Garbage Disposal And Septic Systems

jeff, good info welcome to the forum--where are you from & what kind of coal set up are you useing--there is a place for all that in your avatar--I promise--nobody'll steal ya--later my friend

OnSiteMAN wrote:The issue with a cesspool or seepage pit is not how well it gets rid of sewage. The issue is how well does it renovate the sewage before it goes back to the water table. The trees maybe drinking the untreated sewage but if you have a well on the property people maybe drinking it as well. Today's sewage enforcement officers and health officials are much better educated than they were even 5 years ago let alone 40. The effort today is tor treat or renovate the sewage before it goes back into the water table. Let's face it. It's the ultimate recycling Green Machine. Don't forget, you are what you eat or in this case drink!
Jeff Rachlin - OnSite Management, Inc.
http://www.OnSiteMGT.com

Yesterday morning the pit cesspool backed up so I called for a pump out and went out and dug up the lid. It's my own fault since I had procrastinated on getting it pumped, I'm now figuring it probably has been 7 years. Yep, it was full. The two issues that didn't help are the very wet weather we have been having and the fact that since the cesspool was built (probably in the late 1930's) silt and dirt has found it's way into the tank and settled on the bottom, on the sides it is around 2 feet deep, less in the middle. This stuff is a thick muck and the suction from the septic truck can't remove it. I know it's dirt because it's the color of mud. It's reduced the capacity of the tank. I'm trying to figure out a way to remove it. After the pumping I got the hose and sprayed the blocks and the gaps between them. The waste line to the house was clogged since the level in the cesspool was above the line entry point, had to snake it out. All in all it was a fun day!
Now I'm sticking to a 2 or 3 year schedule on the pump outs and lots of friendly bacteria additions.

You're not going to cover that lid again,are you?? your brindle dog looks way to happy right there I get mine pumped every 3-5 yrs wether it needs it or not--that suk hose will get all that silt & whatever it is if you stay on it--good decision

That was Havik in his younger days, lost him at 8 years old last July. He was a good pup, but way too protective, he bit a few friends...
I posted that photo to show the size of the lid, it's about 4 inches thick, concrete, not easy to move.

OnSiteMAN wrote:The issue with a cesspool or seepage pit is not how well it gets rid of sewage. The issue is how well does it renovate the sewage before it goes back to the water table. The trees maybe drinking the untreated sewage but if you have a well on the property people maybe drinking it as well. Today's sewage enforcement officers and health officials are much better educated than they were even 5 years ago let alone 40. The effort today is tor treat or renovate the sewage before it goes back into the water table. Let's face it. It's the ultimate recycling Green Machine. Don't forget, you are what you eat or in this case drink!
Jeff Rachlin - OnSite Management, Inc.
http://www.OnSiteMGT.com

I'm just now getting back to this thread. I agree with what you state above. Planners for zoning and subdivisions either use a nitrate dilution model, a carrying capacity model or a blend of both. I'm a proponent of private wells and septic systems. People that own such systems often over look their responsibility to test their well water at least semi annually for a minimum of nitrates and bacteria. That's not too expensive to have done. I'm not a proponent of POTW (publicly owned treatment works) especially if the central water system is drawn from well. It's a net water loss from somewhere unless recharge capacity is planned (NYC gets water from the Delaware River's tributaries). They are needed, especially in areas where there is existing development that occurred way before anyone knew about such things or in areas where the water table is too high.

There are other things that aren't addressed by any system and that would be the problem Sting speaks of pharmaceuticals permeating into the aquifers from which we eventually drink. Eventually no one will ever have high blood pressure

Good luck with that old sepage pit John. Did the pumper try to wash the solids down as he pumped? Sometimes they have to recirculate the gunk to stirr it up and mix it together before they suck it out. Maybe it was just too thick from 80 years of ...

Did the pumper try to wash the solids down as he pumped?

Yep.