Any plumbers or septic tank experts on board?

[Ugly]

That's true that a correctly designed and installed septic tank should never need to be pumped, however that was the norm before there was an explosion of chemical cleaners in the stores. Now we use stuff that kills the bacteria which in turn ruins the process.

It's cheaper to get it pumped than repaired. I would just be cautious with toilet cleaner and you should be good to go for a number of years between pumps.

On a side note, I have noticed catchy phrases on some of the pumper trucks, my favorite so far is "You float em, we tote em" :)

[runco]

If you have your washing machine draining into the septic, then the bleach kills any bacteria and other critters that much on the chunky stuff.  Even RidX or Buttermilk will not work as soon as the bleach touches it.

 

My dad's house has a 60 year old septic system, and has never been pumped before.  Shhhh! his washing machine drains separately to some other place, but not his septic.

[No_0ne]

I had mine pumped twice in 2 years. Cant afford 300.00 to get rid of crap.

 

Trust me, you can't afford not to ...

[No_0ne]

How often should one have a septic tank pumped out? I am installing one and can't find a clear answer

 

The correct answer is, "it depends".  Lots of factors play into this, how many people live at your house, how much cleaner, bleach, ant-bacterial products, etc. do you pour down your system, how long and what type field lines are installed, how well does your ground "perk", what size tank are you installing, and so on.  As for the "never" answer some folks give, while technically true, it's rarely achievable in practice, due to the number of products flowing into the tanks these days that wreak havoc with the chemical/biological balance necessary to maintain a healthy tank, as well as the proliferation of "supersoft", "superthick" and "superabsorbant" tissues used today, most of which do not degrade nearly as fast as older types.  Mine gets pumped every 8-9 years on average.

[Tncobra]

Mine cloggs just inside the tank all the time. I bought a tank lid that replaced my old square cement lid. This one has access so I can knock loose the clogg and continue on with life in minutes. Edited November 30, 2014 by Tncobra

[Bubba0031]

Related question.  I've lived in my house, with a septic system, for 15 years trouble free.  I basically know where my tank is located and had a large gate installed when I built my fence in the event I ever have to pump it.  What I don't know is exactly where the access door/hatch is or how deep.  In other words how do you know where to dig to avoid to digging up a large area to fine a small hole?  Also does the cost of pumping including exposing the access?

[dralarms]

First time its a crap shoot, unless you have a poker pole, then you can poke down till you hit it, then poke around till you hit the 4 corners.

[Tncobra]

Related question.  I've lived in my house, with a septic system, for 15 years trouble free.  I basically know where my tank is located and had a large gate installed when I built my fence in the event I ever have to pump it.  What I don't know is exactly where the access door/hatch is or how deep.  In other words how do you know where to dig to avoid to digging up a large area to fine a small hole?  Also does the cost of pumping including exposing the access?

The older style I know has a rebar handle on the lid that sends a metal detector wild. 

 

Or just follow the green grass line toward the house, my tank starts where the green grass stopped, 15 ft from the house.

 

The top of the tanks aren't usually all that deep.

[dralarms]

Mine's 2 ft deep.

[gregintenn]

 

On a side note, I have noticed catchy phrases on some of the pumper trucks, my favorite so far is "You float em, we tote em" :)

"A royal flush beats a full house every time"

 

and

 

"Turd Herder"

 

are two of my favorites.

[enfield]

RotoRooter probed the yard with a thin metal rod to find it.  The lid is easy to pick out by depth after the tank is located.

[Ugly]

"The wizard of ooze"

"Your brown is our green" Edited December 1, 2014 by Ugly

[runco]

Kind of off topic, there use to be a service out of Seymour.  Once while at local hamburger grill in Sevierville, I saw one of their trucks pull up, it was lunch. The driver got out and came in for dinner.  He sat right beside me.  Whew, he stunk.  He really did!

[bersaguy]

Kind of off topic, there use to be a service out of Seymour.  Once while at local hamburger grill in Sevierville, I saw one of their trucks pull up, it was lunch. The driver got out and came in for dinner.  He sat right beside me.  Whew, he stunk.  He really did!

And do you think you would have smelled any better if you had his job........ :ugh:   He has probably been doing it so long he is immune to the smell..............jmho

[dralarms]

I've tried everything, ridex, butter milk, rotton milk, porta potty blue junk (my stupid brother in law). Even bought every septic product on the market, even bought one can, 54 bucks and it did nothing. The only thing that has helped me is the extra water flow.

Any one that has girls knows what I mean, I think they wrap the paper around their arms up to their elbows, and that paper does add up.

[R_Bert]

I've tried everything, ridex, butter milk, rotton milk, porta potty blue junk (my stupid brother in law). Even bought every septic product on the market, even bought one can, 54 bucks and it did nothing. The only thing that has helped me is the extra water flow.

Any one that has girls knows what I mean, I think they wrap the paper around their arms up to their elbows, and that paper does add up.

South Americans have that one figured out.....no paper down the pipes.

[Andyshowfan]

Not sure its been covered or not, but you may want to dig up the inlet side of the tank, pull the inspection lid and see if the pipe has shifted/settled/what have you and actually slid the end of the pipe into the baffle. I've seen it happen several times and all it will take is a strong stomach, clothes pin and a hack saw.

[Andyshowfan]

"A royal flush beats a full house every time"

 

and

 

"Turd Herder"

 

are two of my favorites.

I've seen one that has "My wife keeps her nose outta my business"

[Currently]

For those of you that never had a pumped out septic tank ... think about this.

Solids settle on the bottom.
Solids do not dissolve.
Solids come from indigestible food and leavings that rot but don't dissolve.
Solids come from sand and dirt, floor washing and laundry.
Solids come from lint, plastics and whatever else that goes down the drain.
Solids also come from "wet-strength" paper that is formulated in some toilet papers, paper towels and especially sanitary napkins.

So now the bottom of the tank starts filling up ... less and less water with microbes doing the decomposition work.

Eventually, the tank fills and solids start tricking into your leach field.

Your leach field clogs up with silt.

You now are looking at a $15-30k bill to build another leach field IF YOU HAVE ROOM ON YOUR PROPERTY TO DO SO!

So unless someone invents a solution that turns solids to liquids in an environmentally safe fashion, pump that crap out from the bottom of your tank at least every five years.

The more liquid in your tank, the more bacteria will separate solid from liquid keeping a 'happy' functional septic system.

Those that want to continue believing in magic .... carry on.

[Currently]

BTW, that was a very expensive lesson my father learned the hard way.

Six kids, twelve years is all it took.

[Dustbuster]

"The wizard of ooze"

"Your brown is our green"

 Elitte septic "The dudu guru"

[Dustbuster]

Had it pumped, not too bad, slight clog by the entry hole coming in, after it was pumped hit it w the end of a snake and the rest came into the tank.

cost 235.00, weird thing is, the kid was telling me to break off the pipe that goes into the field and replace it w PVC.it comes out of the side of the tank w a 90 degree elbow and drops about 3 feet into the tank and is open underneath.I told him i wouldn't fix it till it was broke. He wasn't trying to sell me anything else but i thought it was a weird suggestion....Thanks for all of the input. PS, the dudu guru says rid ex sucks, use Bio one to replace enzymes....

[dralarms]

You should listen to him.

[wewoapsiak]

PS, the dudu guru says rid ex sucks, use Bio one to replace enzymes....

Was half right according to UMN.

http://septic.umn.edu/factsheets/additives/index.htm

And NDSU
http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extnews/newsrelease/2006/030906/11avoidu.htm