the solids and slurry.
Now pumping would have the same effect as running everything thru a blender so when he returns the liquids I would now have a thick water that would then flow into the drainage fields and prematurely cloq my pipes.
Or am I wrong.

Anybody have comments or opinions on this proceedure?

Thanks.

Highbeam · Mar 5, 2006

He should not have done that. You got screwed. He probably had one more pumpout to do that afternoon and was running out of tank space on his truck. You should refill with water to prevent the tank from floating out of the ground in high groundwater locations.

Best thing you could have done was to wait a day or two for the slurry to separate and then use the tank as normal. You were right, if you went inside and did a load of laundry, slurry would have gone out to the drainfield.

That is a horrible thing to do. He should be ashamed.

Av8r3400 · Mar 5, 2006

That strikes me as odd. There is a specific form that is filled out by the liscensed pumper and it is sent to the DNR. I have never had to send anything to the town or county, only the state government. The letter we got when we moved into our last house was from the DNR, not the town or county.

5030 · Mar 5, 2006

Highbeam:

Now I know how you broke your loader......you were lifting a concrete lid off a large septic tank. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I had one break the connections when I lived in Ohio from a dry pump. Concrete tanks make real nice dry land ships.