HELP!!!! (septic system)

[Peanut Giggleface]

Maybe if you get some time you can do a little research on how septic systems work. Once you do, you'll understand that tampons will not damage your system or back it up any more than solid organic waste . All septic systems have to have a drain field which is a system of pipes that drain the excess water out of the tank. The tank consists of solid waste that sinks to the bottom and water waste that fills the tank up. Once the tank fills with solid waste and water (it will always be full of water), the overflow water will drain out of the pipes going out of your tank throughout your drain field. So taking long showers or doing laundry all day isn't going to damage your system at all. Over time the solid waste will fill more and more of your septic tank up leaving less space for the waste water. This is why you should have your tank pumped every 5-7 years (standard guidelines). Our county recommends having a tank pumped every 3-5 years but in our experience that is overkill.

I've never heard of a septic tank that can't be pumped. I would do some research on that as well as the paperwork that came with your house to find out what kind of tank you have. If you don't have any paperwork that came with the house, then contact your county building/planning department. They will have the schematics on file and can tell you where the tank can be pumped. Good luck and relax, you don't have anything to worry about.

One more thing, those wipes do not decompose and will just fill your tank up faster. But a few isolated days of one person using those things will not make any difference to your tank. We used them for about a year under the impression they decomposed like toilet paper. Well they don't and when we had our septic tank pumped last time, the technician recommended we stop using them. Again, no damage, just not a good idea to use.

 

[scrapquitler]

I know there are things that can't be flushed down the toilet when you have a septic sytem. I had company over the weekend who "forgot" what I had told her and flushed tampons and wipes. Is there anything I can do now, or do I just hold my breath and pray it doesn't cause a problem?

Unless there is something wrong with your septic, tampons shouldn't be a problem. As for the wipes, if they are flushable ones, again, they shouldn't be a problem either, especially if they aren't something that is getting flushed all the time. If they aren't flushable, then yeah, it could be a problem. Probably a one time thing isn't going to cause a big problem.

 

[gator75]

I wouldn't worry if i where you all will be fine. We have had a septic for 34 years. I t gave out after 25 years and we had to replace it, but i wasn't becasue of what was being flushed it wore out.My parents went through 3 teenage girls in their house and the only things that caused septic trouble was when my sister got the idea to flush maxi pad down the toilet. Please don't ask me why she did this i don't know, but anyway you will be fine.

The only things that are a no no are grease and big amounts of bleach as it kills the bacteria that help the system out. We get ours pumped every fall so once a year. I t probly dosen't need it that often but with 5 adults in the house we don't want to take a chance.

 

[tzolkin]

I've never heard of a septic tank that can't be pumped. I would do some research on that as well as the paperwork that came with your house to find out what kind of tank you have. If you don't have any paperwork that came with the house, then contact your county building/planning department. They will have the schematics on file and can tell you where the tank can be pumped. Good luck and relax, you don't have anything to worry about.
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I will ask about it at the town office. That's a good idea.

The previous owners had the house for 60 years (It's almost 130 years old) and we purchased it from the children. In our paperwork it says "Type of system: Septic, Age: 11 years, Last pumped: Unknown. We know where the tank is because during drought summers we get a brown square in our lawn, but when we dug there it looks like they just built a "tank", laid a piece of plywood and poured concrete over it.

This is actually pretty typical of all the other messed up things they did to the house. Our paperwork also says that there had never been any fires in the house and during renovations we have found two, one rather large. The neighbors all remember it (homeowner was the fire chief) and the kids were in HS at the time so it's not like they were unaware, they just lied.

 

[PatsMom]

I will ask about it at the town office. That's a good idea.

The previous owners had the house for 60 years (It's almost 130 years old) and we purchased it from the children. In our paperwork it says "Type of system: Septic, Age: 11 years, Last pumped: Unknown. We know where the tank is because during drought summers we get a brown square in our lawn, but when we dug there it looks like they just built a "tank", laid a piece of plywood and poured concrete over it.

This is actually pretty typical of all the other messed up things they did to the house. Our paperwork also says that there had never been any fires in the house and during renovations we have found two, one rather large. The neighbors all remember it (homeowner was the fire chief) and the kids were in HS at the time so it's not like they were unaware, they just lied.

I now live in a pretty rural area of NH. When I was young, there were just a bunch of hunting "camps", most built on 100 by 100 lots. Most just had an outhouse (which is sort of like a septic system). I still have my outhouse and hunting camp on part of my lot. But we bought a lot of land around the original.

We do laugh at some of the places that have changed hands with the listing saying "septic". I know for a fact that a lot of those are a 55 gallon drum that some holes were poked in and then buried in the yard. Unless a home inspector finds it, some unsuspecting buyer finds out the same thing you found out when you had system problems - the septic isn't a real septic at all! They weren't meant for full time use, just hunting weekends. Also they don't have leach fields, some have a dry well dug for gray water. That's how my camp is set up.

My mother has an old septic tank in her back yard. It was a "new" design in the 50's that would never need pumping so it didn't have a pump out attachment. Of course it failed, in the middle of a NH winter, when it was about 15 years old. That is the winter that my brothers learned it is OK to pee outside. And we all learned that there is nothing wrong with showering at a friends house!

I would love to live where the city took care of my sewage but it probabaly won't happen in my lifetime!

We do use bleach in the laundry once in a while and it hasn't caused a problem. But as part of my bladder cancer treatments, I have a live tuberculosis bacteria instilled into my bladder. After the treatment, you have to treat the toilet with two cups of straight bleach every time you go for the next six hours because the bacteria are live. So obviously I don't come home after the treatment - I go to a friends house. We do worry that too much bleach would cause an issue.

 

[Disney Doll]

I will ask about it at the town office. That's a good idea.

The previous owners had the house for 60 years (It's almost 130 years old) and we purchased it from the children. In our paperwork it says "Type of system: Septic, Age: 11 years, Last pumped: Unknown. We know where the tank is because during drought summers we get a brown square in our lawn, but when we dug there it looks like they just built a "tank", laid a piece of plywood and poured concrete over it.

This is actually pretty typical of all the other messed up things they did to the house. Our paperwork also says that there had never been any fires in the house and during renovations we have found two, one rather large. The neighbors all remember it (homeowner was the fire chief) and the kids were in HS at the time so it's not like they were unaware, they just lied.

You might have some recourse if they knowingly lied during your real estate transaction, if you choose to take that route.

 

[PatsMom]

You might have some recourse if they knowingly lied during your real estate transaction, if you choose to take that route.

Looking into this might be a really good idea. If they knew it wasn't a "real" septic and didn't disclose, you might have recourse. Unless you had a home inspection - then you might have to go after the inspector.

I knoiw that my mother has left notes with her final documents that we must disclose the septic tank buried in the back yard and never removed when she switched to city sewer. Just in case we forget! When they hooked her up, they told her it was a hazard that had to be disclosed. Imagine someone digging up the yard for a pool! They'd get quite a surprise!

 

[DebbieB]

My aunt lives in a semi-rural area and she has a septic tank. She always instructs everyone to throw used toilet paper in the garbage can next to the toilet (it has a swing lid). I always think that's pretty gross, especially when it's full. I think she has to have hers pumped every couple of years. Her neighbors across the street who have 2 kids have to get theirs pumped every 6 months. One day I was at her house in the pool and they came to pump the neighbors. Oh my gosh, the smell.