The Pumper's Wife

You and your spouse just bought some land.    Both of you are excited about building and looking at floor plans.    You are dreaming about different flooring and bathroom tiles, while your husband is designing his new shop/outbuilding with built in man-cave.    You find yourself a builder and that’s it!    Right? Well, sort of…. Now I know it isn’t the most exciting thing to consider, but one of the most expensive items in your house when building in the country is your septic system.    You will spend somewhere between $8,000-12,000 depending on the number of bedrooms in the house.    I’m no mathematician, but I doubt you’re spending that kind of money on other appliances.    If you’re going to be writing that big of a check, don’t you think it would be wise to make sure you give this “appliance” some of your planning attention? “What?!” you ask.    “You want me to be more concerned about my wastewater than my flooring and tile?” Yes....yes, I do.    But not

I may be showing my age here, but whenever I talk about septic tank pumping I can't help but think of the old Saturday Night Live skit with Hanz and Franz....they were there to "Pump, YOU UP!"   Now here it is some 20 years later and with this post, I feel like I'm writing to recommend that let Southwick Liquid Waste..."Pump, YOU OUT! "    No matter what may flow through my ever-aging brain, getting your septic tank pumped is an important part of septic maintenance. In the last four weeks, I have covered many different ways to care for or maintain your system.  Many items have been ways to be mindful on a day-to-day basis (water usage, care when flushing, and lateral maintenance).  However, one of the most important things you can do for your system is pump it regularly.  Here’s why… The diagram above shows what an average septic tank contains on a daily basis.  You will see sewage or wastewater comes in from the house, then liqu

Today I will elaborate on the septic system drainfield and the best way to care for it. In the diagram above, you can see all the components of a septic system.  There is a tank and a leachfield/drainfield.  When I talk to customers, many of them are confused as to what makes up a septic system.  I would say many think that all they have is a tank and that is it.  However, the bigger portion of the septic system (and also the most expensive part) is the leachfield/drainfield/lateral field.  This part of the septic system is where the final treatment takes place.  It is also very important to know where your lateral field is located.  If this portion of your system becomes damaged or inhibited in any way, it will ruin the functionality of your septic system. Below are two examples of what is being installed today for lateral fields.  The top picture is an example of EZ Flow lateral.  The lower picture is an example of plastic gravelless chamber.  Both of these types of syst

Toilet paper has gotten a lot of press lately with its insane disappearing act from grocery store shelves.  Heck, even I have gotten in on the action with all the toilet paper memes!  But I do actually have some important tips to share about this necessary substance that we use to wipe the most disgusting items from our body....have I enticed to you read more?  Great. Though we have all laughed at the toilet paper memes in the past few weeks, toilet paper is no laughing matter when it comes to your septic system.  Believe it or not, using the wrong toilet paper can clog your system and leave you with a HUGE mess.  So, how do you know if you’re using the wrong toilet paper?   Let me help…  Unfortunately, all toilet papers claim to be “septic safe.”  This can be really confusing to the “new to septic” homeowner.  I’m sure all toilet papers will eventually break down once they get to the tank, but here’s the problem – if they are thicker, 3 ply, quilted toilet paper, they