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When people talk about the cost of replacing an old septic system, they often don't think about what costs are associated with replacing/upgrading an old public sewer system. If your house is 40+ years old, it's pretty likely that the public sewer system is that old or older, and in need of repairs. When the township/city needs to spend $$millions$$ replacing that sewer system, guess where the money is going to come from? Many sewer systems around here were built during the 80s-90s housing boom, and there is a big issue with how these aging systems are going to be dealt with.
For my area, public sewer (about 20% of the houses in the township are connected) costs about $900 a year (and likely to increase.) That kind of money makes a septic system (required pump every 3 years - $250) start to look pretty darn good. Even if you need a system replacement at some point, if you can get 20+ years out of it -- and you ought to -- then you still come out ahead with septic.
My house is over 40 years old and I’ve never had a problem with the septic. I pumped it a year or two after I bought the house 25 years ago and again last year. The septic pumped said the tank was fine, no hard solids at the top.
I’m in northern Illinois and so we have some pretty hard deep freezes and I’ve never had a problem. My soil under the black dirt is pit run, which is very good for drainage.
Corrected to say "a 20 year old neglected septic system which is near the end of its life". No reason why a 20 year old system isn't maintainable. I've lived in houses on septics for decades. The system on one house was 20, another 10. My current house is 38. It works just fine. I don't pour or flush bad things down the drain and get the tank pumped periodically (maybe costs $300 every 4-5 years) so paper, grease, or other solids don't damage the leach field. Pretty simple. The water filtered by the leach field ends up back in the local soil instead of getting chemically processed in a sewage plant too.
When we sold our last house it was something like 53 years old and came with the original septic system. We maintained the septic system and took the care you mentioned not to pour or flush bad stuff down the drain during the 27 years we lived there, and other than having to replace a solids deflector before the sale ( the septic system was drained and inspected by a septic tank company), the system was good to go.
We had a well and septic system put in for the house we built in 2008. The septic system meets the current county/state codes as far as required size, placement relative to the well, the waterfront edge of the property and the neighbor's well. It's a traditional anaerobic system-we had the acreage required to meet the distance requirements for this system. We were told by the septic tank company that the design of these tanks (put in after 2000, I guess), were made to protect the leachfield from solids, and it was almost impossible to contaminate the leach field with solids with these systems. Still, we take the same precautions as we always did with septic systems.
Here's an article that explains the different type of septic systems, the pros and cons of each. Good information, IMO, for those homebuyers considering properties with septic systems.
I never had a problem with my septic system in the winter, or any other time. In fact, I've never heard of one freezing in Alaska. A properly designed and built system will function correctly all year around in any climate.
The key here in bold. I'm also in AK and have always had septic...no problems. Most of the people I've known here were also on septics. Never heard of one freezing.
Septic is a turnoff for people like me who have always lived in homes with city sewer service. It is just an unknown to me. I wouldn't say I would NEVER buy a house with a septic system, but it would give me pause.
Not sure where you got the idea that 20 years is near the end of a septic system life. Concrete septic tanks should last at least 40 years. The leech/drain field should last at least that long. I've lived in a house that had at least a 50 year old drain field with no problems. Pumping every few years, depending on the usage, making sure one doesn't plant trees in the field or continuously run heavy equipment over the drain field will help extend the life of the system.
Connected sewage can and does fail. Ever heard of a company called Roto-rooter? Pipes can bust, roots can grow into the pipes, etc. I think people with septic systems tend to exercise greater care than those with connected sewage. I speak from personal experience. We never once thought about where we planted trees or what we dumped down a drain when we were on sewer. We now do think about those things and our nearly 20 year old septic system is just fine.
I had this happen to me. Roots got into my sewer pipe and clogged it up. The system was built with no cleanout to get it completely cleared, so one had to be installed. I would say anyone buying a house connected to city sewer should look for a cleanout somewhere on the property or know you might be in for an expense down the road. I was VERY fortunate that my clog was in the right-of-way and the county excavated down, sealed the pipe and installed a cleanout near the street (because of the terrain slope, they had to dig deep).....but not before I had to install a smaller one closer to the house to find out what the problem was.
I much prefer sewers to septic systems. I might be biased because I experienced the smell of my college roommate's neighborhood north of Boston during a hot September weekend. The Mass north shore was very resistant to installing sewers, and the properties are simply too small for proper drainage during the warm weather months.
Here on Long Island sewers were belatedly installed in my neighborhood about 15-20 years after the houses were first built with septic tanks, again because the plots of land are simply too small for proper dispersion.
My sister in suburban/exurban Delaware has a septic system which seems to work well, but she also has a 2-acre lawn.
I hate the idea of septic tanks - to me they give the feeling that the neighborhood was shoddily/improperly designed.
I will acknowledge that in my old single family neighborhood in Los Angeles growing up sewer lines were regularly clogged by tree roots between the sidewalk and the street, requiring expensive repairs.
Location: Danbury CT covering all of Fairfield County
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A septic system is pretty much standard in my market, unless you in a condo, close to the town center or in certain areas. Do an inspection when you buy the home, get it pumped every 2-3 years and be responsible on useage.
I hate the idea of septic tanks - to me they give the feeling that the neighborhood was shoddily/improperly designed.
I never realized myself, but septic systems are surprisingly common in the US, especially on the East coast. Something like 20% of all households use one, and 1/3 of all new development uses them.
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