Will a septic tank support a BX2200?

Mark_in_IN · Sep 5, 2001

Re: septic tank

I have a question for the experts here. How do you locate your septic tank? The only thing I know is that it is in the front of the house. & you can crawl under the house & see the pipe leaving the block wall.

mark

StoneHeartFarm · Sep 5, 2001

Re: septic tank

mark

The way I do it is to take a long metal rod and probe in the ground. Find the spot where the pipe leaves the house and follow it with the probe. (Don't tap too hard on the pipe, especially if you have older clay pipe). Follow it long enough and you should find the tank. The sound will change when you leave the pipe and hit the tank. A little probing will outline the tank top.

SHF

Harv · Sep 5, 2001

Re: septic tank

take a long metal rod and probe in the ground

Wow! You must have very different soil than I have at my property. The only way you could sink a probe into my soil would be with a good-sized sledge hammer, and that makes it hard to "feel" the pipe and/or tank until it's too late. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

When I had our tanks cleaned a couple of months ago, I had no idea where the main tank was (another secret my dad took with him to the grave). The septic "specialists" I hired sent a young guy out with some kind of high-tech sonic probe to locate the tank. When the guy called me (remember, I live 120 miles away) to tell me he had located it right outside the large door to the shop (where I store my tractor) and that it was 8 feet deep, I told him that was very unlikely, but who was I to argue with technology? My main concerns were that digging that big of a hole in that location would prevent me from getting my tractor out of the shop that weekend, plus I didn't want to pay them to dig two holes if he was wrong.

As it turned out, when it was time to do the actual work, the old guy who showed up said, "Hey, I remember this place! I helped install it 35 years ago. He then directed the backhoe to a couple of pieces of rebar sticking out of the ground, some 50 feet from the shop. "That's where I remember it", sez he. Turns out he was correct, and the top of the tank was only 4 feet down.

Footnote -- my dad passed away some 12 years ago, and I didn't know anything about septic tanks until a neighbor recently asked when's the last time we had it cleaned out. So it was at least 12 years between cleanings, and fortunately everything was still okay. I now have both tanks marked with T-posts, so I don't tractor over them, plus I now have a detailed photo record of where they are. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

ERNIEB · Sep 5, 2001

Re: Will a septic tank support a BX2200?/READ THIS

snowman, if these are indeed cleanouts, and SHF has introduced some doubt, but if they are.
How often does the leach field need to be cleaned out?
If the system was built correctly, hopefully never. The only way a french drain can clog is by roots, or solids coming from the tank. If you have the solids pumped from the tank every 2 years, and don't plant anything near it that may develop roots that will reach it, ie. trees, shrubs, it should never need to be cleaned.
How do you tell when it needs to be cleaned out?
In most cases the area around your tank will become a stinky swamp/w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif The water will have no where else to go, and will start seeping out of the hole at the top of the tank.
To clean it, they usually use something like a roto router to remove roots, then a vacutron, or something like one, to get the solids out

Ernie

Mike_Dumond · Sep 5, 2001

Re: septic tank

Mark, the easiest way, is to get a long snake and beed it into the line going to the tank. Usually, there are no bends in that pipe. Remember, I said usually. When you get to the tank, the snake should hit the baffle at the inlet. From the lenght of snake inserted, you should be able to estimate how far the tank is from your point of entry. The clean out is usually 2 feet futher.

Keep the greasy side down
Mike

Edited by Mike_Dumond on 09/05/01 10:55 AM (server time).

Mike_Dumond · Sep 5, 2001

Re: septic tank

Oh, and one more thing, if you're having a new system put in, and the contractor wants to put it 4 feet down, have them reconsider. The ideal depth for the leach field is between 2 and 4 feet. Makes your lawn grow real good. Grass just soaks up that moisture. And don't ever think of putting a weeping willow anywhere nearby.

Keep the greasy side down
Mike

Edited by Mike_Dumond on 09/05/01 10:56 AM (server time).

Bird · Sep 5, 2001

Re: septic tank

This is an interesting thread, to say the least. It seems there are almost as many opinions as there are septic system installers. A few years ago, I was in Pennsylvania for 4 months and read stories in the local newspaper about the fact that a rural area in which septic systems were in use had been annexed and taken into the city limits. The city had run a sewer line out there and wanted all the residents to hook onto it (at considerable cost to each resident). The residents objected, so the last I heard, the proposed solution was to allow them to continue using their septic systems, so long as they had them pumped out every two years. The guys who installed my parents' septic system said it should not need anything for at least 7-10 years. I have an aerobic system that purifies the water and then pumps it out on the yard through sprinkler heads, but the first, or pre-treatment, tank is nothing more than a 500 gallon concrete septic tank, and I have a service contract so they send a man out to check everything every 4 months. They said they'd tell me if it ever needs pumping out. It's been over 4 years now and hasn't been pumped out. As for the depth of the tanks, they told me the rule here is a minimum of 6" underground. And I had them put a concrete "collar" with lid on the tank, so there'll be no digging to do when it needs anything.

Bird

TerryinMD · Sep 5, 2001

Re: septic tank

Bird,

The people who live in the Town of Sharpsburg and some of the surrounding subdivisions had to "join" the sewer and water system build by the county. So, if you had a septic system and well, you had to abandon it. Smart!!! About two or three years ago, a "crisis" with funding the sewer and water system materialized. It just so happens that the sewer and water system commission kinda forgot about the fact that their costs increase yearly and did not pass this costs on the consumers. Well, guess what happened. Peoples rates went 200-400% a year. It was a rotten shame. The people who suffered most were the retirees on fixed incomes.

I'll take my well and septic anytime.....

GlueGuy · Sep 5, 2001

Re: Will a septic tank support a BX2200?/READ THIS

Boy, the variability on this issue is all over the map. In talking to the locals, I've heard everything from "every couple of years" to "never", as far as how often to clean out the septic tank. I intend to do it every 5 years (guess I'm about due /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif).

As for the leech field, that should be good for the duration. In San Mateo County, code requires the installation of 2 leech fields with a diverter valve. Supposed to switch leech fields every year. I usually do it in the spring.

The GlueGuy

DocHeb · Sep 5, 2001

Re: Will a septic tank support a BX2200?/READ THIS

My brother-in-law gets his cleaned out every four years. He does it during election years since all the talk reminds him of the septic.