Septic tank question...

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So I live in South Texas, don't know squat about septic tanks. Mine was installed in 1990 and I know it's not one that has a pump and a spray field.

Anyhoo, wifey says her friend in the area says it should be "pumped" occasionally. I've never had that done and we've never had a problem with it. We do use Rid-X about every other month and use TP that decomposes easily.

So, should I get it pumped?

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Pull the hatch and lower a wooden yardstick down there. If the level is on the full mark then time to have it pumped. The full mark will be right under your fingers.
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pump it.

In a perfect world and you put down only degradable stuff no pumping would be okay. However solids accumulates that organisms cannot break down in tank and eventually reaches the exit pipe and will plug your leach field. The leach field is typically a set of pipes with small holes that once plugged cannot be cleaned without ripping out so it requires replacement.
 
This is done generally every 4-6 years in my area. My local company recommends 4 years. That probably covers a family of 3-4 and a 1000+ gall tank. You can find charts on line. With 2 people on a 1,000 gall tank we could go 6 years. Town ordinances may specify a min frequency. A garbage disposal would shorten these frequencies. It all comes down to size of tank and # of people in the household. Concrete septic tanks can suffer structural damage over the years. Mine was probably 40 years old back in 2006 and needed some rebar and concrete repairs along the center wall.
 
Like said, get it pumped. A nice beautiful layer of non digestibles will always be floating on top. If you let this layer get too thick, the outflow will plug and the tank will no longer separate all the goodness. I've been through my share of septic system madness.
 
I've heard some say pump, others say not.

I decided to have mine pumped a couple years ago for a specific reason. This may sound bad, but it is just the truth. My daughter had just reached puberty along with her friends (who spend a lot of time at my house). Many of her friends are city girls who just don't understand that you cannot flush "lady-day" products" into a septic tank. Though my wife and I both explained this reality to my daughter and asked her to have the talk with her friends, I simply did not trust them and I have seen the enormous expense this issue has caused others first hand.

The guy who came and pumped mine said this. If your septic system is cared for properly, you should never need to pump it. That is the way it is designed. You have to keep it "healthy" though. That means nothing in that cannot decompose, and making sure you maintain beneficial bacteria and enzymes. He said that the rid-x and additives really aren't necessary because the bacteria and enzymes occur naturally in our "leavings", food scraps, etc. Some people think your soaps, cleaners and disinfectants will kill off this bacteria. He said that is possible, but only if an enormous amount of those things enter the tank. Even then the tank would have to be completely sterilized by it, otherwise there is enough bacteria for it to recover. If you think about it, you can imagine how hard it would be to intentionally sterilize a septic tank manually, much less accidentally achieve that.

So, because I have a teenage daughter with friends, I, myself, feel much safer paying a little bit to have mine pumped every 3-5 years. It also gives the guy a chance to look in there with a flashlight and do a mini inspection of the tank for me. If I lived alone and knew exactly what was being put in the system, I would probably never do it. JM2C
 
Septic tanks can go a long time without being pumped if you respect their ecosystem. We rarely pumped ours when I was a kid. They depend on bacteria to digest and liquify the waste. To keep your tank and leach field healthy, you have to live a little differently than when you're on city sewer.

Try to minimize the amount of chlorine bleach and harsh disinfectants that go down the drains. When you mop the floors with disinfectant chemicals, throw the mop water outside instead of down the drain.

Never flush Kleenex, paper towels, baby wipes or tampons into a septic tank.

Pour cooking grease into containers and discard in the trash, then wipe greasy pans with a paper towel before washing them in the sink.

You can buy packets of enzymes and bacteria to re-colonize your tank from time to time.

HTH!
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Ours lasted 55 years. The metal tank rusted and collapsed. Was still working. It got pumped 2x.


The difference is you have a cess pool likely not a leach field which can plug with solids once the tank fills to top with sludge.
 
Originally Posted By: sasilverbullet
So I live in South Texas, don't know squat about septic tanks. Mine was installed in 1990 and I know it's not one that has a pump and a spray field.

Anyhoo, wifey says her friend in the area says it should be "pumped" occasionally. I've never had that done and we've never had a problem with it. We do use Rid-X about every other month and use TP that decomposes easily.

So, should I get it pumped?

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Rid X is the equivalent of flushing your money down the toilet and "septic" toilet paper is a marketing scam. Just use your toilet and other facilities as normal and use toilet paper that works best for your backside.

A septic tank is generally designed to hold 2x to 3x the maximum daily flow your system was designed for. This is to allow solids to fall out of suspension and to provide some primary treatment in an anaerobic environment. As it gets filled with solids, its holding capacity diminishes until solids start flowing to your drainfield. If it hasn't been pumped since 1990, you should have it checked out. A maintenance company can measure the level of solids and scum in your tank and if it totals 33% of the tank volume...pump it.

Since you also have a pressure distribution system, you should have a maintenance provider check you pump, floats, pump screen, and flush out your pressure laterals which are almost certainly half full of sludge.

Al of this will cost some money, maybe $1000 for a full maintenance inspection and pump out. But given the cost of a new system (can run as much as $25k for an advanced treatment system). The best analogy I can give for how most people treat their septic system is to compare to a car. Imagine spending $25k on a new car then welding the hood shut and only getting service done when it breaks down on the side of the road.

Systems should be evaluated (not necessarily needing to be pumped this often, depends on a lot of factors)every 3-5 years for standard gravity systems and more often as they get more complicated (some as often as every 6 months).
 
My neighbors septic tank filled to the top after 40 years and overflowed onto my back acreage where I had two years previous planted 40 pine trees....they grew 2-3 feet per year before we discovered the "flood". Now they are 15 years old and 20-25 feet high.....

just wanted to throw a positive in there about septic tanks.
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You don't have to have it pumped until it backs up the pipes and you can't flush the toilet.

Most people like to be ahead of the game.
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My neighbor just replaced his 55 year old system after it failed a sale inspection to the tune of 27K. Give the Honeysuckers a call... It only costs $350 for a cleaning and inspection and worth a little piece of mind IMHO
 
Originally Posted By: BikeWhisperer

Rid X is the equivalent of flushing your money down the toilet and "septic" toilet paper is a marketing scam. Just use your toilet and other facilities as normal and use toilet paper that works best for your backside.


I wish i could convince my Dad of this... He has an Aeration tank. holds, IIRC 1500 gallons, with an air pump/impeller at the bottom, solids filter/build up into "socks" that have to be emptied/swapped out every few years by a local septic service.

it's an Aerobic Single chamber system. yet he insists on dumping a box of rid x down monthly and/or almost immediately after the use of bleach in laundry. he's convinced that a 1/2 cup of bleach is going to kill ALL the bacteria in the tank, but somehow running a box of them IMMEDIATELY afterward, some how THEY will survive...

not to mention, the bacteria in Rid-X are anaerobic, and this is an aerobic system....
 
Here the nanny town tells people when to pump and fines them if they don't. Sweetheart deal with the pumpers. Then they told us if we got town sewers the wells would dry up. I'm glad I live on TOP of the big hill.
 
Originally Posted By: expat
You don't have to have it pumped until it backs up the pipes and you can't flush the toilet.

Most people like to be ahead of the game.
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This is just bad advice and you should ignore. If not pumped and the undisolved solids flow into the leach field you will need a new leach field. Around here pumping is a few hundred dollars, less is you dig where the access cover is. If you have a metal septic tank it will rust at some point and need to be replaced.

The number of years between pumping is really a matter of how many people are living there full time.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: expat
You don't have to have it pumped until it backs up the pipes and you can't flush the toilet.

Most people like to be ahead of the game.
grin.gif



This is just bad advice and you should ignore. If not pumped and the undisolved solids flow into the leach field you will need a new leach field. Around here pumping is a few hundred dollars, less is you dig where the access cover is. If you have a metal septic tank it will rust at some point and need to be replaced.

The number of years between pumping is really a matter of how many people are living there full time.


I think you missed my drift.
 
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Here the nanny town tells people when to pump and fines them if they don't. Sweetheart deal with the pumpers. Then they told us if we got town sewers the wells would dry up. I'm glad I live on TOP of the big hill.



You're drinking from the same water table.....
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