OT - Speaking of Septic Systems

Brian G. NY

Well-known Member
How often should a septic tank be pumped?
We have a septic system with a 1250 gallon concrete tank which was installed 17 years ago and I am thinking maybe I should have it pumped out.
I have no drainfield wetspot problems at all.
After the first year, I diverted the "gray water" from the washer, kitchen sink/dishwasher and a slopsink to a stone lined "drywell".
There are only my wife and I living here.
 
I believe I would leave-it-alone. I pumped mine our 22 yrs ago, and it didn't need it. It was put in in 49. A friend of mine pumped septic tanks for a living. He said 99% of the calls were something caught in the elbow coming in or out. Mainly kotex.
 
You ask "How often should a septic tank be pumped?"

Ive heard septic suckers say one should do it like at least yearly (they just may have a vested interest ya think lol???)

Ive heard others say NOT UNLESS THEY ARE CAUSING A PROBLEM

I SAY it sorta depends on the use (how many in family),,,,,,,,how good a drain field you have and how well it perks,,,,,,,,,how much grease n soap (kitchen sink) and how much lint (clothes washer) you out in it

So I say the answer is it DEPENDS and is likely somewhere in the middle of the 2 above extremes, BUT IM NOT A PLUMBER

John T
 
We had ours pumped a couple years ago, and I asked the guy how often we should pump- he said for family with kids, every 5 years, and for just a couple, 8 years or so. Of course, there's probably a little self-interest on his part in that recommendation, and you also have gray water diverted.

But you should do it now, because ours had a deteriorating standpipe (which keeps solids out of the drainfield), which he fixed. The problem is that once you see trouble in the drainfield, its too late, because you can't magically get the solids out- you have to dig a new drainfield. That can be especially troublesome these days, because everything has to be permitted, and the regs are much stricter now. Even if a gravity system would work fine, they'd probably make you put in some kind of mound or pre$$ure $y$tem, if you get my drift.
 
If you lived in this progressive state you wouldn't have to ask that question. It is a law that it has to be pumped every three years.

Had to put in a new system two years ago. The old tank (750 gal.) was left in and a new one !,000 added. I live by myself but I still must have the system pumped every three years.

Now if I can produce 1700 gallons of solid nonbiodegradable solids in three years,I have a bigger problem than the $150+- it costs to have it pumped according to law.
 
We have it pumped once a year. We are one of the last Indy neighborhoods that still have septic.
 
I built my house 45 years ago. After 7 years I had a "Slight" backup..spot of wetness by floor
drain. Septic tank was full. I"ve had it pumped
once a year, ever since..for 39 years. I"ve kept
all of the paperwork-reciepts-for verifacation.
NOW the state of Wisconsin says it wants it
pumped every 3 years, and wants proof..no problem,
but the state charges a FEE, which is really a
TAX! THAT gets me mad !
 
In doubt pump it out and check the condition of the baffles as well. I made the mistake and waited to long. Paid for it one snowy Saturday day back in March of this year. Lucky no damage to the leach field and the cost was only $277.20 with tax. Check with your local business for the cost. The pumper recommended every 8 years as their are only two of us. I say it's cheap insurance considering the cost of replacing the leach field.
 
Find the opening and take a long stick and poke in it. You can feel where the solids are. Once you pump it, you might have to do it regularly due to it not starting to "work" again. I've heard of people living at a place for over 20 years and never pumping theirs. I'm not going to say anything about mine cause we know what happens then.
 
I'm sitting on a $11,000 pile of mound sand, two effluent pumps and a tank. That 150$ every other year for family of 6 is cheap compared to having another system constructed because solids made it over the baffle and into the sand. Every 2-5 years is pretty reasonable guideline in my opinion.
 
You want to pump it just before there is a problem. Once there is a problem, means you let some solids go down the leach lines and smeared them full.

Thing is every household is different, some need it yearly, some can go 30 years.

Solids will build up in a tank, dirt particles, bits of bone, fiber. So on.

Just depends how you use it.

Paul
 
My understanding is that a "healthy tank" will degrade the solids. If you use a lot of cleaning agents, then you will have killed the bacteria that breaks down the solids. Is anyone in the house a neat freak with a spray bottle fetish? If so, you should add the right product to the tank monthly to keep it working properly.
SDE
 
I put in my system back in 1992 or 93 and it has never been touched. I think a lot depends on what all you pout in and how much water you let flow and if you have it balanced as for the bacteria in it as to how long it will work and be just fine
 
Mine was put in when plumbing was put in the house in 1949 and it's never been touched. Ever since I've been a little kid it will back up a couple of times in the spring, for whatever reason, but one of those expanding balloon things on the end of a garden hose, shoved into the cleanout and into the pipe going out of the house clears it out. Jim
 
1500 gallon tank installed with a sand filter when we built in 2000. Decided to have it pumped this winter and really needed it - Course dishwasher and washing machine go to it.

Pumper guy said to call him again in 3 years. Probably "cheap" insurance?
 
Mine went 25 years and I pumped it because I thought it should be done after all that time. Was not yet full. I put RIDEX in about once a year and think that has contributed to the long duty cycle. Cheap insurance, just a few bucks at tje grocery store.
 
I put mine in in 2000, 1200 gallon Never been touched, also put a separate line/drywell in for washer and softner drain, salt and laundry detergent are hard on a septic. I have 3 kids. depends how much you are putting in to the tank
county insisted I needed 5 laterals on my drain field (I used domes). last time I checked at in 2010 the water still has not gone to the 2nd line down the hill.
 
My Aunt had hers pumped recently, She had tree roots growing into the line. Septic Man told her to put in rock salt to keep the roots out and to ad yeast from the grocery to break down the Poo.
 

A septic tank will fill with water within a week or two of installation or pumping, then most solids will degrade as others have said, but it will slowly accumulate at both bottom and top. Some stuff sinks, some floats. The baffles will reach down about a foot and a half, so you are good until you accumulate more than a foot and a half of floating solids. After the solids reach down to the bottom of the outlet baffle they start going under and out into your field and slowly plug it up. Once it is fairly well plugged you will see moisture bleeding out, and your field needs to be replaced. probably ten-twenty thousand depending on the setting. Pumping is very cheap compared to rebuilding for my money. I used to get mine done every three years, but after the kids were gone I let it go nine. I watched as the guy pumped it and we saw that the solids were within an inch of going under the baffle, so now I am on six year cycle. When you get it pumped they don't go down inside and clean it the hose starts sucking air at around six inches so there is still enough bacteria left in there to restart twenty tanks. Go ahead and wait till it fails!!! There are plenty of excavation contractors that are slow and need the business.
 
every 3 to 5 years is good,..it's not the solids you see on top that get ya, it's the stuff that dies and sinks to the bottom that eventually fill up to your outlet and flow out to your leach field and plug up your leach lines,..then ya get to replace them, and that's a mess...
 
(quoted from post at 15:37:09 05/04/13) every 3 to 5 years is good,..it's not the solids you see on top that get ya, it's the stuff that dies and sinks to the bottom that eventually fill up to your outlet and flow out to your leach field and plug up your leach lines,..then ya get to replace them, and that's a mess...

It takes a lot less to fill down to the bottom of the baffle than it does to fill up from the bottom up the outlet.
 
I think I would have it pumped soon, if for no other reason, peace of mind. 17 years is a pretty long time, it doesn"t cost THAT much to have a tank pumped, and then you wouldn"t have to be concerned about it again for a long time.

If you know just where the septic tank is, it will probably save you quite a bit of money if you dig enough to be able to open the lids. Most septic tank pumpers will do the digging, but they sure don"t like it much and charge accordingly.

Most fairly modern tanks have two chambers, with the second chamber designed to catch any overflow of solids from the main chamber, rather than letting the solids pass out of the tank and plug up the drainfield. So you probably need to dig enough to open both large lids, so the pumper can empty both chambers. When I have had my septic tank pumped, usually about every 10 years, there was several feet of ashy looking solids in the main chamber, but almost nothing but liquid in the second chamber.

Have I ever had any problems with my septic tank or drainfield? No, but we do try to not add excessive solids to the tank and do have it pumped every few years.

It is a heck of a lot cheaper to have a septic tank pumped once in awhile than it is to have to replace a drainfield. And with the more recent regulations that have been passed in the 35 years since I put this system in, I might have to do a much more elaborate and expensive system. Those newer systems usually involve pressure mounds, electric pumps and lots more cost. My current system works by gravity, which is free and always there.

I would get the job done ASAP, and hope it is in time. Good luck!
 

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