Had my tank pumped today which is the 2nd time since 2006. In 2006 the concrete baffles/weir were replaced as they had somewhat disintegrated. I only have a hazy recollection of that 2006 repair. It cost $750. And from what I could see when peering into the tank today, they're not there this time either. Can't say I looked for them on the last pump so the baffles could have gone away any time in the past 11 years. 2 of us in the house and nothing but water, liquid soap and poo goes down into the septic. Investopedia spec says 5.9 yr max intervals recommended. System was built or rebuilt in 1979 and never had any other issues in our 26 years here.
The same company is still doing my work so I have to ask if 10 yrs or less was a reasonable life on those baffles? There are a couple hunks of 10-20 lb concrete slabs sitting in the bottom of the tank. They almost look like 1/2 or 1/3 cinder blocks. I can clearly see the influent line pipe and it's just a horizontal pipe with an open end, no Tee, no protection. That's not good. The effluent line does have a PVC Tee, but no concrete baffle around it. My recollection of the 2006 job was seeing a center concrete weir with crumbled concrete and rebar exposed. Yet when discussing it with the service man today, they said a single tank (no split) was the norm back in 1979....and no way was my tank ever anything but a single compartment. If there was an entire concrete center wall at one time, there's no sign of it now. I'm sort of confused. All I saw with a drop light and mirror where the 4 vertical walls of the tank and 2 exposed PVC pipes. No concrete attached to the wall otherwise.
If these guys put in concrete baffles around the 2 pipes last time around how did they anchor them properly to the wall? And if so, that still seems like a lousy design destined to failure if only due their weight and relying on anchors/adhesives. Why not a PVC "box" to act as a baffle? Or can just a PVC "Tee" be an adequate baffle? I spent hours reading on Septic infopedia so I have a decent knowledge how the tank should function. The service guy refused to even get on his knees or look in the tank (he just pumps and tries to sell me an extra $100 in digestive enzymes). So I broke out the lights and extension cords and looked in myself. Seemed to be to be several inches of sludge still left behind along the sides. The guy only used a vacuum hose and no hoe with extension and/or flushing water. I wish I read up on this yesterday. I'd have made the guy a long hoe with a hose to use. Paid $293 for today's pump out. Didn't look like the service guy made any notes or measurements for thickness of the sludge/scum layers. You'd think for $293 you'd get the guy to spend 5 minutes to do routine checks on how the tank is working....before removing all the liquid contents. Once I got the spiel about the $100 in chemicals I was stewing.
On Tuesday they'll send out another rep to look into repairs. So I want to be fully armed with info when they come. My wife swears that last time they did this work from the outside and somehow fit in 2 pre-cast concrete baffles for each opening. I wonder how they'd have gotten them down through the tiny 9" square pumping/inspection ports. I'm assuming the inlet/outlet concrete covers wouldn't be any bigger than the center one.
Any help or comments on baffling would be appreciated. Have a bad feeling $750 won't cover it this time.
The same company is still doing my work so I have to ask if 10 yrs or less was a reasonable life on those baffles? There are a couple hunks of 10-20 lb concrete slabs sitting in the bottom of the tank. They almost look like 1/2 or 1/3 cinder blocks. I can clearly see the influent line pipe and it's just a horizontal pipe with an open end, no Tee, no protection. That's not good. The effluent line does have a PVC Tee, but no concrete baffle around it. My recollection of the 2006 job was seeing a center concrete weir with crumbled concrete and rebar exposed. Yet when discussing it with the service man today, they said a single tank (no split) was the norm back in 1979....and no way was my tank ever anything but a single compartment. If there was an entire concrete center wall at one time, there's no sign of it now. I'm sort of confused. All I saw with a drop light and mirror where the 4 vertical walls of the tank and 2 exposed PVC pipes. No concrete attached to the wall otherwise.
If these guys put in concrete baffles around the 2 pipes last time around how did they anchor them properly to the wall? And if so, that still seems like a lousy design destined to failure if only due their weight and relying on anchors/adhesives. Why not a PVC "box" to act as a baffle? Or can just a PVC "Tee" be an adequate baffle? I spent hours reading on Septic infopedia so I have a decent knowledge how the tank should function. The service guy refused to even get on his knees or look in the tank (he just pumps and tries to sell me an extra $100 in digestive enzymes). So I broke out the lights and extension cords and looked in myself. Seemed to be to be several inches of sludge still left behind along the sides. The guy only used a vacuum hose and no hoe with extension and/or flushing water. I wish I read up on this yesterday. I'd have made the guy a long hoe with a hose to use. Paid $293 for today's pump out. Didn't look like the service guy made any notes or measurements for thickness of the sludge/scum layers. You'd think for $293 you'd get the guy to spend 5 minutes to do routine checks on how the tank is working....before removing all the liquid contents. Once I got the spiel about the $100 in chemicals I was stewing.
On Tuesday they'll send out another rep to look into repairs. So I want to be fully armed with info when they come. My wife swears that last time they did this work from the outside and somehow fit in 2 pre-cast concrete baffles for each opening. I wonder how they'd have gotten them down through the tiny 9" square pumping/inspection ports. I'm assuming the inlet/outlet concrete covers wouldn't be any bigger than the center one.
Any help or comments on baffling would be appreciated. Have a bad feeling $750 won't cover it this time.
