septic tank.... how often do you empty them?

[simple_john]

im getting my septic tank pumped out today. i dug it out last week prior to doing my knee.
weve been here going on 8 years and never emptied it


its just the 2 of us here, and ive had no problems... but i thought i better do it now instead of waiting till i had 'issues'

how often do you guys with septic tanks have them emptied?

[JDFANATIC]

Never. We use a treatment called: Septi-Zone. It uses natural bacteria to accomplish the same. You just flush a bag down once a month.

Cheers

JDFANATIC
JD2210

[Dachshund]

Around here, there are several that have been in the ground 35 years and no problems. Do the enzyme thing and you SHOULDN'T have any problems!

[Argee]

I know there is two schools on this...one that recommends that you pump them out regularly and one that says "a properly maintained septic system should never be pumped"...I'm with the second school. Haven't done a thing to this septic in 10 years. A properly maintained septic should break the solids down to a dispersable effluent.

I don't think pumping it out hurts, I just don't believe it's necessary.

[John Deere Addict]

I've been at my current residence for 9 years and haven't had anything done. The house before this one was 15 years and no problems there either. A guy that I hire to put in Septics and drain fields on my houses told me that he dumps in 2 bushels of horse sh^t in every new tank and never has any problems....course I am skeptical on that one.
Just put in a new septic and drain at my son's new build, there is a typical tank with 2 vaults that then goes into a third "white water tank" from there it is pumped into his raised mound ($$$$$ Wow) and the installer said that every once in a while when it needs to be pumped......I'm thinking with all those bells and whistles and 600 yards of sand there shouldn't be a need to ever pump it, but who knows......

[Argee]

I have never used the enzymes either...I just look out in the back on a snowy day and the big bare patch of grass I see tells me my tank has plenty of bacteria heating things up.

[Dachshund]

Yup - you know what they say - "It's always greener over the septic tank"!

[Keweenaw4310]

We have a gray water tank - 250 gallons and a black water tank 500 gallons.

The gray water tank was put in mid 1970's. It had never been dug up. I dug it up last fall and had it pumped along with the black water tank. The black water tank had about 5 years on it since last pumped.

The septic guy quoted us $70.00 for blackwater pumpout and $10.00 additional for graywater pumpout.

He had to chop and spray and chop and spray at that gray water tank to break it up and suck it out. It was nearly a solid. What a damn mess. The black water tank ended up having a broken bafle plate. I rebuilt it using a PVC T that I glued together. If it wasn't for the broken cement baffle inside, the blackwater tank was doing ok. The layer of decaying solids was doing what it should.

The guy got all done after all the extra work he had to do and still only asked for the $80.00 that he had quoted. I gave him $130.00. He thanked me and gladly accepted it.

I guess what I learned from that experience was it's good to at least check on things once in a while. For us, a mid-winter digup would be a major project. The snow doesn't melt clear of our tank. It's not even in a good spot to get back there and clear snow in an emergency mid-winter crisis. I'd rather have it pumped every 4 years or so for piece of mind.

[freebird]

I had one of mine pumped last year. It had not been done for at least 15. It was so solid we had to pump back out of the truck to reuse the liquid it had already sucked up. I was told to start using rid-x or something to get things "cooking" again. Another note....using powdered laundry soap causes a crust on the tank walls...in some cases up to 9 inches thick at the top.

[JDFANATIC]

In my above post, I should have added a disclaimer: assuming that the septic system is properly designed and installed.. I wouldn't want someone to just use the Septi-Zone and with an improperly designed or built system have a failure because of my advice.

Cheers

JDFANATIC
JD2210

[USN_ED]

My septic system was installed in 1982 (1000 gal tank) and there have been no problems. We use "RID-X" once a month on a day when we'll be away for the day.

Be careful when ya pump your septic tank. If they clean it completely, they or you will need to put something in it to restart the cooking process. Any enzyme will do as will horse manure as mentioned above or even a dead rabbit or squirrel. As a point of interest, the plumber in our town raises rabbits in the back of his shop and when he puts in a new septic tank, he kills one, slices it open, and dumps it in the new tank.

[Keweenaw4310]

Originally Posted by USN_ED

...As a point of interest, the plumber in our town raises rabbits in the back of his shop and when he puts in a new septic tank, he kills one, slices it open, and dumps it in the new tank.

Thanks for the information Ed. That's a great idea. Ridx and the other similar products are expensive.

I'll have to check this out with PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals) first, but I'm sure a person could raise rabbits cheaper, then just cut up and flush one / month to keep things working properly in the old poop slow cooker.

[noworries]

The tight line between the septic tank and the leach field collapsed due to some idiot using styrene pipe without careful backfill. Anyway, when I opened the tank to replace the tight line, the outlet elbow was floating in the liquor. THe system was out taking right off the surface. This could have been a disaster for the leach field. Notwithstanding that the system's been in 25 years and perks just fine, a replacement system in this are must be sand filtration with pumps, alarms, etc. and big dollars.

I can't believe that all the solids like toilet paper, etc. break down to sizes that ought to go into the leach field. I hope they stay in the tank. That said, its been probably eight years since I pumped the 1500 gallon tank. Guess I'm due.

[bear]

we pump ours yearly never really thought about it just seems to be what everyone around does cost nothing we have land right beside town and we don't charge for a place to dump all the suckings from septic tanks in town, about 30 houses

[Jeff]

I had the ours pumped when we bought the house, probably didn't need it as it was only 5 yrs old when we bought it. But, what the heck. The wifey wants a garbage disposal and I told her we shouldn't with a septic tank, but in reality I was too lazy to install one. Does anyone use a disposal with septic tank?