Mysterious hole

Those look like giant worm holes!

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I believe in God's willingness to heal.

Cyngbaeld's Keep Heritage Farm, breeding a variety of historical birds and LaMancha goats. (It is pronounced King Bold.)

The city guys came out and couldn't quite figure it out. They are coming back tomorrow with dye to see if it's my sewer. I also called the "Call before you dig" people to do a line locate. At least I'll know what all is in that area.

Jena

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...to be a rock and not to roll...

Sounds like you have the logical side covered... if my water bill hadn't soared, it's going to be someone else's worry (outside of filling in the hole).

Illogically, you might have Mole Men. I'd catch a few and put em to work!

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

OMG! That is huge!!!

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Teach only Love...for that is what You are

In older of parts of the town there were alot of cisterns,they would cover them up with tin or metal and cover with dirt.The metal or even wood rots away and low and behold a hole full of water,usually no more than 15 feet.

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If you are still mowing the grass then the garden needs to be bigger

If you lived closer to Washington DC...where there are so many politicians, I woulda guessed it was another "A" hole.

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"Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow the fields of those who don't."-Thomas Jefferson

I am now voting for an old septic tank. The city guy poked at it and discovered a hard bottom about six feet down. There is also the remnants of a concrete top. He couldn't discover how wide it is.

My new plan is to find some sucker to dig it up for me so I can see what it is, then fill it all in. Advice on what to fill it with is welcome.

Jena

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...to be a rock and not to roll...

Congrats...you gots an inground swinnin' pool...Sorry, couldn't be helped.

My question is why fill it in? If it was a septic system, wouldn't it be ideal to re purpose it as say compost pile, steralize and make a root cellar (it's a stretch), foundation for chicken coop? Just asking as it could be useful as something.
As for filling it in, probably #2 modified stone, clean fill, and the topsoil.
Glad you found out what it is.
Matt

I'm going to fill my old septic tank with sand because that's what's available here. Any kind of non-organic fill should work.

I won't be removing my tank just filling it up with sand.

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You may have just got a new root cellar, don't look a gift horse in the mouth!

Have you priced what it will cost to dig it up? When ya do you may rethink your curiosity just to see what it is!

Sand is the cheapest fill covered by a layer of rock and dirt at the surface.

It sounds like a septic tank for sure, so there would be no point in digging it up.

Just fill it in with sand unless you can find some free "fill dirt" to use.
Sometimes people doing construction have loads of dirt they need to dispose of

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Jena, is the hole full of water or virtually empty? Assuming it's an old septic tank is fine, but if the hole isn't full of water now, then the effluent is going somewhere. In a septic tank the effluent leaves the tank from near the top, an empty tank indicates that it is draining from the bottom....and filling with sand will allow surface water to filter in and reopen the hole as time goes by. That would mean added expense of having to "lick that calf" again later.

I would keep trying to find out where the water is going, get the city guys with their dye to confirm that it isn't infiltrating their sewer. If it is, it's THEIR baby to fix AND fill your hole. Just my 2 cents and I am an old water/sewer guy who has seen many large caverns under streets etc. which weren't obvious till we dug into them while installing new lines, most are caused by leaky sewers.

dp

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You still need to find out IF it is an old septic tank. All you know at the moment is that you have a hole that holds water, and has something hard in at least some of the bottom of it. I agree that it probably is, but you might have a hole with a rock in it, or... you don't know for sure. The normal way of disposing of a disabled septic tank is to knock a hole in the bottom so it won't hold water and create a dangerous situation like you now have, break up the lid and let the pieces fall into the tank to partially fill it, then use other fill up to ground level. If that was done, why is the tank now holding water, and why is the hole opening up? If it wasn't then the lid may have stayed over it, and now be breaking down - dangerous. Quite possible too - lids were generally a slab of concrete with iron reinforcing mesh. If the concrete broke the mesh would rust, and the concrete break away.

Or someone may have been required to disable the septic system when they were required to connect to the sewerage system (usual), but decided to fake either the whole connection, or just the septic disablement (I've known people who've done it). I've definitely heard of people who didn't destroy the septic system as required, but kept it in reserve - makes sense if the sewerage system depends on pumping, and they wanted to prep for possible breakdown of utilities.

Someone needs to get a metal rod and do some probing on your behalf, to find out more about what you've got down there. That could be someone from local government, someone you hire, or yourself. You can buy a metal rod from hardware, but I'd just try to find a discarded piece of reinforcing rod for reinforced concrete from some construction site.

I'd definitely try to confirm that you have a working sewer connection before destroying the old septic. If that septic is working but breaks down, or is working and the authorities find out, things would get nasty and expensive.

Oh, yes - to fill an old septic tank do as I suggested above. Break the lid into the tank. break holes in the bottom of the tank to allow drainage, fill with gravel or concrete rubble (or any handy on-site material), getting it under any pieces of the lid as well, then top with topsoil.

I'm still chuckling at the idea of turning a USED septic tank that is falling apart into a root cellar. EWWWWWWWWW!!!! And then the possibility of it totally collapsing and being buried there... Not my idea of a good time, great food storage area, or way to save money.

when we had our housefire and moved the house on the property to a new location we had to have our septic collapsed and filled..(doubt if they did a very good job as they were druggies that did it..but we know where it was) also had to have our old basement and well filled..

they are now under lawn in our front yard so we do keep an eye on it..the place where the old septic well cover was there is an indetation in the lawn so we put a garden ornament there to mark it so if there is a problem we are aware what and where.

hope that is all it is..then it is just a matter of filling it with sand

If it is indeed a septic tank, I would think the smell would give it away. (Even if it was an old tank that was never emptied.)

I'd found out what EXACTLY I had (by checking it) and then doing what you want with it. If it is a septic tank, I certainly wouldn't dig it up. Have it pumped out, crack the bottom of it and fill it in.

As for other "uses" for it, have it pumped out put a ladder in it. You now have a instant bomb shelter or tornado shelter!

OR

Have it pumped out and then you could become a serial killer. You could dump quite a few bodies down there!

Let us know what you find out and do. (If you do become a serial killer, you may not want to tell us that!)

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Michael W. Smith in North-West Pennsylvania

"Everything happens for a reason."

When i lived in town and the whole block had to hook to sewer i didn't see one tank get pumped or filled in and the inspectors signed off on them all.

OH MY DOG! PP YOU JUST CRACKED ME UP!

LQ

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