Will a septic tank support a BX2200?

Mark_in_IN · Sep 5, 2001

Re: septic tank

I have a question for the experts here. How do you locate your septic tank? The only thing I know is that it is in the front of the house. & you can crawl under the house & see the pipe leaving the block wall.

mark

StoneHeartFarm · Sep 5, 2001

Re: septic tank

mark

The way I do it is to take a long metal rod and probe in the ground. Find the spot where the pipe leaves the house and follow it with the probe. (Don't tap too hard on the pipe, especially if you have older clay pipe). Follow it long enough and you should find the tank. The sound will change when you leave the pipe and hit the tank. A little probing will outline the tank top.

SHF

Harv · Sep 5, 2001

Re: septic tank

take a long metal rod and probe in the ground

Wow! You must have very different soil than I have at my property. The only way you could sink a probe into my soil would be with a good-sized sledge hammer, and that makes it hard to "feel" the pipe and/or tank until it's too late. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

When I had our tanks cleaned a couple of months ago, I had no idea where the main tank was (another secret my dad took with him to the grave). The septic "specialists" I hired sent a young guy out with some kind of high-tech sonic probe to locate the tank. When the guy called me (remember, I live 120 miles away) to tell me he had located it right outside the large door to the shop (where I store my tractor) and that it was 8 feet deep, I told him that was very unlikely, but who was I to argue with technology? My main concerns were that digging that big of a hole in that location would prevent me from getting my tractor out of the shop that weekend, plus I didn't want to pay them to dig two holes if he was wrong.

As it turned out, when it was time to do the actual work, the old guy who showed up said, "Hey, I remember this place! I helped install it 35 years ago. He then directed the backhoe to a couple of pieces of rebar sticking out of the ground, some 50 feet from the shop. "That's where I remember it", sez he. Turns out he was correct, and the top of the tank was only 4 feet down.

Footnote -- my dad passed away some 12 years ago, and I didn't know anything about septic tanks until a neighbor recently asked when's the last time we had it cleaned out. So it was at least 12 years between cleanings, and fortunately everything was still okay. I now have both tanks marked with T-posts, so I don't tractor over them, plus I now have a detailed photo record of where they are. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

ERNIEB · Sep 5, 2001

Re: Will a septic tank support a BX2200?/READ THIS

snowman, if these are indeed cleanouts, and SHF has introduced some doubt, but if they are.
How often does the leach field need to be cleaned out?
If the system was built correctly, hopefully never. The only way a french drain can clog is by roots, or solids coming from the tank. If you have the solids pumped from the tank every 2 years, and don't plant anything near it that may develop roots that will reach it, ie. trees, shrubs, it should never need to be cleaned.
How do you tell when it needs to be cleaned out?
In most cases the area around your tank will become a stinky swamp/w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif The water will have no where else to go, and will start seeping out of the hole at the top of the tank.
To clean it, they usually use something like a roto router to remove roots, then a vacutron, or something like one, to get the solids out

Ernie

Mike_Dumond · Sep 5, 2001

Re: septic tank

Mark, the easiest way, is to get a long snake and beed it into the line going to the tank. Usually, there are no bends in that pipe. Remember, I said usually. When you get to the tank, the snake should hit the baffle at the inlet. From the lenght of snake inserted, you should be able to estimate how far the tank is from your point of entry. The clean out is usually 2 feet futher.

Keep the greasy side down
Mike

Edited by Mike_Dumond on 09/05/01 10:55 AM (server time).

Mike_Dumond · Sep 5, 2001

Re: septic tank

Oh, and one more thing, if you're having a new system put in, and the contractor wants to put it 4 feet down, have them reconsider. The ideal depth for the leach field is between 2 and 4 feet. Makes your lawn grow real good. Grass just soaks up that moisture. And don't ever think of putting a weeping willow anywhere nearby.

Keep the greasy side down
Mike

Edited by Mike_Dumond on 09/05/01 10:56 AM (server time).

Bird · Sep 5, 2001

Re: septic tank

This is an interesting thread, to say the least. It seems there are almost as many opinions as there are septic system installers. A few years ago, I was in Pennsylvania for 4 months and read stories in the local newspaper about the fact that a rural area in which septic systems were in use had been annexed and taken into the city limits. The city had run a sewer line out there and wanted all the residents to hook onto it (at considerable cost to each resident). The residents objected, so the last I heard, the proposed solution was to allow them to continue using their septic systems, so long as they had them pumped out every two years. The guys who installed my parents' septic system said it should not need anything for at least 7-10 years. I have an aerobic system that purifies the water and then pumps it out on the yard through sprinkler heads, but the first, or pre-treatment, tank is nothing more than a 500 gallon concrete septic tank, and I have a service contract so they send a man out to check everything every 4 months. They said they'd tell me if it ever needs pumping out. It's been over 4 years now and hasn't been pumped out. As for the depth of the tanks, they told me the rule here is a minimum of 6" underground. And I had them put a concrete "collar" with lid on the tank, so there'll be no digging to do when it needs anything.

Bird

TerryinMD · Sep 5, 2001

Re: septic tank

Bird,

The people who live in the Town of Sharpsburg and some of the surrounding subdivisions had to "join" the sewer and water system build by the county. So, if you had a septic system and well, you had to abandon it. Smart!!! About two or three years ago, a "crisis" with funding the sewer and water system materialized. It just so happens that the sewer and water system commission kinda forgot about the fact that their costs increase yearly and did not pass this costs on the consumers. Well, guess what happened. Peoples rates went 200-400% a year. It was a rotten shame. The people who suffered most were the retirees on fixed incomes.

I'll take my well and septic anytime.....

GlueGuy · Sep 5, 2001

Re: Will a septic tank support a BX2200?/READ THIS

Boy, the variability on this issue is all over the map. In talking to the locals, I've heard everything from "every couple of years" to "never", as far as how often to clean out the septic tank. I intend to do it every 5 years (guess I'm about due /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif).

As for the leech field, that should be good for the duration. In San Mateo County, code requires the installation of 2 leech fields with a diverter valve. Supposed to switch leech fields every year. I usually do it in the spring.

The GlueGuy

DocHeb · Sep 5, 2001

Re: Will a septic tank support a BX2200?/READ THIS

My brother-in-law gets his cleaned out every four years. He does it during election years since all the talk reminds him of the septic.

Bird · Sep 5, 2001

Re: Will a septic tank support a BX2200?/READ THIS

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gifYep, GlueGuy, my parents' system had two leech fields, and the instructions were to turn the valve whenever the ground appeared wet on the one being used. Instead of that, I just turned the valve on theirs on the first of each month, so the ground never appeared wet and never had a problem. I never thought about letting it go a year./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

ERNIEB · Sep 5, 2001

Re: Will a septic tank support a BX2200?/READ THIS

GlueGuy, well really it depends upon the size of the tank, and the number of people using it. Here the county issues permits based on approved plans. Interesting to me is the size of the tank is not determined by the number of people in the house, or even the number of bathrooms, but instead the number of bedrooms.
On my system the two loops are bulkheaded. The way it's suppose to work, is that when one field is saturated, water will flow into the second.

Ernie

Tom_Trees · Sep 5, 2001

Re: Will a septic tank support a BX2200?/READ THIS

This has gotten interesting!

Some background on my installation - I've been here for 12 years and just had the tank pumped for the first time at the 10-year point. I built just after the state (or county) switched from perk tests to soil analysis by a soil engineer - and they didn't have enough soil engineers, so my system was speced from the county soil maps.

Most of the lot is heavy clay. I've got three runs of field pipe 70 feet long parallel to the house in this clay, and another three legs the same length routed from a second distribution box out into the woods. Luckily, these three runs are in a large bed of gravel. I've dug holes in the yard after several hours of rain, watched them fill -- and watched them drain by evaporation over the course of days.

The lid on the tank is about 8 inches below current ground level. The contractor figured on two inched of topsoil going in, and I haven't done it yet. (I built this place by borrowing at the limit of my capability to make payments /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif).

As in ErnieB's case, the system was sized based on bedroom count. I'm single and don't entertain much, so it takes a while to go through 1,000 gallons.

From a pricing standpoint, the outfits I called to do the pumping all quoted $90 (and didn't care about the size of the tank) if I uncovered the hatch, and $105 if they had to do the digging.

Terry - thanks for the link; looks like a fair bit of interesting reading.

snowman · Sep 6, 2001

Re: Will a septic tank support a BX2200?/READ THIS

Thanks again - answers alot of questions.

The 3 PVC pipes I have stick up about a foot above the
ground. They look lousy sticking up, and I spray painted
them green to hide them a bit.

I guess that it's safe to cut them down to ground level at
least and put some type of cap on them (the former owner
had put some screens on top with a rubber bank to hold them
on; they've deteriorated since then).

StoneHeartFarm · Sep 6, 2001

Re: Will a septic tank support a BX2200?/READ THIS

Harv,

Yep! We got sand down to about 20-30' /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Hadn't thought about building a system in clay since I never deal with it /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif.

The best thing I've seen done for locating tanks is to draw a detailed map at the time the system went in. You measure off known points that aren't likely to change like the corner of the building. Be sure to list the depth to the tank lid. The map I saw was placed on the back of a picture and hung on the wall so it wouldn't get lost. Even showed where the pipe ran.

ErnieB
Our locals never try to clean leach fields. They just replace them. The current philosophy is if the tank gets pumped and fills back up in a short time (say 1 year), the field needs to be replaced. Which is why the Infiltrator is catching on here since you don't have to replace it, just move it. If your tank is seeping to the surface, you've probably already got some damage to the field since the only reason for seeping is that the leach field is either not working or the outlet line from the tank is plugged. The installers are telling me that the problem is with grease and soap scum which eventually builds up around the outside of the drain lines in the leach field. Once all of the gravel is coated, it prevents water from flowing through and getting to the sand on the outside. Our soil drains real well, so the gravel is basically just a screen to keep the sand from clogging with soap and grease, and isn't extensive enough to allow much evaporation.

You are right about the trees and shrubs. About 15 years ago the county made the switch from dry wells to leach beds. Most of the installers were hot. They said a properly installed dry well would outlast a leach bed everyday since the bottom was too deep for roots to reach. (I think they were full of it since MY trees have roots plenty deep enough to reach a dry well).

GlueGuy
Check with your County Health or Sanitary Dept. Here, the installer told me if the tank is pumped every 5 years I should never have a problem with it. (I take "never" to mean "Not until AFTER the installer is retired, dead or moved from the area /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif).

Tom Trees
Last time we had a tank pumped, it was in the range of $75.00 if we opened up the tank.

SHF

PS, Did I miss something, or was this TWO threads yesterday?

Harv · Sep 6, 2001

Re: Will a septic tank support a BX2200?/READ THIS

$75.00 if we opened up the tank

That's the way to go! Bringing in a backhoe to open ours up brought the price tag into the hundreds, so I went ahead and installed plastic risers (see attached) which are now only a few inches below the surface. In fact, access is so easy at this point that I could inspect them myself if I knew what to look for. Other than crud climbing right up out of the hole, can anybody tell me exactly what visuals indicate when it's time to call in the service?

DocHeb · Sep 6, 2001

Re: Will a septic tank support a BX2200?/READ THIS

<pre>Yep! We got sand down to about 20-30' Hadn't thought about building a system in clay since I never deal with it. </pre>

Septics in clay are no fun, at least not in Washtenaw County, MI. On my property the required 3 foot thick, naturally occuring layer of sand necessary to build a leach field is between 25 and 28 feet down. The county makes us dig down the entire 25 feet, remove the clay, backfill with sand, and they lay the leach field. My builder tells me to count on $1000 for each foot down to the sand layer. Found this out just prior to closing on the property, and went back to the sellers to get $20,000 off the land price.

Mike_Dumond · Sep 6, 2001

Just out of curiosity, if your tractor did fall into a septic system, how long would you wash it before you used it again?

Keep the greasy side down.
Mike

ERNIEB · Sep 6, 2001

Re: Will a septic tank support a BX2200?/READ THIS

the problem is with grease and soap scum
I'll agree with that. I put in a small grease trap for the kitchen sink. For some reason, I don't see this being done very much these days. I clean it out myself, a nasty job/w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif thank goodness it doesn't need it very often.
It's a no no but, I know alot of people who have their washing machine draining right on the ground.
In this area, the standard tank and french drain system is the main type installed. But North of San Antonio is the beganing of the limestone Hill Country and the Edwards aquafer recharge zone. Because of strict regulations, there they are using various types of newer systems. I don't know much about them, but one type is like the one you described. Another uses heating elements and produces a dry material that is......ahh......fertilizer?/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Ernie

Anonymous Poster · Sep 6, 2001

Re: Will a septic tank support a BX2200?/READ THIS

Did you guys/gals hear about the guy who got swallowed up by his cesspool? It killed him. No joke.

http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/04/cesspool.death.ap/index.html

I bet this will discourage you from driving over your septic tank! What a way to go.