Septic Tank Maintenance; How Often To Pump ?

[Delta]

My Township in Pa. also requires a 3 year max pump out and inspection with proof required. They started that about 10-12 years ago. I have a small 500 gal. tank, easy access lid and get a once a year pump out. Household of two. The cost seems to vary, but it's usually $150. I'm sure it will be higher this year. At the time of the that pumping ordinance, two of the larger unincorporated villages were forced onto new public sewer systems. The largest town is a borough not part of the township. They have their own sewer system. I once lived in another borough for 8 years. That was the only time in my long adult life that I ever paid a sewer bill. By the time I left there, 17+ years ago, the sewer bill had already gone crazy. As I recall, they demanded payment for the entire year in advance in Jan. It used to aggravate me that I paid the same sewer rate as a one person home that a 6 person home paid.

Some years back a local Amish farmer refused to comply with the pumping and the fines increased exponentially. When it got up to something like $120k, a friend of his negotiated on his behalf and got it reduced to something like $80k. Not sure if he paid it, but he must have.

I'm dreading the cost of them coming through with public sewer. There's a 7 acre lot beside me that I know will be eventually sold and broken up when the elderly gentleman passes. At 1/2 acre plots that's 14 houses, or if it's the normal 1/4 acre people get that can be 28. Not looking forward to that mess...

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I'm about to be pumping mine more often. The county had the leech field in the wrong spot. I hit a leech line. Ugh.

3 years seems to be pretty standard up here. The previous owners hadn't had it pumped in 5 years or so. I'll have it pumped soon enough.

 

[zzyzzx]

I'm dreading the cost of them coming through with public sewer. There's a 7 acre lot beside me that I know will be eventually sold and broken up when the elderly gentleman passes. At 1/2 acre plots that's 14 houses, or if it's the normal 1/4 acre people get that can be 28. Not looking forward to that mess...

I would expect lots to be 1/4 acre or less. Emphasis on or less.

 

[zzyzzx]

Can you pump your own tank?

 

[UG_Passat]

I have been in my house almost three years now. It was built in 2018 as a second home but the previous owners were only here a few times. I'm thinking it may be about time to do some maintenance or preventive maintenance on some of the household systems.

The house is 2 bedrooms and the septic tank is 750 gallons. I live alone so there is not a tremendous amount of waste going into the tank. How often should I have the tank pumped out ? The plumbing is working fine with no signs of backup but I'd rather do some P.M. than have an incident.

What you flush down is very important. You can buy those septic treatments that you flush down the toilet to replenish the bacteria.

Anti-bacterial soaps and other harsh cleaners, are a no-no. They kill germs, and germs is what makes a septic system work.

 

[GMBoy]

Built our new home in 2014 with an aerobic septic that has sprinker heads that displace the water (which is treated with septic tablets). Have not had it pumped yet and it is inspected 4x a year. They just inspected it last month and said there is 1" of sludge - they don't recommend pumping until 4", With that I should be good for awhile with it's current use.

 

[Ws6]

Is there a way to determine if you need it done? I ask, because my house was built in 2006. It was a weekend house for a gent and his wife who built it on his 75th birthday. It saw very little actual living in. Darn near everything is new. No wear patterns at all on any of the surfaces, etc. I bought it in 2017, and have lived here alone since then. I obviously don't want to have issues, but I don't want to waste money on PM that's not necessary or beneficial, either.

 

[spasm3]

Is there a way to determine if you need it done? I ask, because my house was built in 2006. It was a weekend house for a gent and his wife who built it on his 75th birthday. It saw very little actual living in. Darn near everything is new. No wear patterns at all on any of the surfaces, etc. I bought it in 2017, and have lived here alone since then. I obviously don't want to have issues, but I don't want to waste money on PM that's not necessary or beneficial, either.

I would have it pumped

 

[Ws6]

I would have it pumped

I think that's sound and plan on it in the next few weeks.

 

[Pablo]

Whatcom County has a "free" home owner training course and certification - which after you pass, you can get a rebate on pumping.

Naturally I found out about this after the $500 pump.

Our house was built in 2014. ~2500 ft sq. 1000 gallon 3-tanks with pumped to mound system. I THINK (no facts) it was pumped at some point before we bought in April 2021. That lack of history bugged me, PLUS there is no information on the system and controls at all. I really hate that. I mean I like to learn, but the previous clowns just treated it with black box ignorance is bliss.

1) Mid last year, the red alarm light started faintly glowing. I could not figure out why. Hired a dude. He could not figure out why.
2) Mid early winter we had huge and I mean even for us HUGE RAINS (look it up) - we were fine - BUT suddenly septic went full tits alarm city. Louder than expected! Turns out enough ground water entry into the final tank to set the alarm...........so I would manually run the pump for longer than the set cycle. It worked, for about a day at a time. Thank the heavens the mound kept up.
3) Decided to have her pumped in March. Called a different dude and his girlie assistant (natch I struck up a conversation with her too. She said "you get used to it"............anyway this team was a veritable fountain o' knowledge. PUMPED all three tanks. The final was pretty good, but still some solids at bottom (not good, glad pumped)
a) He said additives are essentially useless. Adding yeast? Why? What is beer/bread yeast going to do?
b) Man the amount of paper in the primary boggled the mind. I know sometimes I need a clean up in Aisle 2, butt yeah.
c) He showed me (the first dude did too, so I bought the hook) how to pull the plastic cylindrical screen filter (tank 2)
d) filled his truck, the smell was...........magnificent
e) He showed me how to back flush the mound system (cool)
f) after he left, the glowing alarm light went off and stayed off. Alarm test is nominal. System working perfectly

 

[Ws6]

Whatcom County has a "free" home owner training course and certification - which after you pass, you can get a rebate on pumping.

Naturally I found out about this after the $500 pump.

Our house was built in 2014. ~2500 ft sq. 1000 gallon 3-tanks with pumped to mound system. I THINK (no facts) it was pumped at some point before we bought in April 2021. That lack of history bugged me, PLUS there is no information on the system and controls at all. I really hate that. I mean I like to learn, but the previous clowns just treated it with black box ignorance is bliss.

1) Mid last year, the red alarm light started faintly glowing. I could not figure out why. Hired a dude. He could not figure out why.
2) Mid early winter we had huge and I mean even for us HUGE RAINS (look it up) - we were fine - BUT suddenly septic went full tits alarm city. Louder than expected! Turns out enough ground water entry into the final tank to set the alarm...........so I would manually run the pump for longer than the set cycle. It worked, for about a day at a time. Thank the heavens the mound kept up.
3) Decided to have her pumped in March. Called a different dude and his girlie assistant (natch I struck up a conversation with her too. She said "you get used to it"............anyway this team was a veritable fountain o' knowledge. PUMPED all three tanks. The final was pretty good, but still some solids at bottom (not good, glad pumped)
a) He said additives are essentially useless. Adding yeast? Why? What is beer/bread yeast going to do?
b) Man the amount of paper in the primary boggled the mind. I know sometimes I need a clean up in Aisle 2, butt yeah.
c) He showed me (the first dude did too, so I bought the hook) how to pull the plastic cylindrical screen filter (tank 2)
d) filled his truck, the smell was...........magnificent
e) He showed me how to back flush the mound system (cool)
f) after he left, the glowing alarm light went off and stayed off. Alarm test is nominal. System working perfectly

Wait...what? Literally the only thing I have is a white 6" dia pipe capped off sticking about 4-5" above the ground. There are no lights?

 

[Pablo]

Wait...what? Literally the only thing I have is a white 6" dia pipe capped off sticking about 4-5" above the ground. There are no lights?

Because you don't have a pump to mound system. What we have is another layer of complexity and expense.

 

[brianl703]

PLUS there is no information on the system and controls at all

Whatever company originally installed it should have all of the documentation, if it wasn't also required to be filed with the health department.

On mine, all of the documentation is stored inside the control panels.

 

[Pablo]

Whatever company originally installed it should have all of the documentation, if it wasn't also required to be filed with the health department.

On mine, all of the documentation is stored inside the control panels.

Nothing there. Nothing on file other than record of acceptance. No company name anywhere.

 

[brianl703]

Nothing there. Nothing on file other than record of acceptance. No company name anywhere.

No permit was required for the septic system?

Who built the house, would they have a record of it?

EDIT: And since it's a mound system, an engineer probably had to design it. Here, the first step is a "septic certificate" which the engineer signs to show what sort of system the property can accommodate. That has to be filed with the department of health.

EDIT2: And on mine, the electrical contractor that wired it had to get a permit. This is separate from the permit for wiring the house.

 

[Pablo]

No permit was required for the septic system?

Who built the house, would they have a record of it?

EDIT: And since it's a mound system, an engineer probably had to design it. Here, the first step is a "septic certificate" which the engineer signs to show what sort of system the property can accommodate. That has to be filed with the department of health.

EDIT2: And on mine, the electrical contractor that wired it had to get a permit. This is separate from the permit for wiring the house.

Records of permits, sure, but no engineering details from 2013 or so exist. Unincorporated county. I tried all that. For our well, as well.

The builder guy croaked.

 

[doitmyself]

Is there a way to determine if you need it done? I ask, because my house was built in 2006. It was a weekend house for a gent and his wife who built it on his 75th birthday. It saw very little actual living in. Darn near everything is new. No wear patterns at all on any of the surfaces, etc. I bought it in 2017, and have lived here alone since then. I obviously don't want to have issues, but I don't want to waste money on PM that's not necessary or beneficial, either.

I agree that if the past history is unknown, get it pumped. The last time I did ours, I found out that the outlet baffle had detached. Fixed it before any major damage occurred (I hope).

You can buy a tool or make a very cheap one yourself to measure sludge level. Here'e one of many articles: https://www.aero-stream.com/how-to-measure-septic-tank-sludge-depth/

 

[brianl703]

Records of permits, sure, but no engineering details from 2013 or so exist. Unincorporated county. I tried all that. For our well, as well.

The builder guy croaked.

One possibility is that if the lot grading plan is on file for the house..the engineer who did the lot grading plan may be the engineer who did the septic system design, or that engineer may know who did do it.

 

[ecotourist]

Has anyone else noticed how similar this thread is to “when should I change my oil?”

• Change my engine oil every 3,000 miles. Have my tank pumped every year.
• Change my engine oil – say what? Haven’t had my tank pumped, ever.
• If you don’t change your engine oil, your engine will sludge. If you don’t get your tank pumped, your septic field may croak.
• If your engine croaks it’ll cost you big bucks. If your septic system fails it will likely have to be rebuilt entirely, and that will cost you mega bucks (probably $25,000 in my case).
• You have to change your oil filter with every change, just because. My septic tank outlet has a filter that has to be cleaned every 9 months. But it could be replaced every time too.
• I don’t care what the Honda engineers say…. Enough said about that.

I have the smallest tank anyone has mentioned, and possibly the oldest field. My expert says I can wait 5 to 8 years to pump my tank (which cost $532.35 the last time). So I’m going to wait 5 – 8 years.

 

[AZjeff]

Why?

Every one had issues.

One had too much fall in the pipe. No good fix. One was at an old farmhouse that was 2 stacks of large drainage tile piped together and discharged into a downslope field. New system. One was a faulty installation of the pipe from the house to the tank using white schedule 40 that got a low spot. Found and repaired after 13 years of problems when the tank was pumped and failed cert after being sold. At the stage just don't need the hassle & expense.