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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
I guess we are off topic but, the distributors on the aircraft are sealed but are not necessarily plastic.
The best system for wet conditions is a vent which is nanoporous, like goretex. Water tight seal on every thing and then a vent. This is the system we worked with on the GPS systems from Northstar (Marconi).
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
At some risk of getting back to the original topic :
About 6 months ago I had my septic tank replaced. It was a steel tank (I know, steel is a terrible choice for septic tank, no clue why it was used). It was also located under the drive way on the side of the house where heavy things drive all the time. It looked pretty bad when it was dug up. It was rusted through like "tear on the dotted line" along the water line on both sides. The leech line was half plugged, and needed to be "fixed".
Fixing the leech line means cutting into it where it stops being good, zig zagging to one side, and installing a new extension.
I put in a new traffic rated concrete 1,200 gallon, double chamber tank. The traffic rated tank can have a semi drive over it and not have a problem.
The previous owner had it pumped exactly once - right before we bought the house. Our neighbor let his go for 5 years and ended up replacing the whole leech line. Lots of bucks.
Our local pumpers say that the tanks can go 3 or 4 years but only with some risk - better to pump every two years. Experience, talking with neighbors, bears this out. Those that have pumped every two years have had no leech field problems (but the steel tanks are all failing - they were installed in 1988). Those that go 3 or 4 years or longer get bad smells, backed up systems, and have to replace the whole thing.
Pick your pony, take your ride. We decided we would pump every two years whether it needs it or not, so the new tank was installed with a traffic rated cast iron manhole cover on each chamber.
Fitch
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
Kudos' To you, Fitch!!!
Sounds like you are on the right track. There should be manholes on every tank installed these days, so proper maintinence is more apt to be followed without out major excavation scars in your property.
A proper septic system in good working order is a beautifull thing. You still do not know if your leachfield is working like it should be, solids are only half of of the battle. Bactera being the other half, but you have taken a great stride towards a safer enviroment.
For your own good health and piece of mind, you may want to investigate the location of your well in regards to the distance from the leach field. The cheapest route to piece of mind would be to at least have your tap water tested. High levels of E-coli could mean problems.
Best of luck!
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
Tom, while I completely agree with your definition of Paradise, I also think it is like one man's definition of the perfect woman, compared to another.
Your paradise sounds really nice, BUT, as I get older (read "softer" here) I find 'creature comforts' become more important. Accordingly, paddling, hard canoe seats, mosquitos, blackflies, and tents become far less appealing than they once were. My 'canoe' now is 34' long and has 2 super-charged 460 cu. in. Ford 'paddles', they're loud and thirsty, but the generator powered air conditioning, stereo and 12 bottle wine cooler help me get over these little 'imperfections'...
BTW, the stern of the 'canoe' was prominently labelled "Bikini Bait" courtesy of my employees, they have almost as much of a sense of humour as me.
Best of Luck.
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
I still say if your septic system is put in right, you shouldn't have to be pumping it. That's why the health department requires a perc test (here anyway). Unless you flush anything and everything.
Billy
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
Yes Murf and there within lies the problem. I like to sail for the tranquility but don't have time for it most of the time. I have fished creeks with a canoe but the mosquitos and or blackflies eat me alive and always have. I have to settle for my 29' stinkbox that will take me to the islands in a couple of hours rather than a couple of days. Life is such a compromise. Motor, paddle, row or blow???? I was looking at an old blower in dry dock the other day when the boss (wife) and I went walking and was quickly reminded I have one in the barn to finish first....Too many choices, I hate this capitalism!!!
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
Well, my brother-in-law and I went back to the creek, which is one of many around here we still can explore. We intended to line the canoe up a least one rapid that has a couple of 10' - 15' falls to a small lake and then maybe have a go at a second and third portage to other lakes.
We ended up fishing at the bottom of the first rapid and caught a few smallmouth. Couldn't find a portage trail but bush-crashed to the lake and scouted the rapid. On the way back, it was hot and we started swimming in the pools at the bases of the falls--water coming down rock walls into deep pools. Except for the pine and spruce, it was almost like a South Seas movie set.
Never did take the canoe up. It is true that work can compromise paradise, and with more age, paradise equals less work. Dang! Now that I'm thinking about work, I wonder if I really am going to pump the septic tank this summer. I have to dig a pretty big hole to get all the cedar logs off the top of the tank. Maybe in some contexts paradise is a manhole cover but I hope not.
Septic tank construction around here tends to follow Billy's notion that pumping isn't really needed--well maybe every 15-years or so. Except for recent installations, the tanks aren't installed to make pumping easy. The 'don't pump unless it's needed' idea has worked pretty well for many people around here (although I don't know if I'd like to use a dug well for drinking water everywhere) and pumping my tank is going to be a lot of work. Like capitalism, there are just too many choices. Don't know. Maybe like the fish, I'll just keep swimming.
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
Just a piece of advice to those Northerners who do pump. Don't pump late in the season! If you do, your tank may not have enough time to fill and develop a properly working crop of heat generating bacteria and it may freeze. I once spent almost a whole winter using an outhouse due to a tank pumped in late October. The whole leach field ended up frozen!
Suffice it to day, no-one got up in the night!
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
There is a method to our madness up here, ever hear of frozen bananas? Hot seller!
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
What Ed says is good advice. I know it's starting to late for pumping around here. Our neighbours had theirs pumped once just for the heck of it. That was the winter it froze. Once it freezes, that's pretty much it for the winter. Trouble is that frost goes 4’ and more deep here but tanks and leech fields can’t be installed below frost or the system won’t work. During the winter, systems depend on composting heat and warm water input to keep them from freezing. Some people just run their toilets into the septic system and every thing else into gray water pits. We have a pit but run bath water into the septic system and have less worry about it freezing.
Companies can put steam into the tank but not the leech field, but even so a tank will tend to just freeze again. If there's little snow cover in December, some people put bales of straw on the ground over the tank and field. Guess that would work for recently pumped tanks too.
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08-10-2002, 23:02 
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