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...

  In the last few 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 liquid, sludge and scum get trapped in the tank, and finally wastewater that seeps to the laterals field.   Though you may find all these components completely gross, it’s actually important that each are there in their respective amounts.  However, what’s most important is to regularly pump it out.     Just like you change the oil on your car to get the bad stuff out, your septic system needs the same type of care.  If the solids that colle...

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 p...

I don't know about you, but lately there's enough crap in the world I felt it time to share something not-so-crap-related, but hopefully humorous!  A septic story -- enjoy (P.S.  I do not know the source or I would quote it...)  As a guitarist, I play many gigs.  Recently, I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man.  He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the back country.  As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost. I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight.  There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch. I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late.  I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place.  I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play. The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. ...

  This week we will talk about TOILET PAPER!! Yay!     What fun?! What fun?!     Who doesn’t LOVE talking about the substance we use to wipe the most disgusting items from our body?! Hip hip hooray!!   I know I have you going on a toilet-paper-celebrating-frenzy, but to be honest, 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 struggle to make it to the tank.   Here’s why…   When you use cheap, sing...

I know I’m usually all about poop and toilet paper, but today I’d like to discuss tires with you.  Tires? Why is the septic lady talking about tires?  Well, they are actually a pretty useful material when recycled, but let me back up a minute first.   Those of you who live in the Lancaster County area are probably pretty familiar with the high clay content in our soils.  High clay content doesn’t work so great for long functioning septic systems.  It traps water and keeps it there.  Not good for water and really bad for wastewater – pooling wastewater is gross, smelly, and nasty….and gross.  Did I mention gross?  For soil types with a failing perc rate (typically because of clay content), the customer will usually resort to a lagoon or polishing pond.  However, some developments have covenants against these wastewater systems so an engineered septic system is installed.   What’s an engineered septi...

So, if you read my previous ever-so-eloquently-written-wastewater-post from last week…You’ll notice the first thing I mentioned when avoiding septic system “messes” was WATER USAGE.  Today, I’m going to elaborate on that.     I had written how septic systems are sized according to the number of bedrooms.  It is assumed that there is at least one person per bedroom using approximately 100 gallons of water a day when sizing a system.  Obviously, there is no way to know exactly how much water will be used in the home, but to date this is the most logical way to assume approximate water usage. One thing septic systems are good at, is showing you when you’ve used too much water.  (Think about trying to fit 20 gallons of water in a 5 gallon bucket…)  Typically, you’ll see standing water over your drainfield first, but sometimes too much water can lead to a back-up in the house as well.  Below, I have listed the ...