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I remember when I searched for houses, everyone tended to have 20 years old septic system which is near its end of life. For connected sewage, this is never a question.
Sometimes it is. Since we moved to our current home 7 years ago, our sewer bill has more than doubled because of needed upgrades - or because something wasn't done right the first time around. We pay about $90/month, and it is going up again soon to about $100.
Our previous home had septic, and we had it pumped every couple years. Maybe a couple hundred dollars. We lived there five years and had no problems. So in that case, septic was much cheaper.
However, we also had septic at a rental home we owned. That septic system had a pump because the drainage field was up a hill, and the pump had all sorts of problems. Also, the drain field was in a wooded area but had to be kept clear of trees. To make it worse, the renters flushed things that never should have been flushed, and they had a big family, probably beyond the reasonable limits of the septic system. We spent a lot of money to maintain and repair that septic system.
GENERALLY, its my understanding that they don't force you to right away. Its a situation where they won't issue a permit when the septic system needs replacing and you're likely on the hook for thousands anyway.
How Hemlock140 presented it is definitely how our township's code is written. You have a 6 months to connect to their sewer at your expense. However, they limit the distance to 150ft, and I've never seen any plans or easements to think they're planning on running sewer anytime soon.
Don't do it, unless you have to. At some point you'll have to replace it (thousands of dollars). You have to use monthly packets to make sure it has enough bacteria. And it has to be pumped out every several to five years, depending (cost where I am is about $400). And you have to be painstakingly careful about what you pour down the drain. I mean....every single thing. That's no problem for me or others who are environmentally careful, but it means not using your preferred laundry, cleaning your sinks & tubs with products that have bleach, etc. I don't do THAT much laundry, since I'm not a family, and I use septic-safe detergents. I don't like bleach, anyway. I use vinegar, baking soda, and other environmentally safe products.
I have bleached some things a couple of times. I put them in a washtub to soak (careful not to keep the strength weak), then dump it my yard far from septic tank.
In walking around the neighborhood, sometimes I get a whiff of the horrible stench from all the septic tanks. Sort of ruins a walk on a pretty day.
In walking around the neighborhood, sometimes I get a whiff of the horrible stench from all the septic tanks. Sort of ruins a walk on a pretty day.
Then something is wrong with those septic systems. I never smell any odor from mine. I do however smell the odor coming from the sewer manholes in town.
Agreed. There should be no smell from septic systems.
And we are careful about what we put down the system, but not obsessive about it. We even sometimes use bleach, and there is still plenty of bacteria in there. It's a 1200 gallon tank full of bio-activity. Far more bio-activity than one cup of bleach in some laundry can kill.
We use liquid rather than powdered laundry soap, because powdered forms a hard floating crust. I wouldn't think sewer systems would like that either!
We had a lot of paper last time around at 5 years between pumpings, so this time we're going to do 3-4.
Other than that, we hardly worry about it.
Last edited by Diana Holbrook; 07-25-2019 at 03:02 PM..
as been said either you have septic or sewer its not really a choice...that being said while you may not have monthly bills BUT you will have bills, we currently are on septic and we choose to use enzymes every month and it gets pumped every 2-3 years so its not exactly "free" and if your drainfield gets messed up that is NOT cheap, so no grease no disposal and septic safe products are important
It’s not really that much maintenance. It’s not advised to use the enzymes unless there’s a problem. We do pump every few years and ours has needed it that often (as opposed to what another poster said). We also just used common sense on what to put down the drains. No special toilet paper needed. Our drain field was redone after 40 years and was a couple thousand dollars.. So it’s really not any big deal or major expense to maintain the system.
Don't do it, unless you have to. At some point you'll have to replace it (thousands of dollars). You have to use monthly packets to make sure it has enough bacteria. And it has to be pumped out every several to five years, depending (cost where I am is about $400). And you have to be painstakingly careful about what you pour down the drain. I mean....every single thing. That's no problem for me or others who are environmentally careful, but it means not using your preferred laundry, cleaning your sinks & tubs with products that have bleach, etc. I don't do THAT much laundry, since I'm not a family, and I use septic-safe detergents. I don't like bleach, anyway. I use vinegar, baking soda, and other environmentally safe products.
I have bleached some things a couple of times. I put them in a washtub to soak (careful not to keep the strength weak), then dump it my yard far from septic tank.
In walking around the neighborhood, sometimes I get a whiff of the horrible stench from all the septic tanks. Sort of ruins a walk on a pretty day.
Sorry but most of this is not true, and you should not be smelling a septic tank unless there is some major issue.
Don't do it, unless you have to. At some point you'll have to replace it (thousands of dollars). You have to use monthly packets to make sure it has enough bacteria. And it has to be pumped out every several to five years, depending (cost where I am is about $400). And you have to be painstakingly careful about what you pour down the drain. I mean....every single thing. That's no problem for me or others who are environmentally careful, but it means not using your preferred laundry, cleaning your sinks & tubs with products that have bleach, etc. I don't do THAT much laundry, since I'm not a family, and I use septic-safe detergents. I don't like bleach, anyway. I use vinegar, baking soda, and other environmentally safe products.
I have bleached some things a couple of times. I put them in a washtub to soak (careful not to keep the strength weak), then dump it my yard far from septic tank.
In walking around the neighborhood, sometimes I get a whiff of the horrible stench from all the septic tanks. Sort of ruins a walk on a pretty day.
IMHO this is somewhat melodramatic. Taking care of a septic isn't hard. No, you don't need monthly packets to produce bacteria, in fact they can do more harm than good. I seem to recall neighbors family friends holding a "christening" of a brand new septic by flushing a cup of cow or horse pucky down the drain. That's it. Funny, I grew up on and have lived places entirely on septics and hardly ever smelled one. In the rare event you did, there was a specific reason for it. My last house on a septic (single occupant away at work M-F) didn't get a pump out for 12 years (remote, no pumping available after the previous service's owner died). It was fine.
It's always amusing to me, because the things you shouldn't flush/put in the drain on septic are the same as on public sewer. Tons of chemicals, grease, baby wipes, etc are a huge problem for municipal sewer treatment systems as well. I guess that's a 'tragedy of the commons' thing where people don't care about their burden on others.
Another pro of septic is if you're one of the lowest laterals on an overused/abused public sewer, you could have (other peoples') sewage back into your house through no fault of your own.
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