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I've lived in the "big city" all my life. We obviously have city services including city sewer, so we've never given a thought about what gets flushed, pushed down the garbage disposal, cleaning chemicals, etc.
Our desire to now move to a location with our preferred political climate, demographic and land size is almost always involved properties with septic. I've heard the terms "septic", "aerobic septic with sprinklers" among others, and I am coming up to speed with the terminology & technology.
I don't want to overstate it, but it seems that septic is much more fussy. No bleach, cleaning chemicals, less "stuff" down the kitchen garbage disposal... and I need septic-specific dish soap, dishwasher soap, TP, etc... and how do I clean a paint brush for water-based paint where the soap and residual paint goes into septic?
I always used bleach when necessary. I didn't buy septic specific soap or toilet paper either. I just was more aware of what was going into the septic system, if that makes sense.
I'd clean a large brush outside with a hose but small brushes, I just always cleaned in the house in the sink.
Anyway I have only had one septic system and it was a more rural property. I would do it again. That being said, it wasn't a selling point, but it also wasn't a big enough negative to keep me from buying the property.
I noticed that some of the houses that I looked at have septic tank.
Wonder if anyone has septic tank at their homes and have dealt with 1.
I grew up in a house with septic tank. I don't remember much about it other it being in the back of the house, underground. It didn't smell nor bother us in anyway. Except our house toilets were clogged quite a bit. I think it was due to our dad didn't have people come and pump it out regularly.
Do you think it would affect resale value of a house? Would u buy a house with septic tank?
I’d buy a house with a septic tank before I’d buy one that relies on city sewers. Wife and I built our last two homes and we chose not to be too near any city. Love the privacy and freedom associated with it.
As far as resale value homes with septic systems where we live have a much higher value than homes with a city sewer system.
And you don’t have to pump it every 5 or 6 years. Just maintain it properly. Don’t put cigarette butts or other material that doesn’t dissolve quickly down the toilet and occasionally add bacteria. Perhaps 2 or 3 times a year. Many I know don’t and their septics still do well and don’t need pumping. Ever!
These comments where people are saying they pump every 5 years. There’s something wrong with their systems.
I only had ours pumped once in 15 years and that was only because a drainage elbow came lose that wasn’t installed properly. Didn’t need to be pumped but did it anyway.
Last edited by Leona Valley; 11-01-2021 at 02:02 PM..
I always used bleach when necessary. I didn't buy septic specific soap or toilet paper either. I just was more aware of what was going into the septic system, if that makes sense.
I'd clean a large brush outside with a hose but small brushes, I just always cleaned in the house in the sink.
Anyway I have only had one septic system and it was a more rural property. I would do it again. That being said, it wasn't a selling point, but it also wasn't a big enough negative to keep me from buying the property.
I'm with you. I have always lived on septic systems. It pays to know your system and what is likely to cause problems, but I have always used some bleach, and regular soaps, and cleaned brushes in the sink.
Too much of anything is bad but most things in moderation will be fine. Try not to have extreme uses, and pump the tank periodically, like every 5-10 years, depending on how many people live there. This will keep the solids layers from getting too thick.
If you're having to pump out your septic every 3-5 years, your doing something wrong. We've had ours pumped once in 41 years. And the only reason we did it was because there was a backup due to our young son flushing paper towels down the toilet. It turned out to be some of them caught on a rough spot in a pipe. When we opened the tank up the guy said it was in perfect shape and to keep doing whatever we were doing to maintain it. What I do is put "Septi-free" in a toilet once a month and flush it at night when we go to bed. And of course be careful what you put down your drains. It's not a garbage disposal, it can't process chunks or grease.
Exactly this. No need to pump it ever if you maintain it correctly.
Exactly this. No need to pump it ever if you maintain it correctly.
It is the solids layers that get too thick causing solids to go out into the drainfield, that causes systems to fail.
No one is perfect and without opening it up you have no way of knowing whether it needs pumped or not. That nature and septics are often fairly forgiving doesn't mean maintenance is a bad idea. I recommend at least checking the levels every few years.
If you cook with a lot of fat or grease, pump it more often.
If you have more than a few women in the house (more paper useage ) or are at the capacity for the house and entertain often, pump it more often.
If you only have a couple people in the house and go easy on it.... you can get away with more. The house I grew up in went 20 years with no pumping. The house I'm currently in, with us and a tenant in an attached apartment, we plan to pump every 4 years because we had a fairly thick paper layer at 5 years and it caused a backup. We'll see how it does with that. It's not worth being stubborn about.
My house was built in 1973 and my leach field finally started failing this year. When your leach field starts failing no amount of pumping the tank out will help. The soil here doesn't perc very well, so I'm surprised it even lasted this long. Septics work better with sandy fast draining soil.
Technically the city sewer isn't available for my address, however I'm getting an easement through the property next door, so that I can connect to it on another street. Normally, if the sewer is available and you choose not to connect to it, there's a $10 per month penalty on the water bill.
I've lived in the "big city" all my life. We obviously have city services including city sewer, so we've never given a thought about what gets flushed, pushed down the garbage disposal, cleaning chemicals, etc.
Our desire to now move to a location with our preferred political climate, demographic and land size is almost always involved properties with septic. I've heard the terms "septic", "aerobic septic with sprinklers" among others, and I am coming up to speed with the terminology & technology.
I don't want to overstate it, but it seems that septic is much more fussy. No bleach, cleaning chemicals, less "stuff" down the kitchen garbage disposal... and I need septic-specific dish soap, dishwasher soap, TP, etc... and how do I clean a paint brush for water-based paint where the soap and residual paint goes into septic?
No...
I use TP the same TP I've always bought at Costco. I use the same dish soap, and dishwasher soap that I've always used. We clean paint brushes the same way we always have. If I need to use bleach, I use bleach. The stuff I mop the floors with is the same fabuloso as always.
I'd caution you about dumping fat down the drain or chunks of food.
I think some of these problems come from people that are overloading the system, like they live in a 1250 square foot house with 9 people.
I’d buy a house with a septic tank before I’d buy one that relies on city sewers. Wife and I built our last two homes and we chose not to be too near any city. Love the privacy and freedom associated with it.
As far as resale value homes with septic systems where we live have a much higher value than homes with a city sewer system.
And you don’t have to pump it every 5 or 6 years. Just maintain it properly. Don’t put cigarette butts or other material that doesn’t dissolve quickly down the toilet and occasionally add bacteria. Perhaps 2 or 3 times a year. Many I know don’t and their septics still do well and don’t need pumping. Ever!
These comments where people are saying they pump every 5 years. There’s something wrong with their systems.
I only had ours pumped once in 15 years and that was only because a drainage elbow came lose that wasn’t installed properly. Didn’t need to be pumped but did it anyway.
I agree somewhat. I would prefer city sewage over septic and I have had both. I say pump it out every 3 to5 years. Also never, ever have a garbage disposal unit with a septic system.
Many I know don’t and their septics still do well and don’t need pumping. Ever!
These comments where people are saying they pump every 5 years. There’s something wrong with their systems.
Not necessarily. Assuming the household pays some attention to what goes down the drains and how often, how well a septic functions is influenced by the soil conditions in that area. I've lived on septics in higher altitude colder climates for over 30 years. No municipal sewer options so it was either septic or a pit toilet/greywater arrangement. Anaerobic bacterial activity in the tank can be much slower in colder soils and it is usually much slower than the rate at which the tank fills with sludge. Those septic additives don't really help much for the same reason. The added microbes may bloom for a short time, but once the chill gets to them they die. Septic tanks in these sorts of areas need pumping periodically. How often varies with household use. Just the way it is.
A pump out every few years isn't going to hurt anything nor will it break the bank. A septic service can inspect the condition of your tank when they pump it. They can detect issues such as excessive grease or paper build up. The services I've used kept detailed records about their clients' systems over time: detected problems, capacities, etc. Listen and learn. They can help you maintain your system.
When I consider buying a house on a septic system I find out who serviced it and ask them about its history, any previous problems, repairs, leach field issues, whether anything was abandoned in place or relocated. While the property disclosure may give the date it was last pumped, I still try to talk to the company that did it. You can learn a lot about what works in that specific area.
As for how careful I am with what I put down the drain, it isn't draconian. I use ordinary recycled content TP instead of the fancy "luxury" stuff (never saw the point of a luxury version of a product you use once for about 2 seconds and toss). A bit of a dilemma about laundry/dishwasher detergents. Overusing powdered products can create more of a problem for drains and septic systems but liquids need to come in a plastic jug which then may or may not end up getting recycled. I don't flush higher absorption facial tissue or wipes, paper toweling or feminine products, don't dump excessive amounts of bleach, other toxic chemicals or grease (a couple of tablespoons isn't excessive IMO), and don't use the garbage disposal if whoever outfitted the house was clueless enough to install one. There are so many ordinary foods disposals don't seem to handle well anyway. IMHO they're a PITA appliance and not worth trying to second guess what will agree with them.
Last edited by Parnassia; 11-02-2021 at 03:57 PM..
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) or are at the capacity for the house and entertain often, pump it more often.
