Pumping your own septic... what kind of pump?

[oosik]

AHA - there is another way to interpret what Ultrarunner is saying in his first post. Since the property has been occupied for such a long time - by "grandfather rights" his brother DOES NOT HAVE TO CONNECT TO PUBLIC SEWER.

I was Director of Env Health in Anchorage, Ak and as public sewer expanded from the urban core there were those few properties that were very large and had been occupied for a long time that were not required to connect. The cost to a property for connection to public sewer is, most often, based upon a set rate per square foot of property. If you homesteaded the property and the property was still in its original homestead size( 360 acres) and had your dwelling more than 100 feet from the property line where the sewer ran - you were not required to connect. Sewer assessments on a homestead would have bankrupt The Donald.

Otherwise - on a normal urban lot - you would be required to connect. And, yes, public sewer connection is never cheap.

 

[ultrarunner]

I'm confused. Is it the city or your brother that doesn't want to connect to the sewer? What does the house having been built in 1860 have to do with it?

Didn't you say the city sewer line crosses the property? In most cities, you're required to connect if it's available. Not always cheap though...

It is hard to follow...

The municipal sewer is city owned/operated.

My brother's ranch is county and surrounded on 3 sides by the city... the back section borders a 20,000 acre park.

So he is one last sliver of county and owns to the middle of the county road and the city sewer system runs through his land, his side of the road a couple of thousand feet.

Here is where it gets political...

The park and city want my brothers ranch to be left undeveloped at a minimum and ideally added to the 20,000 acres of park...

The kicker is having a sewer connection opens up the ranch to development and possible city annexation as did happen with the property to the East of him...

The neighboring property fought for 10 years to develop and in the end won... a key factor was having utilities in place including sewer.

Brother has no intention of developing... but his kids might.

He does have city water and electricity... the water was interesting because the pioneer family said they wanted a water tap as a condition of granting and easement... they had no luck with natural gas or sewer.

 

[Ford850]

If it's filled to the top with solids, it will require extra time by a pumper. Around here most are small family owned businesses, but I think they can all reach close to 100' with their hoses. They will pump out, and blast it back into the septic many times, to clean it as best they can. It takes a lot of force to loosen up that hardpack. Since he is likely controlled/enforced by the county, has he contacted them for a list of licensed pumpers?

 

[ultrarunner]

Don't know...

He has had a sit down with the city sewer district and said since he is not in the city... can't hook up even though the line runs on property my brother owns and is about 200' from the house down to the street.

I only got involved when he said he was having trouble with getting a pumper out...

There are several RV dump stations in the area for a fee... and was only a thought that had crossed my mind...

We do know from the previous owner... that nothing has been done since the early 1960's... and that is when the old rotted redwood septic was replaced with concrete...

 

[roadhunter]

It's not for everyone but I skimmed the solids off my tank this summer.

I bought an old country school about 4 years ago and have never had it pumped. I opened it up and found a solid crust on top of solids. I fabricated a tool that looks very similar to a pitchfork bent 90 degrees on the end and was able to lift out pieces of the crust. I also used a piece of pipe with an air line attached to move the pieces I could not reach by bubbling the tank. The bubbling also mixed everything up and oxygenated the liquids in the tank.

I moved a pile of brush up next ot the tank and threw the "crust" into the brush. There were lots of tampons, lots of toilet papers white goo, and even a sock. I just burned it that evening and raked the ashes the next morning.

Honestly if I ever had my tank pumped I would do this again before the pumper got there. Some of the guys I have watched pump tanks don't end up getting all the solids and I felt like I was able to do a better job with this method. From what I have read the oxygen in the water is good for the system as well.

 

[ultrarunner]

I find wearing a good respirator takes care of 99% of the smell...

Still remember having to clean out a home where someone was evicted... they left rotting fish in all the rooms and it was summer... opened the chest freezer and it was slime... power had been off for a couple of weeks.

Never would have made without the respirator... thanks for reminding me.