When I bought my home back in 1977, they were equipped with 1000 gallon steel septic tanks and cement cesspools a.k.a. leaching pits which distribute the liquid overflow from the septic tank.
The builder told us that the city would be installing city sewers within the next five years and all would be great. Well at the time they said steel septic tanks had a 20 to 25-year life span.
Well, here I am, 40 years later at the tail end of a two-year project to install city sewers in my sub-division. I’ve been very fortunate in that I’ve really never had any major issues with my septic tank over the years.
I attribute that to regular treatments of a live bacteria enzyme along with good luck. Every one of my neighbors experienced many problems with their systems over the years and in some cases had to have their septic tanks replaced or at minimum pumped on a regular basis.
By regular I mean every three months or so, the normal time interval for a pumping would be a year. The problem is that everyone including myself had their washing machines emptying into their septic tanks which in the septic world is the kiss of death!
When the soap from the washing machine cools down, it solidifies causing the holes in the leaching pit to clog and allowing the water to back into the septic tank and then into the house. Not a very pretty sight! Eventually, everyone started to divert the washing machine waste in some creative ways.
Some had dry wells installed in their backyards while others ran a 3″ piece of p.v.c. pipe under their front lawns and out thru the curb into the street. It wasn’t legal but it did solve the septic tanks from prematurely backing up into your house.
I was ahead of the curve because I was performing regular enzyme treatments which kept a check on the soap build up, but as my system got beyond the 20-year mark, I ended up having to install a dry well or be faced with quarterly pumpings which would run anywhere from $110-&125.00. Ouch!
Well, it’s now February 2017 and everyone in the subdivision is hiring their own contractors to come and abandon their septic tanks and leaching pits and connect to the city sewers. The city brings the connection to the curb in front of your home and it’s your responsibility to bring the new sewer line out to their connection.
Like I mentioned this has been going on for the past two years, and at this point in time, I figure it’s time to jump on the bandwagon, count my blessings and kiss my septic tank goodbye. And that’s what the video below is all about, I tried my best not to get in the way of the contractor doing the work as they thought I was nuts for filming this thing.
Well, I hope you enjoy the show and if you have any questions about this or any other of my videos I can always be reached at info@bobsplumbingvideos.com. I’m going to take a good long hot shower!
Happy Plumbing,
Bob
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