| Click to Post a New Message!
Page | [ 2 ] | | | | | | | |
| | |
|
Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
I'm not sure that anything special has to be done after a tank is pumped. There would be plenty of bacteria left in the tank and the tank would fill with water soon enough. I'd probably would run some water into it because it seems like a good idea and put in some bio-mass. Old hamburg and fish guts are favoured around here. I use a pound of brewer's yeast twice a year. I think that starter additives are available. I've never been certain what yogert is supposed to do. I'm not sure the yogert bacteria act anaerobically to breakdown waste. It might accelerate the process though. If so, then yogert wouldn't do much until waste was already in the tank.
Well, getting ours pumped is a little bigger deal than for most. The tank is a home made double chambered job. Some of the construction uses cement blocks and I guess would be prone to cracking if something drove over it. There are 8' cedar logs on top for protection. If there is a small access cover, the marker is long gone and I have no way to locate a cover. Guess I have to hoe off the soil on top the logs and pull them off the tank, and be very careful with the hoe down-pressure I think. The tank is long and narrow. It’ll take a bit of planning to figure how to dig without driving on the tank and pile the soil so the logs can be pulled off and on and the hole can be back-filled without driving on the leech line. Bunch of constraints here. Wonder how I’m going to do it?
|
|
 Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
All the people that I've had pump my septic(4)say there is no reason to have to put additives in your septic except maybe when it is new. Two of the people install septics also. They say "either pay us now or pay us later". My sister also worked at a contractor that would install septics. She has seen some real strang things. One woman put so much yeast down that it smelled like she was brewing beer. The foam was coming out of her vent pipes. All her soil had to be removed and she got a nice expensive mound system. Sometimes the system is never pumped and fills up with "dirt and roots". Then you have to get down there and shovel it out. No thanks...I'll pump mine.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
I have mine pumped about every 3 years now. This after I had flushing problems and when it was pumped the first time in ten years and they recomended with 5 people in the house and only a 650 gallon holding tank. The minimum tank now for a house in PA is 1000 gallons unless you have multiple bathrooms and a garbage disposal then you might have to go upto 2000 gallons. New septic systems around here weather the ground percs or not is mound type. The biggest reason for pumping mine per the Honey dipper is the the small tank will fill before it can change and can fill your drain field. So it is cheep insurance.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
I see the posts to this topic are from May, but I'll ad my 2 cents. I work at a sewer and water distributorship, so we deal with materials for septic systems every day.
DO have your septic tank pumped every 3-4 years. You don't want solids to gradually build up in the tank to the point that some are flowing out with the liquid to your drainfield or are being pumped into your mound system. Solids getting into the drainfield are the quickest way to cause a system to fail.
DON'T put additives into your septic system. After pumping, there is always enough bacteria left to start another colony. Especially do not put in any additives that are advertised to "clean" your septic tank. I recently got to see firsthand the result of a restaurant's septic system after the owner put in "tank cleaner" additive. He definitely did have a sparkly clean septic tank but unfortunately EVERYTHING went out into his large mound system and the end result was his paying over $15,000 to replace the mound treatment area - in the last place on the property that he might have expanded his business in the future.
DON'T dump oil, paints, or any chemicals into your septic system. In your drainfield, sewer water filters out thru the particles in the soil, seeps away and is cleansed. All the items I mentioned, along with high amounts of food, etc introduced into septic systems, plug up the gaps between the particles in the soil of the drainfield. If that happens your drainfield will fail and you'll end up putting in an expensive replacement drainfield.
End of speech... . Good luck!
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
Ravenn, what is the story on using small amounts of bleach in the laundry? A bad thing?
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
Mark,
Bleach and stuff that is normally used and enters the septic system aren't a problem. Dilution, evaporation, etc help take care of things like that as well. Oil, paints and similar things that will coat the soil in the drainfield - those are the things that shouldn't go down the drain.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
I've heard that bleach isn't good as a water purifier unless the water has little suspended organic material. Chlorine bonds to most organic compounds, including bacteria. Water with a lot of suspended organics takes the chlorine out of solution and has to be filtered before chlorine is effective at killing bacteria. By its nature, there's plenty of suspended organic material in a septic tank. I believe that’s why septic systems have fair tolerance to bleach, although they probably work better if none is used.
The story came to me from a municipal treatment plant worker when I was wondering why time was being taken for shipping mobile water treatment plants to camps near Rwanda during the troubles there. I figured that people were dying in the camps, and planeloads of bleach should have been the emergency response. As is often the case, things aren't as simple as I first see them it seems.
I'm curious about additives. Some are labeled 'safe bacterial additives.' My sense of the products is that they accelerate the decomposition process. A question is whether they're useful and harmless when used as directed, harmful or just not necessary in a properly working system?
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
Bleach will kill bacteria. If you have a lot of suppended solids the bleach will react with all the solids and be ineffective on the bacteria in solution or in the center of the organics. Thus you need to filter the water before treating with chlorine.
This is true for municipal water treatment or pools.
In septic system there is a lot of organics for the bleach to react with. It will kill the baterial on the surface but not in the mass of organic matter in the tank. Once the bleach has broken down some of the organics the bateria will repopulate the tank.
Adding a little soil to the tank will add some of the helpful bacteria and is a lot less costly than the special additives. The water based floor cleaners do this.
As with any soap they act to accelerate baterial action and feed the system. But as in the lake too much of a good think will overpopulate one type of bacteria and slow the break down of other oils, paper and other material.
Peters
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
Septic systems..........the mind boggles.
The proper installation and maintinence of a home septic system is no easy topic.
There are so many factors involved, such as topography, soil types, soil hydrography, and water usage there are few quick, genaric answers.
Oils and solvents down a drain are never a good thing. As far as adding chemicals or bacteria...........
A conventinal septic system that is designed properly will need no addition of bacteria, us humans discharge plenty of the little beasts.
If you have a conventional system, and your pot is plugged and you can't(insert your own word here), then you have a failed system. Failure may be caused by factors that pumping won't cure in the longterm and pumping will become more frequent.
But....here is the big stink (parden my pun). Bacteria discharge into the watershed.
There is good bacteria, and there is bad bacteria, and if if I attempted to sort them out on this forum, "Death by Bordem" would be a good title.
A septic system may appear to the homeowner as working properly, yet bacteria are getting through his system and into the groundwater, or any streams, even sub-surface drainage, Maybe even his own well.
My advice, get in touch with your local extension agent, or soil and water conservation district. (Hank Kimble to all you old "Green Acres" fans), and he can get you the info and expert advice you need.
F.Y.I.
In Indiana alone, the authorities estimate that 40% of private septic systems are substandard, or failing.
When the "powers that be" hear numbers like that, change is emminent.
Consider yourself warned.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
Such puns are mild compared to the ones used by one of our local pumpers. His vehicles are named things like 'Turd Hearse' (there are others). His company motto seems to be 'Nobody sticks their nose in our business' at least that's what's written on the trucks. I suppose he got tired of other people making jokes about him so he just outdid them all.
In terms of regulations, two winters ago local pumpers had to stop spreading during the winter. Sludge is stored and heated until 40' or so tanker trailers are full and then they are driven over 3-hours and dumped into a city system. The cost is about $2000 to have your tank pumped during the winter compared to about $200 during the summer. However, the summer price may be going up since a local field used for spreading can't be used after September.
I understand the need for regulations. I just wish the people who make them would come up with viable solutions as well. In Canada, big cities get billions of government funding for their infrastructure projects. Country people just get more regulations.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Page | [ 2 ] | | | | | | | |
Thread 38916 Filter by Poster:
1 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 3 | 1 |
|
()
Picture of the Day
DennisCTB
Unanswered Questions
Active Subjects
Hot Topics
Featured Suppliers
|
Gas Generator Weather Protecti
05-24-2002, 05:44 
Reply
Digg It 
Del.icio.us 
