septic tank question

[RoyKing]

I guess it not worth trying to train them nothing goes in the toilet except tank rated paper, same with excessive bleach down the drain.

 

[millsan1]

Have you considered 45s?

Has OP considered not pooping?

 

[Fallon]

I had a new lid put on at the tank this summer. It has a fitting in it so I can dump the tank from our small travel trailer without opening the whole tank. Septic guy said it wouldnt be a problem unless we dumped a lit or used some of the nastier black tank chemicals that keep it from stinking.

Dumping any additives into a septic tank is just flushing away money. All the bacteria & microbes needed show up naturally, mostly from your crap.

Those microbes break things down & digest things as far as they can. There is still sludge & things they leave behind. If you dont have that sludge pumped out occasionally the tank will fill up & the leach field will plug up with sludge. Its REALYY expensive to replace a leach field these days with all the regulations in place to avoid contaminating our water supply.

Ya, some people never pump their tanks, but most end up with a new septic system eventually. The more solid you flush the faster it fills up. With no garbage disposal & minimal usage from 1 or 2 people you can probably go a long time. I get ours pumped every 4 years, although might push it to 5. A $400 pumping every few years beats $20k or more for a new system.

 

[M E Cook]

Has OP considered not pooping?

yes i thought about that but after thinking about it for a while figured it was a crappy idea

 

[3Ts]

no garbage disposal

I've heard this about garbage disposals on septic fields before, but what is the issue? Why not? I've had one on a septic field for almost 30 years and never had a problem (5 people). The way I see it, is the disposal grinds up food to smaller pieces so the bacteria can dispose of it faster. Of course, no egg shell, coffee grounds, etc. only foods that people eat go into it.

 

[jaxs]

Has OP considered not pooping?

yes i thought about that but after thinking about it for a while figured it was a crappy idea

And you would feel like shi* after a couple of days.:gloomy:

 

[Oldoak]

And you would feel like shi* after a couple of days.:gloomy:

Well, at least people won't be lying if they tell you your full of it. :laughing:

 

[jaxs]

I've heard this about garbage disposals on septic fields before, but what is the issue? Why not? I've had one on a septic field for almost 30 years and never had a problem (5 people). The way I see it, is the disposal grinds up food to smaller pieces so the bacteria can dispose of it faster. Of course, no egg shell, coffee grounds, etc. only foods that people eat go into it.

Having a disposal isn't a problem,what some people put through them is the problem. Homes served by septic and city sewer both suffer unneccesary line stoppages as result of things in disposal that belong in garbage can.

 

[Fallon]

I've heard this about garbage disposals on septic fields before, but what is the issue? Why not? I've had one on a septic field for almost 30 years and never had a problem (5 people). The way I see it, is the disposal grinds up food to smaller pieces so the bacteria can dispose of it faster. Of course, no egg shell, coffee grounds, etc. only foods that people eat go into it.

It's not that a garbage disposal is really that much worse, it's that it's just more stuff to deal with. Poop & garbage disposal grindings all get broken down. They all getting converted into lesser volumes of sludge that cant be digested or broken down further. The best way to prevent a septic tank from filling with sludge is minimize the solids you put into it.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

I know alot of you guys nave alot of knowledge so here goes I have a septic system by my shop my problem is i can;t tie straight into the inlet port i need to puy a 90 in at tank and run line towards the side of tnk will a90 at tank be ok

Read the whole thread and boy it got off track in hurry. So back on track; Difficult to determine your situation from the dialog. Picture would help if you have the ditch open. When tapping an existing sewer line I always us a Y + 45 or combo Y as it then comes in on an angle. Connect the new section in with one or two Fernco couplings. A picture might render a different solution.

Ron

 

[goeduck]

It's not that a garbage disposal is really that much worse, it's that it's just more stuff to deal with. Poop & garbage disposal grindings all get broken down. They all getting converted into lesser volumes of sludge that cant be digested or broken down further. The best way to prevent a septic tank from filling with sludge is minimize the solids you put into it.

We put vegetable scraps into the compost for use in the flower beds and garden. Why waste it in the septic system? One of the troubles with garbage disposal grindings going in the septic tank is that some of it floats adding to the scum layer. Too much of a scum layer can allow scum to go out the baffles to the leach field plugging it up. Not good. Also, people put meat scraps through the garbage disposal which contains fat. Not good at all for a septic tank or leach field, it also plugs it up.

 

[RoyKing]

people refuse to understand the septic tank system and use it like city systems. Limit input to toilet paper mild detergents not much bleach and other than roots which can be controlled with copper sulphate put into distribution system every 6 months, the system last forever.

 

[ddbackhoe]

yes i thought about that but after thinking about it for a while figured it was a crappy idea

 

[dieselscout80]

No, previous post was right. Two 45s with a short section between, clean outs every 50 feet. Reason being, most snakes only reach 50 feet and most snakes hate 90s. Make sure there is a tee at the tank outlet too, makes it harder for solids to float into the drain field.

Not questioning you, but can you show me a picture of what you mean, so I can understand this idea?

 

[dieselscout80]

Not questioning you, but can you show me a picture of what you mean, so I can understand this idea?

Is this what you mean?

 

[ddbackhoe]

Is this what you mean?
View attachment 583708

If we are talking about the t on the outlet, yes. Great picture. Stuff will 吐loat in/on the scum layer and the longer tail on the t is to keep liquid only in the drainfields (absorption field). Once solids start entering the field, it becomes a big issue. Next thing you know, the tank is overflowing and someone called and complained. It may very well be salvageable but (at least locally) the inspectors know zip about it so they condemn and order all new.

The advent of home inspection prior to sale is not a great thing as more and more inspectors enter the market. Some of these inspectors are claiming they performed a septic system hydraulic load test and the system failed. Ok , what does that mean.
You introduce a specified amount of water and see how long it takes to leave the tank. Sounds great, what痴 the specified amount? Well, depends who you ask. What痴 the time for it to evacuate, depends on who you ask. A qualification training seminar was given for my area. Only one company within 125 miles of us attended the training, guess how many are charging for the test.
After a home inspector failed a system and the state concurred, we found a collapsed pipe between the outlet and D box. 1500 dollar repair instead of 8000, the seller was a happy camper.

 

[Fallon]

Is this what you mean?
View attachment 583708

There are baffles at the top & bottom of the tank between the inlet & outlet pipes. That should prevent scum & sludge from migrating from the inlet side to the outlet side. Unless of course you dont pump the tank occasionally then the sludge eventually makes it's way over the baffles & into the outlet pipe then plugging the leach field.

 

[Fallon]

There are baffles at the top & bottom of the tank between the inlet & outlet pipes. That should prevent scum & sludge from migrating from the inlet side to the outlet side. Unless of course you dont pump the tank occasionally then the sludge eventually makes it's way over the baffles & into the outlet pipe then plugging the leach field.

Found a decent diagram. Not fundamentally different than the first, but a bit more complex.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

The advent of home inspection prior to sale is not a great thing as more and more inspectors enter the market. Some of these inspectors are claiming they performed a septic system hydraulic load test and the system failed. Ok , what does that mean.
You introduce a specified amount of water and see how long it takes to leave the tank. Sounds great, what痴 the specified amount? Well, depends who you ask. What痴 the time for it to evacuate, depends on who you ask. A qualification training seminar was given for my area. Only one company within 125 miles of us attended the training, guess how many are charging for the test.
After a home inspector failed a system and the state concurred, we found a collapsed pipe between the outlet and D box. 1500 dollar repair instead of 8000, the seller was a happy camper.

Depends on whether you are the seller or buyer. My church had a piece of income property with 2 rental houses on. They bought it back before inspections were mandatory and no one checked all the paper work before the sale as they say only the cheap price. Reeling forward, the reason it was bought went away and the mortgage/taxes/insurance was a cash drain so put it up for sale. I was interested in buying it till I checked the back records. Property record showed only one house and one septic tank. One house was bootlegged in (relocated) and tapped to the existing tank. I knew I would not get a mortgage w/o upgrading the property into compliance which negated the sale for me. I provided the info to the church council and warned them about the cost. I made a full price offer that included seller would bring the property into compliance. They turned it down, could not afford the upgrade ($40K). 2 years on the market and finally they sucked in a cash as-is offer at a low ball price that almost paid off the mortgage.

PS- I am good at going off track also.

Ron

 

[STx]

We inherited our land with a conventional system that was installed sometime in the 80's. We had to doze the house and turned an existing Morgan building into a cabin, where it was located necessitated a 90 degree turn for the septic line. My FIL used 3" pipe so we also had smaller pipe to deal with. I used a long sweep 90 5 years ago and we e had zero problems with it. We've been here full time for 3 years now. I did slope my runs 1/4" per foot also. The toilet actually has to traverse four 90 degree turns to get to the tank, they're all long sweeps.