Septic Tank Pumping Explained

They say that buying a home is one of the biggest purchases you will make in your life. With this great financial responsibility comes an equal amount of domestic duties. The “Honey-do” list for a typical home owner is long enough to keep each weekend jam packed with and endless string of chores. Painting, lawn maintenance, tree trimming,  are only a small sampling of what needs to be done on a weekly basis. There are; however, some duties that either fall outside the scope of the typical “weekend warrior” or are just simply something that you would rather pay to have done for you. One such job which sends even the most hardened handyman running for the hills is septic tank pumping. This job can require not only heavy machinery but also an iron constitution.

If you live in an urban setting you may not be familiar with septic tank. In many residential settings there are either sewers or septic tanks. Sewers are a series of underground channels which are connected to a homes internal plumbing which allows the homes waste to be swept off to a sewage treatment facility. On the contrary a septic tank is an underground, cement holding tank that collects the waste underground and then gradually “leeches” the liquid and solid waste back into ground surrounding the tank. These tanks are often buried anywhere from five to ten feet below grounds. Their proximity to the home can be anywhere from a few feet up to thirty yards. The nature of how the septic tank constructed and placed only helps to add to the complexities should you need to do any maintenance.

Given their proximity and nature of construction the septic tank can, and will often get filled. As you can imagine the solution to this problem is often a labor intensive process. If you are without the help of heavy machinery then your only option is a shovel. Coming from someone who has actually hand dug a septic tank I can tell you that this is something you never want to do. It may sound silly, but once you know you need to pump your septic tank you will need to find it. This could take some frustrating starter holes to find the “right spot”. Once you do actually have the septic tank uncovered you will need to remove the cover, which is usually a solid slab of concrete weighing about two hundred pounds. It is extremely important to remember once you do remove the cover you will be hit with a barrage of methane fumes which can cause nausea and blackouts.  So please. BE CAREFUL. The next step is to actually drain the tank. For this you will need to hire a waste removal company that will actually suck the waste out of the tank so that you can cover it and start all over again.

You can use your local yellow pages or do a quick Internet search to find a qualified septic tank pumping company in your area. It is important to check a few things, one that the company has qualified insurance to protect you and your home form their negligence. Two, you will want to check their references to verify that they do a good job and leave a wake of happy customers. Lastly, shop around to see if you can get a better deal on the process. This process should hopefully not need to be completed more than once or twice in a homes lifetime. It should be noted that this all depends on what you put into your septic tank. More durable objects like tampons and feminine napkins as well as condoms will not as easily be disintegrated in the septic tank.