What is that smell yuck. I hate this job.

[JDL538]

I have to say this. I have a 1000 gal. septic tank with about 6 or 700 ft. of half barrel leach lines we throw everything down it plus all leftovers get ground up in our disposal.

I have never used anything to break it down.
I check it every couple of years it is clear all the way to the bottom for the last 16 years.
Only 3 live here now, but for 10 of those years we had 5.

 

[dex3361]

I have to say this. I have a 1000 gal. septic tank with about 6 or 700 ft. of half barrel leach lines we throw everything down it plus all leftovers get ground up in our disposal.

I have never used anything to break it down.
I check it every couple of years it is clear all the way to the bottom for the last 16 years.
Only 3 live here now, but for 10 of those years we had 5.

That is good to know that it held up. 600- 700 feet of the half barrel lines that must have cost a fortune? The ones I put in were 6 foot long and 3 foot wide and cost about $33 a piece and if you went to Lowes they were $65 a piece.

 

[beenthere]

Here, all water from the house goes through the septic.
Don't know how one would separate dish soap, bleach from laundry, laundry soap, hand soap, and grease.....but don't need to know as it goes through.

I don't put down chemicals or solvents, nor run the off-wash from the water softener through the septic.
Don't think ridx is anything special, nor necessary. Have heard the same from others, including septic tank people.

Good job on extending your drain field.

Been at this location with septic and drain field for 40+ years now. Not fun when there are any problems.

 

[JDL538]

Dex, I use the same as You the plastic half barrel, thats what I have always called them.
I think if you have them and good ground they or very hard to beat.

 

[dex3361]

Dex, I use the same as You the plastic half barrel, thats what I have always called them.
I think if you have them and good ground they or very hard to beat.

And they are cheap. Seriously I couldn't find any distribution boxes around here. Sooo I made do with what was available.

 

[Obed]

Randall,
I'm greatly enjoying this post. Extending the system seams like a great idea. Really good job. I think you'll end up with a much better system than if you had hired it out. That place of yours looks like a beautiful piece of property. I'm jealous of your tooth bar. I don't have one and have trouble digging in our hard read clay with my FEL.
Obed

 

[dex3361]

Randall,
I'm greatly enjoying this post. Extending the system seams like a great idea. Really good job. I think you'll end up with a much better system than if you had hired it out. That place of yours looks like a beautiful piece of property. I'm jealous of your tooth bar. I don't have one and have trouble digging in our hard read clay with my FEL.
Obed

Obed I appreciate the complement. It seems to be doing really well,. My wife is catching up on the laundry and giving it a real work out. Time will tell. the way I set it up would allow me to rebuild the original leach be and still have a system in place. The tooth bar was a great tool to add to the bucket and it makes a huge difference in how well it digs and with the tooth bar I don't seen to be stressing the tractor while doing so.
I have followed your house build and it brings back a lot of the things that we had to deal with when we built our house and my son was 11 months old when we moved in. He is now almost 24. You are going to have a beautiful place.

 

[Qapla]

When we moved in a new house (our was manufactured) we were "required" to have the septic tank pumped. Prior to that, the tank had been in for 18 years. The man that came to do the pumping said our tank was in great shape and really did not need pumping, but still had to be done (county required)

The thing is, we NEVER had the washing machine use the tank (have 30 acres - and we are in Fl - porous soil)

He also told me that when the new house came, we should separate the washing machine and tub water and use a gray water tank for that. (we had 6 people in the house)

He explained that it is not just the chemicals that go down the drain, but the amount of water itself. What he told me was that the amount of water that the washer and the tubs/showers put into the system so flush the system that the bacteria never gets a chance to grow properly and break the solids down. He went on to tell me that if a tank is properly used, it will NEVER need pumping, since it will liquefy everything that goes into it - eventually.

I might mention, this man had been pumping septic tanks for more than 50 years. He was well known by all the septic companies in the area as the best and most knowledgeable person in the business. (Yes, he was in his 70's and still pumping tanks)

I followed his advise and we have not had any problem with the tank.

I did have to re-work the drain-filed, as the old pipe was compacted with sand and could no longer pass water. Since putting in the new drainage I have not had any problems. :thumbsup:

 

[dex3361]

When we moved in a new house (our was manufactured) we were "required" to have the septic tank pumped. Prior to that, the tank had been in for 18 years. The man that came to do the pumping said our tank was in great shape and really did not need pumping, but still had to be done (county required)

The thing is, we NEVER had the washing machine use the tank (have 30 acres - and we are in Fl - porous soil)

He also told me that when the new house came, we should separate the washing machine and tub water and use a gray water tank for that. (we had 6 people in the house)

He explained that it is not just the chemicals that go down the drain, but the amount of water itself. What he told me was that the amount of water that the washer and the tubs/showers put into the system so flush the system that the bacteria never gets a chance to grow properly and break the solids down. He went on to tell me that if a tank is properly used, it will NEVER need pumping, since it will liquefy everything that goes into it - eventually.

I might mention, this man had been pumping septic tanks for more than 50 years. He was well known by all the septic companies in the area as the best and most knowledgeable person in the business. (Yes, he was in his 70's and still pumping tanks)

I followed his advise and we have not had any problem with the tank.

I did have to re-work the drain-filed, as the old pipe was compacted with sand and could no longer pass water. Since putting in the new drainage I have not had any problems. :thumbsup:

Our County Health Dept. requires everything go into the tank. I really cant complain because the tank was pumped out after almost 20 years and wasn't full of solids it was another issue a few years ago(sheared effluent pipe from the tank to the leach bed). I wanted to install the system right so I would have no issues. I think this will give the system the upgrade that it needs to perk the amount of leachate that we produce. Thanks for the input.

 

[iplumb]

I use Bio Clean in mine. You guys should check into it.:thumbsup: