Septic tie in
My septic cleanout is only about 25' off my driveway. Usually I pull in the yard to access it with my slinky. I am considering running an extension to the corner of the house next to the driveway. It'...
Forum Discussion
Mocoondo,
A lot of exaggerating in your post! We have been dumping our many RV's into our home septic tank for over 20 years now and so have our kids been dumping their RV's into it. The total septic system is 45 years old now and still works just fine yet. However, we and the septic pumping service did notice a slight slow down last year as he had us repeatedly flush all 3 toilets over and over with the cold water on full blast in the laundry tub to see if the tank level would rise which happens when the drainfield is clogging. No soggy ground and just a small increase in tank level. It was pumped out and we had it checked out as the drain field is becoming root bound from the 2 large hard maples, a 3 stump soft silver maple, and a mountain ash we had planted ourselves when they were about 3' high 37 years ago. They have surrounded the drain field for the last 37 of the 45 years the septic system has been in.
How do we know it's becoming root bound? Had 8 core samples taken 4' deep around the outside edges of the drain field and all had more various sized roots than dirt content. 45 years of constant use is a very long time for a septic system to last! The cast concrete septic tank was still in excellent shape so we had a second drainfield added starting about 25' away from the old one and both are hooked together. Yes, we got a permit to do it and it was done by a septic system pro and inspected and approved by the county health department. so now we have 2 drainfields off the same septic tank and yes, the external RV drain is still there and used.
When we asked the county health department for a permit to add the RV dump drain, they said we didn't need any as long as it was totally on our property and wasn't hooked to any permanent build structure that was or to be occupied by humans living in. RV's are not considered a permanent structure and that's what they told us. Chicago may have different rules and laws because of the 10 million living there but our system meets the criteria required here and was approved and our septic system works great and always has.
BTW, our county has just under 300,000 people living in it and there's one heck of a lot of septic systems in our county and rarely ever hear of one failing unless not being pumped out often enough and the sludge buildup chokes the usable liquid bacteria action volume. Ours has always been religiously pumped every 5 years without fail. So has the other 3 properties we own septic tanks been pumped every 5 years and they had no problems either.
The big thing that stops the bacteria action in septic tanks is flushing bleach water and bleach containing products into them. Also, some of the other bacteria killers in household etc cleaning etc products. Our health department has several pamphlets on the racks about their usage and the results they cause in septic systems and also in municipal sewage systems. This includes other items like Handi-Wipes or Baby Wipes etc.
A lot of exaggerating in your post! We have been dumping our many RV's into our home septic tank for over 20 years now and so have our kids been dumping their RV's into it. The total septic system is 45 years old now and still works just fine yet. However, we and the septic pumping service did notice a slight slow down last year as he had us repeatedly flush all 3 toilets over and over with the cold water on full blast in the laundry tub to see if the tank level would rise which happens when the drainfield is clogging. No soggy ground and just a small increase in tank level. It was pumped out and we had it checked out as the drain field is becoming root bound from the 2 large hard maples, a 3 stump soft silver maple, and a mountain ash we had planted ourselves when they were about 3' high 37 years ago. They have surrounded the drain field for the last 37 of the 45 years the septic system has been in.
How do we know it's becoming root bound? Had 8 core samples taken 4' deep around the outside edges of the drain field and all had more various sized roots than dirt content. 45 years of constant use is a very long time for a septic system to last! The cast concrete septic tank was still in excellent shape so we had a second drainfield added starting about 25' away from the old one and both are hooked together. Yes, we got a permit to do it and it was done by a septic system pro and inspected and approved by the county health department. so now we have 2 drainfields off the same septic tank and yes, the external RV drain is still there and used.
When we asked the county health department for a permit to add the RV dump drain, they said we didn't need any as long as it was totally on our property and wasn't hooked to any permanent build structure that was or to be occupied by humans living in. RV's are not considered a permanent structure and that's what they told us. Chicago may have different rules and laws because of the 10 million living there but our system meets the criteria required here and was approved and our septic system works great and always has.
BTW, our county has just under 300,000 people living in it and there's one heck of a lot of septic systems in our county and rarely ever hear of one failing unless not being pumped out often enough and the sludge buildup chokes the usable liquid bacteria action volume. Ours has always been religiously pumped every 5 years without fail. So has the other 3 properties we own septic tanks been pumped every 5 years and they had no problems either.
The big thing that stops the bacteria action in septic tanks is flushing bleach water and bleach containing products into them. Also, some of the other bacteria killers in household etc cleaning etc products. Our health department has several pamphlets on the racks about their usage and the results they cause in septic systems and also in municipal sewage systems. This includes other items like Handi-Wipes or Baby Wipes etc.
