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It seems the search feature is down at the moment and I can't search to see if others have asked.
I recently purchased a home and the cesspool needs to be aerated because it isn't draining well at all. My dad was telling me pumping, aeration and chemicals used to cost around $400-500 but recently I've been seeing ads in Newsday and on trucks advertising prices of around 200. Is this a catch and bait? Does anyone have any experience with companies in suffolk that offer good greats and do a good job?
I don't want to be pumping every few years so I want to treat the cesspool well now in the hopes that I won't need to pump for a long while.
Just checking: "cesspool" isn't the same as "septic system" and, yet, people do seem to use the terms interchangeably sometimes.
A cesspool is usually a precast concrete tank of perforated sides. What many people refer to as "aeration" is really just having a power washer wand inserted into the cesspool to blast sludge that is clogging the perforations above the actual sludge level.
Tubing is inserted into the cesspool, is attached to the inlet of a pump, and tubing attached to the pump's outlet to a power washing wand.
I've also seen water pressure supplied by the tank truck; which gives the operator the opportunity to empty some of the truck's contents into the homeowner's cesspool.
Aeration, in the truest sense, is the process of continuously adding air for aerobic water treatment. I don't know of anyone on LI that has this type of system. There is an aeration pump attached to the system.
A septic system has a tank (no perforations) that is connected to either perforated leach tanks or perforated pipes throughout a leach field. I don't have personal experience with leach fields and I've never known of a homeowner needing maintenance of a septic system with leach tanks.
Thanks you for your explanation James. I opened the tio of the tank with my father as the first tank is over my driveway. I believe it was a cess pool with the perforated sides. The airation I'm talking about is blasting in the sides and base to break up build up because it hasn't been draining well.
No one has loved in the home for about 2 months and yet the water level is still about 2/3 high.
There is a second overflow tank but I don't have access to this tank in the way I have access to the first tank.
OhBeeHave: I've seen them discussed here before, do you know what their rates are approximately?
Thanks you for your explanation James. I opened the tio of the tank with my father as the first tank is over my driveway. I believe it was a cess pool with the perforated sides. The airation I'm talking about is blasting in the sides and base to break up build up because it hasn't been draining well.
No one has loved in the home for about 2 months and yet the water level is still about 2/3 high.
There is a second overflow tank but I don't have access to this tank in the way I have access to the first tank.
OhBeeHave: I've seen them discussed here before, do you know what their rates are approximately?
Depends on how much needs to be pumped. I've gotten by for a few hundred with aeration. It's been 3 years, so things might have increased. I have an old brick pool and an overflow. I usually have the overflow pumped and allow the solids to hold the brick pool up. I had to have the brick pool pumped once after 17 years. That was more as it was more involved -- it backed into a fairly new line and became impacted. That was closer to $500. The serviceman was here for a while until he got everything all cleared out safely and the blocked line flowing.
Thanks you for your explanation James. I opened the tio of the tank with my father as the first tank is over my driveway. I believe it was a cess pool with the perforated sides. The airation I'm talking about is blasting in the sides and base to break up build up because it hasn't been draining well.
No one has loved in the home for about 2 months and yet the water level is still about 2/3 high.
There is a second overflow tank but I don't have access to this tank in the way I have access to the first tank.
OhBeeHave: I've seen them discussed here before, do you know what their rates are approximately?
We used to have what you describe. Using a power washer thingy we got the water level to drop about 33% after just a few minutes of blasting crud off the sides of the cesspool tank.
We discovered it was filling quickly, in part, because the faulty flapper in the basement toilet was causing the sump pump to engage frequently.
Also, the outdoor hot tub was connected to the cesspool; not a dry well...the point is, look at what is being drained into the cesspool. I've even seen homes with roof gutter leaders headed right to where the cesspool is...really dumb to saturate the yard like that.
We used to have what you describe. Using a power washer thingy we got the water level to drop about 33% after just a few minutes of blasting crud off the sides of the cesspool tank.
We discovered it was filling quickly, in part, because the faulty flapper in the basement toilet was causing the sump pump to engage frequently.
Also, the outdoor hot tub was connected to the cesspool; not a dry well...the point is, look at what is being drained into the cesspool. I've even seen homes with roof gutter leaders headed right to where the cesspool is...really dumb to saturate the yard like that.
Thanks for the advice I'll have a look this upcoming weekend. I don't have a power washer but I was thinking of just making a long hose using some piping and using the home water pressure to try and break up the bottom crud. Only my cesspool is accessible without digging up my yard, the overflow liquid pool doesn't have a surface opening until you dig down.
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