Cesspool Maintenance (house, inspections, disposal)

[orchid924]

I know this is not the most interesting topic, but I’m curious how most people maintain their cesspools on Long Island?

How often do they have them pumped?
How often do they have them inspected?
Does anyone add any forms of bacteria? And if yes, what kind and how often?

[Kbinspections]

How old is your system......

[orchid924]

The house and cess pool system was build from 1999 to 2000.

[Kbinspections]

And its a cesspool system and not septic system , correct?

[orchid924]

When I look at the survey -it's indicated by a circle. So, yes it's a cesspool system. Do most people have a septic tank?

[Kbinspections]

No most people on LI have a cesspool.

IMO with a system that new, nothing has to be done. Make sure your are not using a garbage disposal or pour fat down the drains, that your toilets are the newer low volume style and you have a front loading washing machine. Use minimal soaps and deterants as possible as they really hurt the system. Try not to do all your laundry during the same day, try to spread it apart during the week.

[villager-li]

I am curious about this topic as well. My house is 43 years old and I still have the original cesspool. We had it pumped 2 years ago down to about 1/2 (the company doing it advised me that doing any more may make it unstable). We lived here for a few years before that and did not do anything. No clue when it was pumped by the previous owners. Should I be doing anything to "maintain" the cesspool? We do not pour fat down the drains, both our toilets are low volume style, and our washing machine does not go to the cesspool at all, it goes to a dry well.

[orchid924]

Originally Posted by Kbinspections

No most people on LI have a cesspool.

IMO with a system that new, nothing has to be done. Make sure your are not using a garbage disposal or pour fat down the drains, that your toilets are the newer low volume style and you have a front loading washing machine. Use minimal soaps and deterants as possible as they really hurt the system. Try not to do all your laundry during the same day, try to spread it apart during the week.

Thank you (Kbinspections) for your recommendations. I just purchased this home and wanted to start fresh by having the cesspool pumped. You never know what previous owners dumped down the drain.

Also, is it a common practice in Long Island for people to add bacteria or treatments to speed up the breakdown of fats/greases and surfactants from laundry?

[Hinton Bound]

Cesspool Maintenance...

Oh, nevermind. I thought it was a discussion of the Senate and Congress.

[orchid924]

Originally Posted by Hinton Bound

Cesspool Maintenance...

Oh, nevermind. I thought it was a discussion of the Senate and Congress.

You are very FUNNY.