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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
I used to think to gray water pit was a great concept. Then I read one of the sidebars to this thread wherein it was stated that the soaps and detergents actually work to speed up or enhance the performance of the bacteria. Something to think about.
And Billy’s testimony (above) is interesting: 25 years of trouble free operation with no paper in the system. I’m not sure I could get everyone retrained around my house to do that though.
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
Greece? Just what do the Greek's have to do with this? Or do you meen grease? Sorry about being so hard on spelling, I suck at it too!!!! School is starteing around here right now, and my Stepdaughter sent me an e-mail just moments ago after she found out her Drama Club is doing a play called.....you guessed it......"Greece"..... Also alerting me to the fact that I was no longer considered to be in the loop was the fact that she felt it nessasary to inform me that it was a play about how a boy and a girl in the late 50's dealt with problems of youth in their time. I guess it's time to break out the old L.P.'s from the shelf and let her know just how "cool" the old man used to be!!
But TomG, after reading a few of your posts on this subject, I do not feel alone anymore, you, and some others have an uncanny knowledge of the workings of septic systems, knowedge that I had no idea excisted outside my realm. It is a comforting thought.
I bet people like us would be a great hit at parties, while most people drone on endlessly about sports and the arts, guys like us would be discussing leachfields, paremeter drains, and other truely fascinateing subjects. It is guys like us who change the world!!
Rock on!!!!!
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
I guess after all these posts, on topic and off (mea culpa), the whole thing boils down to one of two famous movie quotes, the first being Clint Eastwood's 'Dirty Harry'... "Feeling lucky, punk?" or Matt Groenig's 'Homer Simpson'... "Dohhhhh!!!!!"
For my money, it's an easy choice, my name is Murphy....I pump the tanks out every other year.
Best of luck.
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
Well yeah, I can see myself making city party small-talk about septic system mechanics. I spend most of my life in cities and probably never quite got the small talk quite right. My family were dust bowl farmers forced off the land into L.A.. Some years back I started thinking of myself as an 'educated hick'--explains a lot. Happy to have escaped the city and my small-talk fits better around here.
I'm going to try to dig my big hole and get the tank pumped this month. I'll also try to come up with some way to make it easier to pump. I'd like to think that I'll find an access cover somewhere under the logs. Then I can cut out a section of the logs on top of the tank, put a well half-tile and cover over the hole on top of the logs and put a bunch of blue foam in the tile.
The immediate trouble with doing my big-hole is that I've spent the last two days with a different pumping subject. We had a 4-hector fire near here. Provincial water bombers and fire crew had to be called in. We ended up with close to three miles of 1 1/2 fire hose and four pumps laid. The hose came from my township, the Province and the landowner. As long as you have to have a fire, it's handy that the landowner has a family logging business and can bring their own pumps, dozer and crew.
We got most of the equipment torn down and separated yesterday. Our hose is draped over the maintenance garage. When it dries, we'll probably spend the next two days reorganizing the equipment and re-packing all that dang hose. It has sort of slowed down my septic tank project.
A comment for Mark and Paul about an old thread: Even with foot-valves and strainers on the suction hoses, The Provincial crew dumped their tool boxes on the ground and put the boxes over the ends of their suction hoses to reduce chances of clogging the strainers.
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
You folks do have your share of fires there as well. Over the Forth of July week the smoke was blowing across the lake and covering a huge area around here. Extinguishing one is not an enjoyable task in this heat, but on the good side you didn't have a 3" lay!
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
Cutter: That smoke was from a bunch of fires in Quebec. We got the smoke as well for a couple of days before the wind changed direction. Some of the fires may have been fought entirely by water bomber because ground crews would have to get in by helicopter in many places. The fires did produce a positive news story at least up here. A number of northern communities were ordered ‘to be evacuated.’ In one community, a native leader and volunteers refused evacuation and managed to save their community.
Quite a few fires around here but we're fortunate there haven't been more. We had the first significant rain in about a month a couple days ago. As fires go, ours was a nothing. The only thing that made it significant was that it started close to residences. That also meant it was discovered quickly. We thought it burnt 4 hectors but a GPS survey puts it closer to two. It started in an old barn, jumped a pine tree thicket and burnt closer than 100-yards from a trailer park. It also came within 50 yards of residences across a road.
Actually, the township does have an old 3" pump and some hose. In practice, if you can't carry a pump on your back, you can't get it in service fast enough to much good. Most places, a vehicle can't necessarily drive to a water source. However, the 3" pump might have done us some good. We had the fire controlled in about four hours, but we were still pumping water on the barn foundation a day later. Probably would have taken two people to hold the hose down though. We're lucky it wasn't another larger barn that is packed to the rafters with logs. We'd probably still be pumping water on it.
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
The standard around here is a 3" lay for a supply line if you have a hydrant or pond nearby to pump from. You would have to lay two 2.5" to equal the volume you can push through the 3", but I know that you are more knowledgeable than most people regarding this stuff. We normally have a large electric hose reel on our pumpers and carry "rubber" booster hose that can be easily retrieved. It is handy for quick attack, especially upstairs in a building. Hook them together for use on a brush fire.
I helped convert and old USMC 4x into a brush truck when I belonged to a nearby township fire dept. We converted 6v to 12v and removed the snorkel and waterproof distributor replacing them with new factory parts from an old Chrysler/Dodge dealer in town that still had parts on the shelf. We then painted it with a reddish-orange enamel donated by a local fruit farm that has since gone bankrupt. About fifteen years ago, some firemen got together and painted it red, even sprung for some gold leaf for the old girl. We had mounted a 100gal tank and small HP gasoline pump along with plenty of HP hose on a big reel. Along the gunnels, we mounted three stainless steel Indian tanks per side. When the truck can go no further, you mount up with the tank.
We have great mutual aid for the rural areas now. Used to be we had one old water tanker for the entire town, which includes five fire companies. I can remember being in a working fire and the portable pond constantly running dry. You would try and fill the pumper tank as you drafted from the pond so when you ran out of pond water, you could take care of the men close to the fire until the next town made it in with their tanker. Now pretty much everyone has a tanker along with at least two 1000 gallon pumper/tankers. Not to mention the water systems have reached more rural areas making the trips to the hydrant shorter!
Have moved and joined another company since, but have not been active in the last couple years due to work schedule. I was the sec't for the first fifteen years until one of the new young members decided he wanted to run against me in the election. I said "no need son", it's time for a break, you will run unopposed. He lasted a year in that position and didn't bother to show up the last half of his term for the meetings. Next year came our first female firewoman, she ran and won the position. Was there for a couple years and then relieved of her duties, something to do with ethics I believe. When I retire, I'll go back into it full time, I miss it. Never fought a forest fire, but I always did want to do it just once!
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
Cutter: I think the N.A. forestry standard is 1 1/2" pumps. We're converting our hoses to standard forestry quick-connect fittings this summer. The pump/motors are often dropped out of helicopters and carried to the site on peoples’ backs. Something that takes two people to carry doesn't work well if it has to be bush-crashed over rough ground. Sure would be nice to have the flow from a 3" pump though.
We have mutual aid among towns and rural areas around here. Several of the towns have pumpers etc. that respond to fires that are not threatening the forest. Unfortunately, our current Provincial government is 'business oriented' rather than mutual aid oriented. Our township of 250 population and about 650 property tax payers paid the entire bill for our fire because it started most likely by arson on private land. Of course, if we’re weren’t here the fire would have been burning a Provincial paid about a mile away in no time and Crown land a whole lot sooner.
One thing about water bombers is that it takes time for a spotter plane to survey the sight and figure directions and release points. Ground crews have to be pulled out of the site while the bombers work. So, we stood around watching a line of pine trees near a road get more and more smoky, and the water drops weren’t going there. That road was the way back out.
All we could do was work some periphery, and the bush was starting to burn near our staging area. All a matter of timing I guess. The provincial crews were running a hose to the tree line while the bombers worked. We worked toward the hose line with backpack pumps while the bombers left and met the hose crew in the middle. All a matter of timing, but close timing. Fire jumps the road and it gets real hard to drive back out of there, and this wasn't a real forest fire. I’m not sure I’d want to fight a real one.
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
My back couldn't take it anymore, but I would have volunteered for something like that twenty years ago. I always liked being front line and enjoyed entering the buildings in what is now called "initial attack". I suppose it was that adrenaline rush along with the prospect of possibly helping a trapped victim. Once I calmed down [joined at 19] I took pleasure in commanding the scene as company Captain. In our area, we help each other, no questions asked and generally the state picks up the tab for major disasters and the businesses involved will contribute towards the cost of any materials used such as high expansion foam. Once the federal gov't gets involved you lose too much on the tax dollar before it gets to you. I think people helping each other and adhearing to high moral values is what makes a community a good community. Since we are talking about pumps, I believe we are still on topic right??
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Septic Tank Pumping -- Do you need to
Nor my back! Ironically, I pretty much went directly from a chiropractor appointment in town to fighting a fire.
A novel featured an area near here. The author described the people as ‘not so much friendly as willing to offer a hand if asked.’ The author must have spent some time around here. There's so few people that we have to collectively take care of ourselves. There's just not enough wealth to support much of a bureaucracy. Our township Reeve and one Councilor were among the first on the fire scene and spent more time than most actually fighting it. We can't support pure bureaucrats or pure politicians either.
When I get back to my own septic tank pumping, following my neighbour's well, the fire and a few other things. I know that if I mention that I'm starting down at the store everybody will know about it and several people will just sort of show up. I do the same. Pretty good way to live I think.
I suppose if we'd become a news story then politicians from senior governments would have showed up, put on safety boots and hard hats and posed for photo-ops. You can tell people with big pay cheques and nothing real to do because you see bunches of pictures of them in funny hats. However, the funny hats don't make me feel that they're anything like I am. I just wish they'd go flip pancakes somewhere else. Too bad everybody can't live like we do around here I guess. Now I'm really off topic so I'll stop.
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08-14-2002, 09:32 
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