Septic Tank: To Pump, or not to Pump?

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Hi friends,

I live on 30 acres, in the country, outside of Raleigh.

We have 3 adults and 2 kids pooping into a Double tank with 3 risers, 3 lids, and field lines going out into the wood .

We have been living here for 3 years. The septic tank has never been pumped and the alarm has never gone off.

The previous owners said that the tank was installed in 1997 and it has never been pumped out even since then...

Today, I called a septic tank guy and said, "Will you come look at my tank and see if it needs to be pumped, because it has never been pumped before. "

He said, "I'm not driving out there to look at it... If you been there for 3 years and it's never been pumped then it needs it. If I drive out there, I'm pumping it, and you're paying me $450. And $450 is cheap! "

I didn't like his tone, so I said, "No thanks. Don't come. "

What do y'all think?
 
The house I'm in now, my gf dad built 49 years ago and was pumped the first time last year.

She decided 5 years ago to start flushing wipes.

Septic guy said if she hadn't done that we wouldn't have needed it then
 
I pump mine every 10 years. If you do it, shop around for somebody with a better attitude.
 
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Moved in the new house Dec. 1996. Pretty much no one here but the wife and I except the the couple of years my mom was with us. Tank has never been pumped and seems to be working ine. Watch what you put in it and it will take care of itself.
 
Call around a little but if you have a huge tank that's probably not bad. Just a reminder if your tank was like my old one A pump system, you have a solids tank that does not have an alarm. The alarm is for the gray tank and let's you know the pump isn't working right. Kids will wreck a septic tank. So will the wrong toilet paper. I ended up only using Scott's.
 
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Our guy does it for 225 and that digging it up himself also
 
Cowboy said:
Call around a little but if you have a huge tank that's probably not bad. Just a reminder if your tank was like my old one A pump system, you have a solids tank that does not have an alarm. The alarm is for the gray tank and let's you know the pump isn't working right. Kids will wreck a septic tank. So will the wrong toilet paper. I ended up only using Scott's.
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We only use Scotts 1000... No wipes. Nothing...
 
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Burt Gummer said:
Our guy does it for 225 and that digging it up himself also
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No digging needed here... I have 3 risers that stick 12 inches out of the ground, right in front of my front door. I hate it. Wish they were hidden...
 
I have mine pumped every three years. Five adults in our house. Two that take very long showers. It is usually $200 but I have to dig off the dirt to the lid. Well worth it in my opinion. Cheaper than replacing it.
 
3 adults here & just had ours pumped for the first time since the house was built 12 years ago. No issues, but a couple neighbors had had problems & we'd been getting a ton of rain & figured it couldn't hurt. $250 dug.
 
Four peeps, 3 full baths, dishwasher, clothes washer runs a LOT, all drain into it, house new in 1998, 1250 gal tank (code was 1000 at the time) four lines (code was three) no Rid-X (nothing against it, just don't use it) kids know toilets aren't trash cans, good perk, good drainage, never pumped it.
 
Alabamacoastie said:
He said, "I'm not driving out there to look at it... If you been there for 3 years and it's never been pumped then it needs it. If I drive out there, I'm pumping it, and you're paying me $450. And $450 is cheap! "

I didn't like his tone, so I said, "No thanks. Don't come. "

What do y'all think?
Click to expand...

Who was the company with the attitude and high price (so I know to avoid)?

Thanks.
 
Cowboy said:
Call around a little but if you have a huge tank that's probably not bad. Just a reminder if your tank was like my old one A pump system, you have a solids tank that does not have an alarm. The alarm is for the gray tank and let's you know the pump isn't working right. Kids will wreck a septic tank. So will the wrong toilet paper. I ended up only using Scott's.
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Also watch the household cleaners ... BLEACH, drain cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, etc as well as greasy stuff down the garbage disposal ... will kill the good bacteria that breaks down “stuff” in the tank.

I also ran a separate drain line from the clothes washer ... the bleach, some laundry detergents and fabric softener will also damage the bacteria ... but I had a nice little drain area for that water that didn’t bother anything. As to the greasy garbage disposal thing we run a compost heap behind an outbuilding for that stuff and every so often mix it in the landscaping as we plant.

Doing so I had it pumped about 10 years ago which was about 15 years after the house was built and the guy said it really didn’t take that much and whatever I was doing keep it up. He did point out a couple crape myrtles were a little close to the head of the leach field and it’s distribution box ... so they disappeared before their roots started to creep in.
 
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We’ve been here 22 years. My wife had the tanks pumped when I was out of the country...seems like maybe 20 years ago. What are the symptoms of needing them pumped. :confused:
 
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Just had ours pumped last month, tank is almost 20 years old and probably never pumped before. Guy said it needed it but wasn’t terrible. Paid him $200 and he dug it up, if I was you I’d shop around.
 
Jeppo said:
We’ve been here 22 years. My wife had the tanks pumped when I was out of the country...seems like maybe 20 years ago. What are the symptoms of needed them pumped. :confused:
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You would KNOW if it needed pumped

Smell ,backup, wet around the tank
 
LeeMajors said:
You would KNOW if it needed pumped

Smell ,backup, wet around the tank
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It’s hard for me to tell where the smell’s coming from. Since COVID-19, I haven’t showered and it’s been great for keeping people socially distant. ;)
 
Jeppo said:
We’ve been here 22 years. My wife had the tanks pumped when I was out of the country...seems like maybe 20 years ago. What are the symptoms of needed them pumped. :confused:
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Apparently it has to do with the actual level of sludge that builds up as bacteria breaks things down.

One site I read said you can measure this yourself with a "Sludge Judge". When the sludge gets to about 1/3 the tank level, is time to have it pumped.

https://www.familyhandyman.com/project/how-a-septic-tank-works/
 
I'll give my $0.02. I'm half afraid that mine is so old that the next time it's pumped is going to be an issue....

With that said if you take care of your septic, I'm not sure it needs to be pumped. However; when that sucker gets full, it's going to be on Thanksgiving or Christmas and will be twice as expensive to have it pumped... Just never fails.

We take very good care of ours, treat it once a month, no grease, cleaning supplies, unnecessary paper products, etc. I'm trying to think of the last time we had ours pumped, It has to be at least 15 years ago.
 
LeeMajors said:
The house I'm in now, my gf dad built 49 years ago and was pumped the first time last year.

She decided 5 years ago to start flushing wipes.

Septic guy said if she hadn't done that we wouldn't have needed it then
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Even the "septic safe" wipes are not septic safe. Never flush them. They will clog the leach field too.
 
fishgutzy said:
Even the "septic safe" wipes are not septic safe. Never flush them. They will clog the leach field too.
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If the "wipes" don't immediately dissolve into a formless slurry when put into water, they shouldn't go in the toilet.

Septic tank or not.

I've yet to come across a wipe that will do this. Toilet paper, however, does.

If people want to use wipes of any kind, then use TP first. Then finish with a wipe that can be disposed of OUTSIDE the toilet.

Or install a bidet.

Not sure about a bidet for septic tank use, though. If you use soap...then no. If not, then yes.
 
Last house had a septic system. 2 adults, 2 teen boys, 1 teen daughter. When they all went off to college had the system pumped. Guys pulls me aside and says "quite a few condoms in there". First thought was, 'Ill kill them", second thought, "thank God."

Oh, and it cost me ~$300.
 
I've lived in my house for 16 years, the house is 28 years old, and it's a 28 year old low pressure system with a pump. When we first moved in, I got the bright idea to pour water that I had cleaned out latex paint buckets and brushes into the septic system....yeah. So I opened up the manhole cover and looked in and sure enough I had coated the inside of the tank white with Kilz latex.
So I started using the Enforcer septic treatment for about a year, and nothing really seemed amiss. Pump still pumps out dookie flavored water into the yard and my grass turns green even in a drought.

I have NEVER pumped it out, and....why would I when it already has a forced pump leechfield? Anyhow, the house is under contract so the next owner can deal with it :D
 
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RetiredUSNChief said:
If the "wipes" don't immediately dissolve into a formless slurry when put into water, they shouldn't go in the toilet.

Septic tank or not.

I've yet to come across a wipe that will do this. Toilet paper, however, does.

If people want to use wipes of any kind, then use TP first. Then finish with a wipe that can be disposed of OUTSIDE the toilet.

Or install a bidet.

Not sure about a bidet for septic tank use, though. If you use soap...then no. If not, then yes.
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Bidet: $600 toilet seat. [emoji2][emoji1][emoji16][emoji38][emoji28][emoji1787]

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
 
I've been in my house 18 years, will have it pumped for the 3rd time. $250 this time, up from $185 the last, different company. We went 7.5 years before the 1st pump and 5 for the 2nd. The 2nd time, they were flushing the wipes. We've stopped it. Since the hurricane Flo came through, it seems to give issues every time we have a big rain.
 
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