Official Gramps' Memorial Eternal OT Thread

#29,003
#29,003
1972 Grad said:
Probably okay. I can't believe you have never had it pumped in that many years. You all must not eat much fiber.
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I just assumed all that bacteria out there was doing it's thing properly, and we weren't harming it too much with detergents and other cleaners going down the drain. It works well enough that I can do a load of dishes and take a real quick shower if we give it a little time to recuperate and drain down in between events. I'm gauging when it's OK to do those things by the water level in the downstairs toilet; I turned off the water to the tank so the level kinda reflects the state of things - right now something like up 1/3 and sludgy - amazingly there's no smell even though it looks like there should be.
 
#29,004
#29,004
AM64 said:
I just assumed all that bacteria out there was doing it's thing properly, and we weren't harming it too much with detergents and other cleaners going down the drain. It works well enough that I can do a load of dishes and take a real quick shower if we give it a little time to recuperate and drain down in between events. I'm gauging when it's OK to do those things by the water level in the downstairs toilet; I turned off the water to the tank so the level kinda reflects the state of things - right now something like up 1/3 and sludgy - amazingly there's no smell even though it looks like there should be.
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Consider yourself lucky. Since 2004, we have lived in 3 houses full time, 2 that we owned and 1 that we rented. We have had 5 septic tank pumpings. The first was in a house we built that filled after 10 years with the same symptoms as yours.

The next house was one that we rented for 3 years, and it had a problem similar to what Slice mentioned. The pipe going out of the house to the tank had partially collapsed and wasn't allowing all the paper and solids to get in the tank. We paid, not the landlord, to have it pumped, and it happened again in about 8 months. We paid again to have it pumped and the man who pumped it told us the actual problem after getting in the empty tank. The landlord wouldn't pay to replace the line and fix it so we moved.

In the new house we then bought, the tank filled up after a year or so, started gurgling, and we had it pumped. A year later, it happened again, and I had an excavator come out and add field lines. It has been fine since. Apparently, the lines weren't adequate after we had record rains. They couldn't drain enough in the clay yard to let the water run out of the tank because the field size was apparently inadequate. We have had zero problems this year and record rains again, so I believe it is fixed. On the new house we just finished, the ground should percolate well, since it is composed of a lot of shale, and is on a hillside.
 
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#29,006
#29,006
MercyPercy said:
View attachment 269302

Caught our limit of reds sunday, plus one little trout. The cooler we brought was not the optimal size for a couple of those reds.

Not the best day but could have been worse. It was 94 degrees though.. a Jacksonville march record high. I got a little tan.
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Nice man, I sincerely enjoy the pics.


*but you suck because I can't go fishing!!😄
 
#29,008
#29,008
1972 Grad said:
Hopefully they have a jackhammer.
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Some companies will tell the owner they need the water jet to break it up and try to pad the bill. That’s BS. All they have to do is punch a hole in it so they can draw some liquid out. Then dump the liquid back in. That will bust up the solid. They may have to repeat the process several times
 
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#29,009
#29,009
Orangeslice13 said:
Some companies will tell the owner they need the water jet to break it up and try to pad the bill. That’s BS. All they have to do is punch a hole in it so they can draw some liquid out. Then dump the liquid back in. That will bust up the solid. They may have to repeat the process several times
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I think he said it hadn't been pumped before, and it's going on 40 years.
 
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#29,012
#29,012
Orangeslice13 said:
If it just stopped working it means the solid on top finally got thick enough to cover the exit to the feild lines. There is going to be water under that crust.
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I thought that there were 2 sides or chambers, and the solids went to the bottom in the near (house) side and forced the liquids over the side to side divider to the side nearest to and then out of the exit line. Once the near side fills with solids, wouldn't they then go over the divider into the far side?? Don't the solids go to the bottom, wastewater to the middle, and oils and grease (scum) floats on top? It looks to me like if there were enough solids, it would force all the water out and basically be like LG....i.e. full of sh!t, no? I'm not an expert on this, but I have seen the inside of a tank.
 
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#29,013
#29,013
1972 Grad said:
I thought that there were 2 sides or chambers, and the solids went to the bottom in the near (house) side and forced the liquids over the side to side divider to the side nearest to and then out of the exit line. Once the near side fills with solids, wouldn't they then go over the divider into the far side?? Don't the solids go to the bottom, wastewater to the middle, and oils and grease (scum) floats on top? It looks to me like if there were enough solids, it would force all the water out and basically be like LG....i.e. full of sh!t, no? I'm not an expert on this, but I have seen the inside of a tank.
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basically when you don’t empty the tanks solids will start to sit on top of the scum and oil creating a crust so the tank eventually is like an Oreo will solids on top and bottom with Liquid in the middle.
 
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#29,022
#29,022
AM64 said:
I'll take your word on that. Some of us gave enough sense not to get in the tank.
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You can pass out and die if you do. A guy who looked at ours in the house we rented, pumped it dry, got in by ladder, held his breath, and climbed out after about 10-15 seconds after finding out the pipe coming out of the house no longer lined up to flow in the tank.
 
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#29,025
#29,025
Orangeslice13 said:
Sorry I missed this.
I’ll read on in a second to see if you have an answer.....but......you could have something stuck in the drain pipe before the tank. You should have a clean out under the house where the line leaves the house. You can open that line an attempt to clear the line.
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This happened to me once. When the tank was installed the pipe coming in wasn’t cut off as short as it should have been. This created a clog where the pipe entered the tank. My lot slopes down to the front yard and the tank. I took the top off and saw the problem. I figured the clog was just what little I could see so I used the shovel to knock it off..... well.... I was wrong.... and thankfully standing on the uphill side of the tank because after I hit the clog with the shovel..... it broke loose and there was some serious pressure behind it...it looked like a freaking fire hose and was spewing off of the tank. Had I been facing uphill I’d have been car washed
 
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