Too wet to pump septic and the rain won't stop!

ruffdog · Sep 24, 2019

I'm a month behind the due date on getting the septic pumped and inspected but it is wet. The truck has to back around the house through the yard to get to the covers. I don't know if those trucks can suck from 150' away where the drive is. The pump guy says the fields are so wet the trucks get stuck where he dumps the load. He has a whole list of people like me that he has to drive across grass. We never got that hot/dry Aug/Sept this year. In fact, we haven't had it for a few years. I'm so tired of mowing.....give me snow! Anyone have similar issues?

4570Man · Sep 24, 2019

Nope, we’re going on a month or so with no rainfall despite it raining well above average the rest of the year. Last year was hot and wet. I maintained every week mowing up until nearly November.

RoyKing · Sep 24, 2019

What do you do to your septic that it needs pumping? I've got 36 years on mine? Just every 6 months I add a pound of copper sulfate to the distribution box to keep the roots out.

ruffdog · Sep 24, 2019

RoyKing said:
What do you do to your septic that it needs pumping? I've got 36 years on mine? Just every 6 months I add a pound of copper sulfate to the distribution box to keep the roots out.

It is mandated by the county to have a licensed pumper to inspect/pump the tanks of all septic owners. Too many mismanaged systems in the past that forced the gov to step in. Have you pulled your cover lately to see how solid your holding tank is?

coobie · Sep 24, 2019

ruffdog said:
I'm a month behind the due date on getting the septic pumped and inspected but it is wet. The truck has to back around the house through the yard to get to the covers. I don't know if those trucks can suck from 150' away where the drive is. The pump guy says the fields are so wet the trucks get stuck where he dumps the load. He has a whole list of people like me that he has to drive across grass. We never got that hot/dry Aug/Sept this year. In fact, we haven't had it for a few years. I'm so tired of mowing.....give me snow! Anyone have similar issues?

We used to use mole matts to cross customers yards with our heavy bucket trucks when it was real wet.Wonder why your septic company does not have them??

RoyKing · Sep 24, 2019

What a good racket for the plumbers, lived in two areas NY and FL and we leave them alone except for maybe some biocide and copper sulfate, most times it roots in the field.

ruffdog · Sep 24, 2019

coobie said:
We used to use mole matts to cross customers yards with our heavy bucket trucks when it was real wet.Wonder why your septic company does not have them??

Many pumpers are switching to the small trucks (<26k lbs) so they can tread lightly. The pumpers around here still use the big 3000-3500 gal tandem axle trucks that are near to 60k lbs. They said the bigger problem is they have no place to dump if the fields are too wet. A few days ago he had both trucks stuck in fields. It sounds like the county sends out multiple 30day warning letters so even if I wait until the ground freezes, it'll get pumped.

ruffdog · Sep 24, 2019

RoyKing said:
What a good racket for the plumbers, lived in two areas NY and FL and we leave them alone except for maybe some biocide and copper sulfate, most times it roots in the field.

I think it is mandated by the state that whenever a house is sold, it has to pass a septic pump/inspection. If the tank was full and it was sending solids to the field, the sale may be null/void.

ruffdog · Sep 24, 2019

Nitrates in some areas are quite high so I think the state is concerned about future drinking water. One way to ensure that is control septic system maintenance.

Rock County Wisconsin - Septic