Filling septic tank with stone????

[JJT]

Around here a 1000 gallon pumpout is $100. Pay for the pumpout. If your tank is steel, you have the equipment, pull and recycle. If it's concrete, fill it with sand.

 

[Poppa]

Henro,


Get the tank pumped, whitewash the inside of the tank, put in enough shelves to hold eighty cases of tuna fish and know you are ready for when the russkies drop the big one.

no wait...that was a good idea fifty years ago...no, it was never a good idea.


Yeah, fill it with rock or sand or rent it to Bob for his MIL.


Mike

 

[dummy]

Do the right thing, fill it and forget about it. Now, to fill it "properly" (by our standards) requires removal of the in and out plumbing and crushing the lid. Yep, crush it, then add your fill.

 

[Molerj]

If it were me, I would leave it as it is. No harm in that. If you were still using it you wouldn't be worried about it caving in etc. If there is a problem later you can pump it & fill it in. It all comes down to what you are the most cofortable with. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I'm not sure why this is even a question. There is right and wrong. Maybe not in the moral sense, but at least in the eyes of the law, health department, etc. Pumping it out should cost under $200. Filling it with rock, sand, etc is also cheap. You might even just bust the top with the BH and then fill it in with dirt from your property. But one thing I would wonder about if I left it alone is what would happen when I tried to sell the property, (or worse yet, if my widow tried to sell it) and the buyer, the RE agent, or whoever asked about septic on the property. All of a sudden there is an issue that should have been resolved years ago. Resolve it the right way and move on to something else.



<font color="green"> Yeah, fill it with rock or sand or rent it to Bob for his MIL.
</font>

Poppa /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif !!!
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

Pump it out and fill it. That is what we did and never regretted the decision.

 

[gsxr1100]

When mine was filled. They removed as much as they could and then filled it. Leach fields still there.

 

[Henro]

Thanks for the input everyone...I did not mean to divert the original question with the "what to do with the stuff inside" aspect... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

As for the pumping it out issue, that sure would be the best solution. I don't have a way to get a truck closer than about 100 feet, maybe 120'. And the lift from the top of the tank to the point on the ground where the truck would sit would be about 20'. My guess is that would make the total lift from the bottom of the tank to the inlet to the truck maybe 30 feet. Probably just about the limit for a vacuum truck to suck the contents...the truck is certainly a more fun way to get the tank empty!

An alternative might be just to dump stone in the tank, with the top off and let the liquid flow out into the "leech bed." Quotes needed because almost no one around here has a propertly functioning septic system, with the heavy clay soil we have in the area.

So first thing I need to find out is if a truck can pump out the tank given the lift necessary...I'm really not trying to save the money it costs...IF it can be done in the normal manner.

At this point I've concluded just to get it pumped and to fill it. Easiest for me to do that as messing with what is in the tank is not something I like to do. By the way, I get enough of several neighbors "juice" flowing in the ditch behind my pond that it would not bother me to make a "final dump" of mine there, it is just not worth doing if the pumper truck will work.

The letter that came telling me I had 90 days to hook up (after paying $3,000 tap in fee first) specifically said that pumping the septic tank into the public sewer is not permitted. It also said it is state law to empty and fill the tank with stone, but also specifically pointed out that neither the county or township would monitor whether this was done or not... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif I wonder why they state it that way...and not just say it is state law, period?

I appreciate eveyone's thoughts on the matter. Guess now I'll be obligated to post some pictures of the action, at least if the pump truck works out...otherwise I will just keep my activities under wraps...I really hope that pump truck works out! (Been there done that speaking now... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif )

 

[MossRoad]

Henro,
By not knowing if the pumper truck will work, I have to ask... haven't you ever had your septic tank pumped for routine maintenance?

That's why most septic systems fail and entire neighborhoods are forced to hook up to municipal systems. There is a neighborhood NW of here that has more than 50% septic system failure. The neighborhood is only 15 years old. When they ask people about routine maintenance, they say they never had the systems pumped. Our system is really old, but the previous owner and I have always had it pumped every two years. It is only about $100 per 1000 gallons, so it is always under $200 for me. Money well spent.

 

[LarryD]

Aside from the primary waste disposal, wouldn't one want to make some sort drainage out the bottom? The tank will still hold water, just not 1000gl. Might brew some interesting microbes /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif