Septic Systems - School Me!

I have three houses and my shop on septics, have only had the shop pumped once because we were having a problem with office drain. it hadn't been pumped  for 35 years. They said nothing wrong with it. Dug up the around the tank added clean outs for the pipe and recovered it. a tree 150' away had a root get inside the drain pipe at a improper glue joint and collapsed it. Never flush the ladies stuff down, other than that if it's sized right never will have a problem. All my septics have leach pits but one in Florida is a leach field. My house has two leach pits because of the size of the system.

 
Sausage450r said:
The big thing; be careful what cleaners and “enzymes” you use. Your septic tank has bacteria in it already put there by the company that pumps it out. Adding certain septic treatments can actually kill these and eff up your system. I’ve always been told dont put anything in your tank. It has its own eco system.

tree roots kill leach fields. Even trees hundreds of yards away can ruin your leach field. I use root kill twice a year and i have a special access tube to put it directly into my leach field so it doesnt interfere with my tank.

the other thing that kills leach fields is slurry overflow from your tank entering it from not pumping often enough.

my leach field had to be replaced due to roots 5 years ago that is how i got schooled on all of this. The new leach field was $6k.

i pump every 3 years. 2 adults 3 kids, 1400 gallon tank
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Lots of trees up your way.  Gotta be a constant nightmare.

 
Agricon said:
I have three houses and my shop on septics, have only had the shop pumped once because we were having a problem with office drain. it hadn't been pumped  for 35 years.
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This! If the system is balanced and working correctly you should never have to have it pumped. By balanced I mean not too many people for tank size. I used to have to have mine pumped when the kids lived at home. Now that its just the two of us the system is working great. Tank size calculation by the county is figured by number of bed rooms, not number of bath rooms.

 
ChEFF said:
Wife uses bleach in her wash. Who tells her the news? NO BLEACH? Peace
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Half a cup of bleach in a 1500 gallon septic tank (40ppm) once a week isn't going to matter...  Laundry bleach is about 5% chlorine, so you'd be about 2x the concentration of tap water...  

 
Rockwood said:
Half a cup of bleach in a 1500 gallon septic tank (40ppm) once a week isn't going to matter...  Laundry bleach is about 5% chlorine, so you'd be about 2x the concentration of tap water...  
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for sure that is mess up all the bacteria that should be in there. Your tank though do what you want.  oxy clean works just as good

 
I use this stuff once a month if you use a lot of it it'll even eat grease traps. Found it online at a butcher supply store cheapest place I found

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We use regular toilet paper and Rid x once a month, the real killer is flush-able wipes!  They are NOT degradable.

First pump was after 7 years and there was a solid 3" thick layer of wipes and toilet paper, it was a bitch to clean out.

Second clean out was 5 years later and same issue, not quit as bad, wipes kept plugging the hose, they were not happy.

Am I switching to septic toilet paper or not use wipes, no. Pump it every five years and you will be good.

Waiting to long to pump and the solids will get into the leach field and then you are seriously screwed.

 
Squatcher said:
for sure that is mess up all the bacteria that should be in there. Your tank though do what you want.  oxy clean works just as good
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The majority of hydrochloride in bleach gets turned into salt during the process of removing stains (chemical reactions being what they are), and the rest will "bleach" the scuzz on the inside of your ABS pipes on the way to the tank.  Even if you poured the 1/2 cup directly into your septic tank's lid, I doubt jumping a couple ppm matters, especially when you need 3 pints/100 gallons plus 2 weeks of time to treat clear well water for bacteria. I'm not pouring 5 gallons down the toilet for shits and grins. :biggrin:

But yep, it's my tank.  We've been using bleach in laundry and disinfecting cutting boards/knives for years here.  Had it pumped for the first time last year (bought in 2014), zero issues, pump guy said call me in 9 years. 

In the meantime, my kitchen utensils are free of Montezuma's revenge, and my undershirts are whiter than Mitt Romney. YMMV, mine's been fine.  :biggrin:

 
matt86m said:
This is a little premature but never too soon to learn!

What are the "ins and outs" (see what I did there? :lol: )?

I hope to buy a place in Prescott and it is likely to have a septic system. What do I need to know?

Do's?

Don'ts?

Tips and tricks?
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Arizona seller pays for inspection and it gets pumped with transfer of property. 

 
Thanks for ALL the posts!!! T

We didn't get the house but we are the back up offer but I don't see it falling thru so the search continues.

 
Vikter said:
Arizona seller pays for inspection and it gets pumped with transfer of property. 
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My buddy owns a septic company and does a lot of these certifications. 90% of them he has to replace the rotted concrete baffle with a pvc one with a filter. This keeps the leech field from becoming plugged with solids.

 
I take a dump, flush my toilet and it instantly becomes somebody else's problem.

It doesn't go to a secret lair buried in my yard to ferment and peculate for years...

I'm glad I don't have this as a "necessity"  :lol:  

 
Vikter said:
Arizona seller pays for inspection and it gets pumped with transfer of property. 
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I just sold a house with septic, seller ask for inspections and pump out.  I did it.

 
Crusty said:
I take a dump, flush my toilet and it instantly becomes somebody else's problem.

It doesn't go to a secret lair buried in my yard to ferment and peculate for years...

I'm glad I don't have this as a "necessity"  :lol:  
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That someone is probably charging you $$$ for that solution to your problems. :biggrin:

I also don't have to water/fertilize about 1/4 acre of my lawn since it's getting PLENTY of nitrates and water... :biggrin:

 
Rockwood said:
I also don't have to water/fertilize about 1/4 acre of my lawn since it's getting PLENTY of nitrates and water.
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Erma Bombeck years ago, had a book titled, Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank.

 
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