Septic Systems - Aerobic vs. Conventional

[jdonovan]

$50k?? :confused2:

Wow, out here in Arizona I was quoted $8k for a standard septic and the engineered Orenco would be $15k. It was double but not 5x higher.

Ya the local counties have gotten so burned, on badly setup alternative systems they have gone overkill in the other direction.

Even conventional systems now require a 200% reserve. i.e. you need to have pre-identified, 3x what you need for a drain field. My new place has a 16,000 sq-ft drain field area platted. Yes, over a third of an acre just for the drain field!

I never heard of a grinder pump. I could see it getting clogged and needing maintenance but it would do a better job decomposing in the septic than regular solid waste would.

Very common, and mandatory when ever the tank is at a higher elevation than the lowest plumbing fixture in the home.

 

[Bigkrank]

I just built another new house last year. The one I built years ago had an aeriation tank, holding tank, upflow filter and leach field, probably cost $20,000 today.

Here the county health dept tells you what you will put in after a site survey when you apply for a building permit. It is take it or leave it or you no build house. Most were expensive, ugly mound systems. They went thru a period when no homes were built in the county unless you could hook to a sewer because the systems they designed were mega dollars. Builders and people protested.

Long story short, my new house directly across the road from the old one has a simple holding tank and a small 3 line leach field, total installed cost $5000. I would have built several years sooner if they would have had common sense designing systems back then.

 

[Whitnel]

I never heard of a grinder pump. I could see it getting clogged and needing maintenance but it would do a better job decomposing in the septic than regular solid waste would.

Yes, a grinder pump will need maintenance over the years. These are usually installed in houses that are lower than the city sewer system. It is the same principle as a sewer pump station. The city sewer drains to a certain area and is then pumped to the sewer plant. The pumps grind up the solids and they are pumped in a force main. A force main is the same pipe material as a water main but it has sewer in it.

 

[Bird]

Grinder pump sometimes better known as a mascerator pump.

 

[dmccarty]

...
"Pumped septic tank, overfull. Solids got on water side & plugged effluent filter. A couple of the inspection pipes have signs of grease in them.
Scum layer = 8" / Sludge layer = 6" There are no vent holes in inspection pipe caps. Will pump tank since it was so full, some carried over to pump st."


What did they mean by, "solids got on water side"?
...

Our tank, and I assume your old one, has two chambers. One chamber is the one connected to the house. EVERYTHING goes into that chamber. The second chamber is for liquid only. The liquid flows from the first chamber into the second chamber. Our second chamber has a filter over the outlet which goes to the septic field.

What is strange is that in NC there has to be a riser on the tank to get into the liquid chamber so the filter can be cleaned. Lazy tank pumpers will only pump the liquid out of the second chamber. The first chamber with the solids is what really needs to be pumped but the state does not require a riser on that chamber. There is an access lid. The first time we had our pumped I knew exactly where the liquid riser was located. I did not know about the second chamber. Thankfully I had an honest septic tank pumper. It took me, him and his helper about 1/2 hour to dig down to the first chamber lid. At least I knew where the other end of the tank was located. Once we got to the tank he put in another riser so this fall, at election time, I can get the scat pumped out easily.

To answer your question, it sounds like your solids chamber filled up and overflowed into the second chamber.

Which is odd.

Did you have a waste disposal in the kitchen sink? They are a very big no no on a septic system.

How many people were in the house?

I think we have a 1,200 gallon tank. which with four people should be pumped every 3 years or so according the NC state recommendations. We installed a septic system for four bedrooms even though we have three. In NC they size, or used to size, by bedrooms with the assumption that each bedroom held two people so or system is designed to handle eight people. We only have four.

Later,
Dan

 

[Pettrix]

To answer your question, it sounds like your solids chamber filled up and overflowed into the second chamber.

Which is odd.

Did you have a waste disposal in the kitchen sink? They are a very big no no on a septic system.

How many people were in the house?

I think we have a 1,200 gallon tank. which with four people should be pumped every 3 years or so according the NC state recommendations. We installed a septic system for four bedrooms even though we have three. In NC they size, or used to size, by bedrooms with the assumption that each bedroom held two people so or system is designed to handle eight people. We only have four.

Later,
Dan

Yes, we had a waste disposal in the kitchen. We used it but as you mentioned, they are frowned upon in septic system use. We had always used one living in the city so it was just common practice. We learned the hard way that septic systems don't like to have food waste going into them.

With our large family (5+), we had a lot of use. It just overworked the septic. Which brings me to the main point. Since we are currently living on a city sewer should we just stay put and forget the whole idea of going back to the country and living on a septic?

Maybe with our large family and the cooking involved, we just are not meant to live in a rural spot on a septic. If a septic can't handle some food waste, along with a family of 5, then maybe our lifestyle is more suited for city sewers.

 

[jdonovan]

Maybe with our large family and the cooking involved, we just are not meant to live in a rural spot on a septic. If a septic can't handle some food waste, along with a family of 5, then maybe our lifestyle is more suited for city sewers.

You just have to pump it MUCH more often... from what you describe above, once a year.

Or put your food waste into a trash can. Or compost it.

We solved our problem by putting a mesh screen on the kitchen drain, all the food particles get caught, and we put it into the trash can.

 

[Pettrix]

I found this device, which claims to help conventional septic tanks from failing:
Septic Tank - Septic System - Septic Tank System

It basically aerates and makes the system aerobic.

I wonder if getting a larger tank (2,000 or even 3,000 gallons) would help my situation?

 

[Bigkrank]

Lived in the country my entire life, had three different style septic systems at 3 houses, 2 built myself. Never a problem cause we always had a dog for a garbage disposal. Or feed the coons in the woods.

Two of them I had unhooked the laundry from the septic after the inspection. Same with the water softener.

 

[jinman]

What did they mean by, "solids got on water side"?

You probably had a two tank system and solids got into the 2nd tank. Maybe a one-tank system with solids getting into the absorbtion field. I think grease is the worst offender. Many people don't have grease traps or think there is anything else to do with grease besides putting it down the drain. I've seen conventional tanks with grease solid for 6" on top of the liquid. The grease chokes the system of oxygen to feed biological activity to break down solids and becomes a solid slab of sticky goo. When the solids and/or grease get into the leach field, there's nothing you can do but dig it up and put in a new field. After running a mobile home park for many years, I can tell you that grease in a septic system is one of the worst things I had to deal with. On my current aerobic system, my wife and I pour off grease and wipe pans with paper towels before washing. Being vigilant about what goes into your septic system is the best practice. There are all types of towels and baby wipes that have no place in a septic system. My rule is, "Don't put anything into the commode unless you've eaten it first." Toilet paper and tissue paper are two exceptions because they are made to easily decompose. Any type of wipe, grease, bleach, laundry soap, or other refuse does not belong in a septic system. City sewers have lots of problems with these things too, but you just never see it because it's somebody else's 'dirty job.'