The Pumper's Wife

You and your spouse just bought some land.     Both of you are so excited about building and looking at floor plans.     You are looking at different flooring and bathroom tiles, while your husband is dreaming about 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 $12,000-15,000 on it 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” your attention?   “What?!” you ask.  “You want me to be more concerned about my wast...

  Last week when I wrote, the sun was shining and it felt like spring.  Today (if you live in Nebraska), winter raised it's ugly head once again and the land is covered in about an inch of snow.  So my little "spring of deception" weather prediction seems to have been accurate.  I was kind of worried it wouldn't stick around.  No worries though...according to local weather, we should be back in the 70s by Wednesday.   Life in the midwest....you never know what the weather will do! Today I will take a bit of a break on weather and visit about toilet paper.  Now hopefully, we won't have to deal with toilet paper shortages again.  But if we do, and you live on septic, grab the cheap stuff!  Leave the expensive paper for everyone else!   Why do I want you grabbing the cheap stuff?   Here's why....   All toilet papers claim to be “septic safe.”  This can be really confusing to the “new to septic” homeowner.  I’m ...

The sun is out this week and oh has it been GLORIOUS!!!! Feels like spring!  But is it?  I'm always a bit hesitant to enjoy this kind of weather too much for fear I will scare it away!  Made me think of a meme I have seen floating around social media.... It's funny...kind of.  I guess the truth can hurt and be funny at the same time, right?!  I worry we are currently experiencing the "spring of deception" -- Mother Nature's cruel joke before she bombards us once again with her cold icy breath.  Maybe we will luck out, but I'm bracing myself just the same. What does that have to do with septic tanks?  Well, when the sun comes out more people tend to call and want their septic tanks pumped.  In fact, all week I have had a bad case of phone ear.  It really is crazy what the weather will make people do.  I used to see it in my classroom when I was teaching middle school science, now I see it in my customers!  We are all creatures who re...

  In our family, the fall is the "most wonderful time of the year."  After working out in the hot sun all summer, fall breezes are particularly delightful.  But fall also comes with rifle season, campfires, turning leaves and Thanksgiving -- all of which are highly anticipated in this home.   You might even say we have unintentionally created our very own holiday with the on-set of deer season.  We take hunting very seriously...and I have the hanging heads of dead deer to prove it -- much to my home-decorating-agony! What a world this family enjoys...pumping poop and hanging dead deer carcass on the wall! Aren't you jealous? But I digress... What do these changing season mean to you as a septic living homeowner? Honestly?  Not much! We still continue to pumping septic systems all year long.  Our only issue comes with the weather and being able to access the tank.  If you are a homeowner who lives on septic, your tank is likely in the back yard or ...

Today I will elaborate on the septic system drainfield and the best way to care for it. As stated last week, after we conduct a percolation test, and it passes, then we can install a conventional septic system.     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 examp...

When you are married to a guy in the septic industry this time of year means PERC TEST DATE NIGHT!  I mean WHO DOESN'T LOVE watching water absorb into the soil on a gorgeous summer evening?!  I often joke with my customers about how my husband and I have our "romantic septic talks" every night....but to some degree it is no lie.  Every night...candlelight or not....we talk septic! But given it is "installation season" this also means perc tests...thus, perc test date night! So, what are perc tests and why do I feel the need to write about them?  Let me elaborate.... If you’re building a residence in the country, something you might not know is you have install your own wastewater system for your home – or a place for all your wastewater to go.  In town, there is plumbing and city sewers to take care of all that, but if you build in the country you have to provide your own sewer system!  The most popular types of wastewater systems are septic syste...

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...