Septic Tank Maintenance; How Often To Pump ?

Here in PA (atleast my county) it's required to be pumped every 3 years. My house has a 1000 gallon tank with regular style leach field. I'll probably do it every 2 years as even though it's only two of us we are heavy "users" and refuse to go the 1 ply toilet paper route. We do use septic safe paper and if wipes are needed they go in the trash can. I also only do one load of laundry per day if multiple loads are required. No excess grease down the drain and I try an paper towel down pans before hand. I typically use the dish washer (light wash cycle most times) as they use less water than hand washing. Ridex, or the like, once a month.

I have a really nice access port to the tank in my yard (makes me believe it was recently redone), but at this point really don't want to open it up and look down there :ROFLMAO:
 
Also Kleenex is a fibrous product and cannot be easily digested in a septic tank. And be sure that the tank is sealed up well on the surface. You want to keep out oxygen. The digestion process is anaerobic which means no oxygen.
 
OMG ... I wish I had a Septic System!

Your way off on the sewer costs, at least where I live. Its insane!
Even though property taxes are low ... We pay $72 a MONTH = $864 a year for sewer. Its insane the price increases we have been getting for so called system upgrades.

Trust me, your way better off being "off the grid" and wish I was but no other choice.
Well, at least my post will make you feel better!

There are serious cons to septics including the massive upfront (can carried) costs, and all maintenance costs. If it goes sideways, it can be tens of thousand of mandatory dollars to spend. Plus you cannot drive on or use part of your property due to the tanks and drain fields. I've had both and prefer city sewage. My current sewage is under $25 per month.

Back on topic, my last septic was admittedly large for a single guy in a 3000 s/f house. It was pumped when I bought. I had a bad float and when the guy came to fix it (a $200 bill), the tank was not needing to be pumped. I pumped it when I moved 8 years later, and it could have gone longer. Pumping was $1000. So in 8 years I had $1200 in service fees. I feel like I got out as inexpensively as possible, and that still works out to ~$13 per month. But - keep in mind septics sometimes fail, and those failures can be $20,000 due now... They can back up into the house, causing a major mess. They can bust or fail, especially when someone doesn't know they they drive on them. They can clog, which is expensive...

But as a single guy with an average of 1 guest every other day over 8 years, in an admittedly large family sized house, septic was overall in very good condition. Limit paper and feminine products, limit food, limit what you put into it. I also used natural bacteria additives to help eat the contents.
 
My current sewage is under $25 per month.

The city I used to live in, the sewage was $30 a month. Minimum. That's before you used any water. Each 1000 gallons was something like $5 on top of that. And before that, there was the tap fee paid by whomever built your house, of about $12,000.

And then they discovered that their sewer pipes were leaking water in due to years of neglect so they had to jack the rates up even more to come up with the money to repair them.

Nothing wrong with city water and sewer as long as there are competent people managing them. From what I've seen, that isn't a given.
 
Here in the country many cisterns got converted over to cesspools. Basically cemented on the bottom and cement on top. Brick walls. Intake higher than drain, open drain field.

I would say I got at least 2,000 gallon capacity, lasted 40 years and now I need it pumped. How much should I pump out?
 
We have a septic tank with a divider, a distribution tank, and three legs to distribute the fluid. I had the system checked when we built our new home. We’ve been here full time for 6 years. We haven’t pumped it yet. :D
 
Get it pumped. Ask the guy how full of sludge. Depending on what he says then add a year to how long you waited this time. Then maybe at next pump out you add another year.

Once solids go into the leach field you are done.

No grease down the drain. Pour into old can and dump in trash.

Keep in mind in some areas the septic tank requirements may have changed since your septic system was installed. Need your system replaced and you may find they require a more advanced (and expensive) septic septic.
 
What are the odds of this thread popping up! I just had this done last week, it was $432 with tax for a 1000 gallon pump out. I was Informed to do it every 3 to 5 years. The earlier the better for longevity.
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The city I used to live in, the sewage was $30 a month. Minimum. That's before you used any water. Each 1000 gallons was something like $5 on top of that. And before that, there was the tap fee paid by whomever built your house, of about $12,000.

And then they discovered that their sewer pipes were leaking water in due to years of neglect so they had to jack the rates up even more to come up with the money to repair them.

Nothing wrong with city water and sewer as long as there are competent people managing them. From what I've seen, that isn't a given.
Man, you guys got it cheap! At our old house sewer was a flat $75 a month. Got our septic pumped (1000 gallons) and it was $300.
 
Our septic tank was pumped just before moving in to our current house in 2018. I had it pumped again 2 1/2 years later. 1000 gallon tank @ $285. Family of 4. We switched to Scotts toilet paper too. I try not to let much go down through the garbage disposal but the rest of the family thinks it’s a second garbage although I’m constantly reminding them it isn’t. The guy from the septic company also gave me some tips I was never aware of having owned several homes with septic tanks. He said that you really need to watch out as to how much water goes down your drain and in what amount of time. Space out doing laundry. No multiple loads. Do loads over the week and not in one day. Space out showers too. Never drain a hot full bath either. Let it cool and drain it in increments. He said flooding your tank with tons of hot water just stirs up the stuff in it and it can get into your drain field. Obviously that is not good. Plus your drain fields needs time to absorb the water.

We have 2 drain fields I switch back and forth. He said make sure I’m doing that at a minimum of once a year. He actually said 6 months is a good time frame and that’s what I’ve been doing.
 
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Thanks for all of the responses. I am very careful about what goes down the drains including grease and food waste so I think the system is probably in good shape. But I'll probably go ahead and have it done this summer and see what the pumping operator has to say as to how much came out and what the recommended interval is.
 
The company I use charges $225 to pump the septic. We had it done we moved in just to establish the service interval. Being a family of 4 with 3 females that like their long showers and no separate graywater drain, we're pumping it every 3 years. Over the summer, I'm going to be replacing my drain field as it only has a 50 ft field. This house used to be an office building so no showers, washer, etc... just 2 toilets and sinks. We have to meticulously space out our showers and laundry schedule to keep from easily overwhelming that small drain field.
 
It's quite simple, empty it if or when it needs it.
Ours has not been done for several decades.
 
My clothes washer has its own little dry well with a 1/2 a$$ drain into a flowerbed that has worked well for 40 yrs. Washer lint and soap is bad news for cesspools and leaching fields.
 
They charge by the holding capacity of your tank and charge extra if they have to dig the lid(s) up, or if anything takes excessive time.

It cost me $288 to have my 1000 gal tank pumped in Nov 2020. Sadly, it will probably cost ~40% more today given the current economic climate.

I've been trying for every 2yrs, but could still safely go 3-4. According to my water bill, my family of 6 goes through ~4750 gal/month.
 
Here in PA (atleast my county) it's required to be pumped every 3 years. My house has a 1000 gallon tank with regular style leach field. I'll probably do it every 2 years as even though it's only two of us we are heavy "users" and refuse to go the 1 ply toilet paper route. We do use septic safe paper and if wipes are needed they go in the trash can. I also only do one load of laundry per day if multiple loads are required. No excess grease down the drain and I try an paper towel down pans before hand. I typically use the dish washer (light wash cycle most times) as they use less water than hand washing. Ridex, or the like, once a month.

I have a really nice access port to the tank in my yard (makes me believe it was recently redone), but at this point really don't want to open it up and look down there :ROFLMAO:
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.
 
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