Septic Tank Driveway

[plowking]

If your leachfield has a distribution box at the end closest to tank,you can run a snake[plumbers flat steel snake] or camera down the line to find it. If it's not to deep,I run a snake and have customer stand near leachfield to hear the vibration of snake bumping in the d box,if it is too deep I can use a metal detector to follow snake. There are locator devices that can be taped to snake or flushed down toilet to find the tank but these costs extra. If you have the tank in the lawn,a H-10 rated tank should be fine, under driveways still require a H-20 rated tank. I had to go out and pump and inspect inside a tank for damage from a logging truck driving over it,luckily he got the edge and not over the covers,the weak spot is at the seams around the openings. I washed out the tank and used a telescopic inspection mirror with a bright light,no cracks were visible. However the d. box is bad and I have to go back and replace the box,jet the lines and add a leachfield vent,new baffle and filter to update the system. The pipe to the leachfield should be schedule SDR 35 or 40,most likely they used schedule 20 which has a too low crush load. plowking

 

[Pirate]

Well, after even more careful consideration, I and others determined it would be a dumb move to put in a new tank. The system works fine and I don't really have room to easily put in another tank.

I attached a picture of the tank exposed. On the left is the garage door. The guy that put that tank in that spot is a moron.

I still plan on putting a slab over it. I have a price of 1100 for mud work. The two sewer covers with flanges from East Jordan Iron Works are 450 each. This price sucks but I looked all day and couldn't find anything cheaper that can support the weight of vehicles.

I need to do this job unfortunately. I think I found the place that made the tank. I was snooping around today and noticed he didn't use wire in his tanks. I'll post a picture when the job is done.

Oh yeah. I'm going to put a one foot high 30" ring made of galvanized around the septic covers. They will hold back the dirt. On top of them I will use temporary wood shoring to hold up the sewer covers until they are dried into the slab. Once dry, I'll remove the wood.

I found both the environmental certificate and permit for the system. Neither of them matches what I have. They put down a system for 3 bedroom when I have a 5 bed/3 bath. I would have preferred larger system. The permit shows the tank behind the middle of the house with the filed where my driveway is now. The environmental certificate says everything is approximate as excavating and tree removal is ongoing. This is one time I wish the permits and such would have done their job. No wonder he was in a hurry to accept my offer and sell me the house. Shame on me for not knowing enough. This is my first (and hopefully last) septic system.

Funny story. They guy that cleaned off my tank today told me he had a job at a local junk yard. They told him to dig a hole that would fit that an old car. They ran the plumbing line into a window vent and buried it. Instant septic tank.

 

[bearmtnmartin]

why don't you just dig around the tank, make the hole longer one the end away from the house and drag it over 10 feet?. I have done that before a few times. It is easy to do and will cost very little. Tanks are put in the spot that makes great sense at the time, but the homeowner often ends up kicking himself later. When I do a design, I tell the homeowner to think about the location, and tell me where they want it. Then its not me looking silly down the road.

 

[CurlyDave]

This is my first (and hopefully last) septic system...

I don't know about that. Rural living is habit forming. I sure hope I never have to live close enough to other houses to have a city sewer.

Funny story. They guy that cleaned off my tank today told me he had a job at a local junk yard. They told him to dig a hole that would fit that an old car. They ran the plumbing line into a window vent and buried it. Instant septic tank.

This is a traditional redneck septic system. No delivery charge -- just tow it right to where you want it.

 

[JB4310]

[QUOTE
This is a traditional redneck septic system. No delivery charge -- just tow it right to where you want it.[/QUOTE]

Oh Man, I wouldn't want to dig that thing up in the future.

Is that true? people are using old cars as a septic tanks

JB.

 

[Wis Bang]

[QUOTE
This is a traditional redneck septic system. No delivery charge -- just tow it right to where you want it.

Oh Man, I wouldn't want to dig that thing up in the future.

Is that true? people are using old cars as a septic tanks

JB.[/QUOTE]

After high school I worked for a local excavator who collected a septic pumper truck in payment for a debt from a septic guy. He used it for side jobs, mostly on weekends, for cash. His yard was on the edge of town and had a sewer manhole where he would dump the loads...

The worst 'red neck' tank we pumped was a small cottage right next to a stream. It was a heating oil tank placed on it's side w/ a 12" square cutout by the outlet. It was packed solid & we had to spray it w/ a garden hose to get the septic soft enough for the Marlow 'Mud Hog' pump to pull it out. I think he charged the guy $50.00...

Last fall I had the tank under the outhouse @ the cabin pumped. The guy charged $250.00 to do a 1000gal tank [legally] & he had a vacuum pump & sucked up about 20 years of 'deposits' in about 15 min...last five of that was making sure he got the corners...

 

[Pirate]

First picture shows the riser rings I put in. They are those bands that connect galvanized pipe. 12" high. The shop cut off the bolt flanges and then tacked them into 30" round circles for me. 20 bucks each.

Second picture is concrete forms in today. We built those plywood forms to place the sewer covers on top of. There will be 4" concrete on top of the two plywood boxes with the sewer covers.