Septic Tank Pumped

One thing that contributes to field line saturation is washing clothes improperly. It does not require that the washer to be set on super size load to wash three shirts that you don’t need cleaned for another week.
That’s 80 gallons of water into your field lines unnecessarily.

I was told I could take over the laundry any time I wanted.

Mine went about 30 years and I had it pumped for the heck of it.
Tech said it was perfect, Worry more about the drain field.

I think they say the scum on top can build up so thick over time that it can cover the bottom of the tee leaving the tank and somehow get into your drain field. Pumping removes this top layer of scum and the sludge in the bottom.

I can see pumping it for preventive maintenance but it usually doesn't help to pump it if your house isn't draining. Many times one has his tank pumped only to have it fill right back up and the stoppage shows back up.
If you have flow into your tank but not out of your tank it's usually the drain field that isn't working properly or the pipe leaving the tank to the drain field.
Modern designs have a distribution box in the drain field design. I'm not too familiar with them or if any maintenance is required.

Back when I made my own beer I always poured the yeasty dreggs down the toilet. Now I wonder if yeast helps the bacteria in a septic tank. Maybe a live bacteria you could add once a year.
I know they make drain enzymes that eat grease. I can see where bleach could kill of some of the bacteria.
We disconnected our washing machine from the septic tank. Mainly because my wife was washing a lot of diapers. It was filling up the drain field in a really bad wet season. Had the septic tank pumped. The tank was fine. Never had to redo the drain field either.

I have noticed that those little packs of yeast are expensive. I'm not sure what Ridx cost. Six years of Ridx might work out to what a pumping cost.

Back in the day my Dad had about 20 rental houses. I've helped him hand dip a few septic tanks. We hand-dipped the one at the home place a few times as well. Used a paint can screwed to a pole and a wheelbarrow. Put the stuff in the garden. Grew nice tomatoes.
We mainly removed the crust to check the inlet and outlet tees. We needed the level down to do so. It usually pointed us in the direction of the drain field being stopped up.

I don't remember any of these tanks ever having over about 6" of scum on top. I'm sure we didn't clean the sludge out form the bottom. Pumping would take care of this sludge.

It never looked like the contents of the tank messed up the drain field. The scum never blocked the inlet or outlet. It turned out to be a lot of manual labor necessary only to verify flow. Liquid was the only thing leaving the tanks.

It usually always required drain field work or replacement. I'm kinda mixed on how well pumping actually does. It's not that big of an investment to pump it every 6 years though. Maybe add some type of bacteria to it after you pump it and disconnect the washing machine as others have pointed out.

Drain fields not working? I guess as time passes they just don't drain as well. Sediment, settling, etc. Roots can sometimes be a problem. Maybe some aren't installed properly. They used to use short clay pipes with gaps between the pipes. Then they used corrugated plastic pipes full of holes. Rocks poured under and on top of the pipes. Now they have pipes wrapped in foam pieces. That looks like a good idea.

we re pump every 10.....we do have a ''relief" cap about half way to the tank we can pop off if it backs up.....

A lot of good septic tank info in this thread.
One thing I will add that I haven't seen mentioned:

The only thing worse on a septic tank than teenage females is a garbage disposal.
Never use a garbage disposal if you are on a septic system.

Guess whos septic tank is acting up... I think i have a clog, no flooded drain field but hoping it only needs a tweak. Calling the guys in the morning. I see $$$$ leaving my pocket soon.

You in the Country ?
Rent a Trash pump and 100 ft' of hose. Good Strawberry patch next year....

I've read that drain field preventive maintenance is more important than septic tank maintenance. Aerobic bacteria that live in the drain field has to be maintained. They make porosity restorers, activator treatments, and maintainers just for the drain field. I'm not sure how you get them in your drain field unless you install a clean-out.
Maybe you put them in your house drain and they migrate all the way to the drain field.

I also read that grease can make its way into the drain field.

PappyHoel said:

Guess whos septic tank is acting up... I think i have a clog, no flooded drain field but hoping it only needs a tweak. Calling the guys in the morning. I see $$$$ leaving my pocket soon.

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Oh no, that's weird. Hopefully just $$.

I am a Septic installer, i despise pumpers. Most seem to be after a quick $ and will sell you a doom and gloom story right off the bat. Then the homeowner will be concerned and might may more than they need.

I honestly don't suggest pumping frequently, there is a filter on the outlet side of the tank, women and children can and do send items down the pipe that can clog it , but that filter is also protected by a "T"

The drain field is the biggest factor, alot depends on the perc rate of the soil and the linear footage of the system

Traditional septic systems what people know as gravel and pipe were installed with a minset of 100lf per bedroom!

In the early 2000's infiltrator became easy amd popular its "High capacity" abilities allowed us to do a 50% reduction on that 100lf... Well they were wrong. So alot of those systems can and do give problems. So now we get a 35% reduction and some cases no reduction depending on soils and perc rates.

Dont ever do a repair without a permit. The county has all the info on your plot. That work has already been completed and paid for. Use it

My current situation is not helped by 3 girls in the house that use a whole roll of toilet paper when the use the bathroom.

PappyHoel said:

My current situation is not helped by 3 girls in the house that use a whole roll of toilet paper when the use the bathroom.

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Have you showed them the trick with using only one sheet of toilet paper?

Artfuldodger said:

Have you showed them the trick with using only one sheet of toilet paper?

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You obviously don't have experience with 3 women and 1 male in the house. Or you do and they actually listen to you

Had a plumber tell me throw fresh read meat it the tank to start thr process and follow up with yeast.

PappyHoel said:

My current situation is not helped by 3 girls in the house that use a whole roll of toilet paper when the use the bathroom.

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I got ya beat, had 4 girl chillen, monster-in-law AND wife for years without issues. After they moved out or moved on, the trouble started.

Just me and the Bride..Never pumped anything , 28 years now.
Mound system with a Trash pump pushing it.
Pulled the lid on the 900 gal. tank about 10 years ago and scooped out the floating hard stuff..We're good.
Bet just us 2 only use 1 /5 of the drain field cause I dug it up and we don't make a dent in the drain field.
Lot's of dry grass and one green spot bought as big as a truck..pipes are fine, guess 2 people don't use much.

i would leave it alone

swamp hunter said:

Just me and the Bride..Never pumped anything , 28 years now.
Mound system with a Trash pump pushing it.
Pulled the lid on the 900 gal. tank about 10 years ago and scooped out the floating hard stuff..We're good.
Bet just us 2 only use 1 /5 of the drain field cause I dug it up and we don't make a dent in the drain field.
Lot's of dry grass and one green spot bought as big as a truck..pipes are fine, guess 2 people don't use much.

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I've seen those mound drain fields on the gulf coast. I've never seen them in Georgia. They have them in some northern and western states where the ground is too rocky or the waste water doesn't permeated the ground that well.
Sometimes they freeze. Sometimes their septic tanks freeze or or their pumps freeze. At least you don't have those problems.
What about the pump. I'm familiar with lift stations and chopper pumps. They seem to require a bit of maintenance. I guess one for a house isn't too bad. Does it have an alarm to let you know if it isn't working?

$325, problem solved. Had a talk with a 46, 8, 6 year old to stop putting wet wipes in the toilet.

My input- Me and 3 females in the household.
You guessed it , female products. Plus when the oldest one came for the weekend and used baby wipes. Backed up for sho.
Mr Rooter pulled the cover , removed debris, cleaned it out with pressure washer, included drain lines. Like new.
He said if the girls hadn't flushed em down, probably would have never had a problem. They work better when full of liquid- not plastic. Long talk , never again!!