Dodged a septic bullet today - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

elchivito · #1 03-12-2014, 11:30 PM

Had a virgin septic tank opened and pumped today. Guess how long it lasted before getting it's cherry popped?

pj67coll · #2 03-12-2014, 11:38 PM

All I'm gonna say is that there's a bunch of imagery in their I'd rather not contemplate...

- Peter.

INSIDIOUS · #3 03-12-2014, 11:53 PM

What exactly is a virgin septic tank?

kmaysob · #4 03-13-2014, 02:02 AM

man, i thought you were gonna tell me you had one cave in. i had a sink hole open up in my back yard two years ago. turned out to be an old poop tank.

talking to a neighbor tonight and he was telling me he had one colapse in his front yard. i had noticed the house next door to him had torn his drive way out. as it turns out, he had one colapse too under his driveway. weird to think 3 houses right next to each other had this happen in a two year time period.

cmbdiesel · #5 03-13-2014, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kmaysob

man, i thought you were gonna tell me you had one cave in. i had a sink hole open up in my back yard two years ago. turned out to be an old poop tank.

talking to a neighbor tonight and he was telling me he had one colapse in his front yard. i had noticed the house next door to him had torn his drive way out. as it turns out, he had one colapse too under his driveway. weird to think 3 houses right next to each other had this happen in a two year time period.

Somewhere out there is a contractor with a few extra bucks in his pocket and a shltty conscience...

rs899 · #6 03-13-2014, 07:30 AM

I don't know the answer, but I learned my lesson on letting septic tanks go for years unpumped (11, in my case). I , uh, spent a few weekends improving my drainfield.

There's nothing more remindful of one's own mortality than standing shoulder deep in a huge hole created by my own efforts at my somewhat advanced age..

E150GT · #7 03-13-2014, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rs899

I don't know the answer, but I learned my lesson on letting septic tanks go for years unpumped (11, in my case). I , uh, spent a few weekends improving my drainfield.

There's nothing more remindful of one's own mortality than standing shoulder deep in a huge hole created by my own efforts at my somewhat advanced age..

This happened at work. We didnt have it serviced for 9 years. What a mess that was. Poor service guys. I think we got a large bill for that one.

elchivito · #8 03-13-2014, 09:15 AM

I put this particular tank in in 1988 and it went into service in 1990 when I added on to the old house. It served two bathrooms, a kitchen and laundry room. Somehow I just never got around to pumping it.
Leach lines good, there is almost no clay in our soil, it's all alluvial sand and layers of river cobble, normal clean out and it's good to go. Total cost 400 bucks.
I'm sure not recommending anyone else try this.

Simpler=Better · #9 03-13-2014, 11:35 AM

Get er' pumped, every other year, whether it needs it or not. You can't put a price on having the pipes *not* backup during Thanksgiving/Christmas

barry12345 · #10 03-13-2014, 11:56 AM

Install an output filter. They shut off if trying to process solids. Cheap bed insurance and have proven not troublesome in any way up here in eastern Canada. They are well designed.
Fifty to seventy five dollars for the part.

I think there is no specific cleanout recomendation. Depends on too many variables. But every five years for a start will give some indication of the need to do cycle. The septic guy that cleans your unit out may be the best source of information for your own individual cycle after he cleans it the first time.

Three years is now being recommended locally but on average may be too often. The regulation beds have become very expensive locally. You have to protect them. Any future bed problems and I will avoid the regulatory circus that now exists .

They have gone insane with their power. No common sense at all. Yet common sense when installing one was the most important qualification for all my life. Nobody with a brain wants one that represents a health hazard or does not work properly.

elchivito · #11 03-13-2014, 01:12 PM

The guy who did my pumping was first rate. He recommends 5-8 year pumping intervals in our area. With soil that percs like crazy, no clay and the careful use we always practice there's no way I'm going to pump it every other year or even every 3rd year.

rs899 · #12 03-13-2014, 01:21 PM

Unfortunately, we have a teenager who likes to take hour long showers. Consequently, I dig. If she were a son, he would be digging along with me (!) As you can imagine, I have no neighbors and satellite data isn't as yet instantaneously transmitted to the health dept.

I need to explain a bit. The morons who installed our drainfield put half of the lines under what later became our driveway and those got crushed (thanks General Contractor). So when the tank got backed up ( due to me failing to pump) that killed the other line. So, I installed ( by hand, it sand here) some of those "igloo" type drainfiled reservoirs a couple of years ago, but still not enough to overcome the teenager. So, I just got done adding more, so it's almost up to spec.

SwampYankee · #13 03-13-2014, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elchivito

I put this particular tank in in 1988 and it went into service in 1990 when I added on to the old house. It served two bathrooms, a kitchen and laundry room. Somehow I just never got around to pumping it.
Leach lines good, there is almost no clay in our soil, it's all alluvial sand and layers of river cobble, normal clean out and it's good to go. Total cost 400 bucks.
I'm sure not recommending anyone else try this.

Dang, that's a good run.

Better than this! (Although this is pre-septic tank)