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Drawings look like it was well thought out and properly installed.
I suspect you will have a pretty trouble free system.
I suspect you will have a pretty trouble free system.
Does anyone speak septic system?
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No flushing Cigerates.
Lived in my house 20 years just had it pumped out this summer. Depends on how many people live in home. My septic was built for total people that might live in it. Like 6 bedroom house 2 people per bedroom kind of thing.
You have a big system for the house .
You must have bad ground .
You should pump every 3/5 years .
Depending how many people you have .
Check the pump tank pump and check the septic really that is about it pump it out .
Don’t fool with your valves .
Normally with a system like that there are 2 pumps with a switch that turns them on one at a time and sends water to one field then the other .
The valves are timed to the gallons per Minute the pipes are rated for.
Your system has one pipe that is timed to flood your first field and the let the other half of the watergo to your second field equality .
It looks good , there should be a pump alarm on the tank if the water gets to high it should beep and there should be a light some where .
You must have bad ground .
You should pump every 3/5 years .
Depending how many people you have .
Check the pump tank pump and check the septic really that is about it pump it out .
Don’t fool with your valves .
Normally with a system like that there are 2 pumps with a switch that turns them on one at a time and sends water to one field then the other .
The valves are timed to the gallons per Minute the pipes are rated for.
Your system has one pipe that is timed to flood your first field and the let the other half of the watergo to your second field equality .
It looks good , there should be a pump alarm on the tank if the water gets to high it should beep and there should be a light some where .
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16 Posts
Thank you for the clarity! I'll definitely have it pumped when I move in. And I'll have the septic person go over the valves and alarm with me. I looked for the alarm/light today but no luck. I did find 2 holes by the drainfields where there were red knobs (I presume these are related to the alternation).
Don’t mess with the knobs if it is they type of system I’m thinking they can’t be moved , it will change the flow of water .
When we set a systems flow we run the pump into a 35 gallon garbage can and time the mins per gallon for the Engineers and inspectors it’s a reel xxxx show .
If you pop the lid on the pump tank you should see 3 ball floats one for on
the lower float
One for off the center float and one up high that should be your hi water alarm
You could just have one ball that turns the pump on and off but they don’t work really good they burn out fast .
Do you have a pump panel ?
This is where the wire gets hooked into .
When we set a systems flow we run the pump into a 35 gallon garbage can and time the mins per gallon for the Engineers and inspectors it’s a reel xxxx show .
If you pop the lid on the pump tank you should see 3 ball floats one for on
the lower float
One for off the center float and one up high that should be your hi water alarm
You could just have one ball that turns the pump on and off but they don’t work really good they burn out fast .
Do you have a pump panel ?
This is where the wire gets hooked into .
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I'm not sure. I have no idea what to look for. Still a learning curve. I will be there tomorrow and look some more.
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I had my septic tank pumped eight years ago for a hundred bucks, and haven't had trouble since, and I do flush T.P. I'm interested in building an Earth Closet (as opposed to a water closet) as described in Vivian Poore's "Rural Hygeine". Outhouses are cool, and there's a great and funny book on them, called "The Specialist", but an Earth Closet is the answer to completing the circle and allowing aerobic processes to take place which will turn your waste into good soil.
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40,245 Posts
That's a spin on Humanure. 
and sawdust toilets
www.nature-loo.com.au
.
and sawdust toilets
Sawdust Toilets – The Ultimate Guide - Nature Loo | Environmental Waste and Wastewater Management Systems
Thinking about installing a sawdust toilet in your home? Find out everything you need to know before you install.
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What do those do?
The engineer's design indicated there was supposed to be an alarm. My systems have alarms for pump failure.
The engineer's design indicated there was supposed to be an alarm. My systems have alarms for pump failure.
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16 Posts
I honestly have no idea what they're for. My guess is that they are related to alternating the drain fields? But I am guessing I'll need to figure out how to contact the engineer or a more thorough septic company to come figure it out. If there is a panel/alarm, I can't find it anywhere.
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591 Posts
The elbow was because they switched from the old septic tank to the new two chamber setup with pump.
When mom sold they did something similar, her old tank and field were directly behind the house. The contractor placed her new twin chamber tank and added a 90 elbow to join the house to the new system then he pumped out he old tank and crushed/filled it. Mom had ground that still perked so the just added a single drain field and a gravity system.
I had the sealed holding tank under the cabin outhouse pumped last fall $280.00 to pump 1000 gal tank. The operator said they won't do houses around my cabin any more as the sand mounds often have pump failures and the customers balk at the $750.00 to replace the pump and the extra $0.28 per extra gal when the pump out the flooded systems.
When mom sold they did something similar, her old tank and field were directly behind the house. The contractor placed her new twin chamber tank and added a 90 elbow to join the house to the new system then he pumped out he old tank and crushed/filled it. Mom had ground that still perked so the just added a single drain field and a gravity system.
I had the sealed holding tank under the cabin outhouse pumped last fall $280.00 to pump 1000 gal tank. The operator said they won't do houses around my cabin any more as the sand mounds often have pump failures and the customers balk at the $750.00 to replace the pump and the extra $0.28 per extra gal when the pump out the flooded systems.
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40,245 Posts
Ah, just another thought. All of the systems that I have here in Travis County and in Jackson County, I am REQUIRED by the county to have a contract with a septic company, have the system inspected on a schedule, and have those inspection reports sent to the county. You might want to check on that in your county.
The company that designed what you have now:
Envirowell Services
4092 County Road 342
Lavernia, TX 78121-4877
http://www.envirowell.com
(830) 743-0826
The company that designed what you have now:
Envirowell Services
4092 County Road 342
Lavernia, TX 78121-4877
http://www.envirowell.com
(830) 743-0826
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16 Posts
I think I read that somewhere too. I'm in Bexar. When my pecans fall I'll owe you a pie for all your help.
Hmmmmmm the alarm is on the riser pipe in the pump tank , pop the lid and see if there is a ball laying on top of the liquid with a wire ?
I suppose the alarm could be powered from the pump power line and a splice box and alarm could be in the tank ?
There looks like there is a extra valve that is not on the plan ?
There would be a valve in the pump tank to slow the total flow out of the pump then there should be a valve at the first field to adjust the fluid and a valve at the second field to adjust fluid .
when a system is tuned in I remove the handles most of the time .
In my area NY we can’t pump our systems like that , I have to set 2 pumps so if one stops working there is a second pump as back up.
I allso run a 2 “ lines from each pump to the fields .
Alica has a good idea just call the Engineer he should have a copy of the plans in his office ?
But he dosent have the second valve in plan , he mite remember the job ,in my area the engineer is required to inspect the work and approve it .
I suppose the alarm could be powered from the pump power line and a splice box and alarm could be in the tank ?
There looks like there is a extra valve that is not on the plan ?
There would be a valve in the pump tank to slow the total flow out of the pump then there should be a valve at the first field to adjust the fluid and a valve at the second field to adjust fluid .
when a system is tuned in I remove the handles most of the time .
In my area NY we can’t pump our systems like that , I have to set 2 pumps so if one stops working there is a second pump as back up.
I allso run a 2 “ lines from each pump to the fields .
Alica has a good idea just call the Engineer he should have a copy of the plans in his office ?
But he dosent have the second valve in plan , he mite remember the job ,in my area the engineer is required to inspect the work and approve it .
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16 Posts
Next time I'm there I'll pop the lid and look. And I'll call the engineer for sure. You don't live near me but you're also owed a pecan pie for all your help. Ha!
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Ditto!!
Typically a system like yours is pretty forgiving and takes very minimal care. You will need to maintain that pump, since you have the extra holding tank, those pumps do wear out and need some watching.
the less oddball stuff you put in it, the less issues it will ever have.
the one thing that will destroy any septic system is if you let the tank get full of solids that they start floating out the pipe to the drain field. This seals up your drain field and wrecks it. Very bad.
a common govt requirement is to pump your tank every 3 years.
in reality, the time between pumping depends on how much odd stuff goes into the tank, how big the tank is.
I didn’t have mine pumped for 15years, the fella said it was actually good, would not fill up for many more years. Only 2 of us, and we don’t put very much stuff down the drains, very low users.
If you do lots of laundry, lots of pet hair, lots of cooking grease, a waste disposal on the sink, have a house full of 8 people, and so on, the same system might get full of solids in 18 months........
so, if you don’t know when it was pumped out, it might be good to do this summer, and be there, ask a question or two. They can tell you how full it is, how it is working.
we know we are pretty good, because we aren’t hard on our system.
it is something you will have to discover, it depends on how you use the system and how big it is.
the septic tank is sort of like a stomach, it takes everything that comes in and separated it into grease floating on top, water in the middle, and solids settle to the bottom. The solids slowly get ‘digested’ into gases and water and ash.
the ash will slowly build up on the bottom, along with dirt, and other things that can’t be digested, like laundry fibers, glossy paper, etc.
the water drains away.
the grease very very slowly breaks down on top. It is possible to feed more grease in that can be broken down.
so, whatever you can do to slow down the amount of ash/ dirt, and slow down the amount of grease helps extend the time between pump outs.
the less oddball stuff you put in it, the less issues it will ever have.
the one thing that will destroy any septic system is if you let the tank get full of solids that they start floating out the pipe to the drain field. This seals up your drain field and wrecks it. Very bad.
a common govt requirement is to pump your tank every 3 years.
in reality, the time between pumping depends on how much odd stuff goes into the tank, how big the tank is.
I didn’t have mine pumped for 15years, the fella said it was actually good, would not fill up for many more years. Only 2 of us, and we don’t put very much stuff down the drains, very low users.
If you do lots of laundry, lots of pet hair, lots of cooking grease, a waste disposal on the sink, have a house full of 8 people, and so on, the same system might get full of solids in 18 months........
so, if you don’t know when it was pumped out, it might be good to do this summer, and be there, ask a question or two. They can tell you how full it is, how it is working.
we know we are pretty good, because we aren’t hard on our system.
it is something you will have to discover, it depends on how you use the system and how big it is.
the septic tank is sort of like a stomach, it takes everything that comes in and separated it into grease floating on top, water in the middle, and solids settle to the bottom. The solids slowly get ‘digested’ into gases and water and ash.
the ash will slowly build up on the bottom, along with dirt, and other things that can’t be digested, like laundry fibers, glossy paper, etc.
the water drains away.
the grease very very slowly breaks down on top. It is possible to feed more grease in that can be broken down.
so, whatever you can do to slow down the amount of ash/ dirt, and slow down the amount of grease helps extend the time between pump outs.
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