Septic tank emptying cost/frequency?

[si-am]

We bought our house (built in '84) four years ago and had the sellers get the septic tank pumped as part of the deal.

We have no idea where it is. It has given us no problems but I was thinking of doing it next year just to stay on a "every five years" schedule. But I don't know how costly it would be to have the company find the dang thing for us!

We do use a Rid-X type product that we found at Home Depot: one tab flushed every three months is supposed to help.

 

[ChristmasElf]

We play it safe and every October 1st or within a few days of this date have the system pumped out.

Dry yeast packets work the same as RidX does. Jst pour the yeaast io the toilet furthest from the septic tank location. We use the RidX or yeast once a month as recommended.

The cost of pumping out the system costs about $250 but its way better than coming home to a backed up system throughout the house.

(Friends of ours had this happen over Thanksgiving weekend one year, and came home to every sink, bathtub, the washer, dishwasher all had sewage in them!! They lost furniture, carpeting and had to replace wood floors as the stench was so awful)

That was all I had to hear to remind me to get the system taken care of!

 

[MScott1851]

We have an early 70's brick ranch and have no clue where the septic system is. I have never seen a vent pipe either. We bought our home about 4 years ago and have never had the septic system pumped. We are considering it after reading this thread.

My parents built their house in 1973 and have NEVER had the septic tank pumped out...

 

[Princesca]

You should not have to have your septic flushed every year... every 3 to 5 years is more the norm, depending on how many people are using it, and it costs about $250.

What you WILL need to have done more often is have the filter cleaned out, if it has one. This basically means someone comes out, pulls out the filter, and hoses it off. You'll know if you need to have this done because when you use water, it will trickle out the cap because it's clogged. You may see soil erosion around the cap, or a stripe down your yard that is slightly darker green from the cap downhill.

Absolutely DO NOT put Rid-X or anything else like that in your system. Not even the mixtures septic companies have are good for your system, regardless of what they will tell you. They can break things down so much that everything goes out into your leachfield, and only graywater is supposed to do that. You do not want liquefied sewage making it out into your yard.

If you are pooing regularly into the system, that is all you need to keep the flora healthy. ETA: Of course, this is assuming you are not frequently taking antibiotics (which can kill bacteria in your system) or routine dumping bleach down your septic. Many septic servicers will tell you that if you can't eat or drink it yourself, you shouldn't put it in your septic system, so when we clean, we try to clean as much as possible with natural cleansers like vinegar or lemon juice, and avoid heavy bleach products.

The other thing is that you do have to be a little considerate of your septic on rainy days. If it's been torrentially raining for two days, try to moderate the water that's going through your system, because the ground is saturated and it won't have anywhere to go. DUring rainy periods, we take shorter showers, don't run the washer at the same time as the dishwasher, etc.

 

[andylcq]

I have one too .but Apparently a lot depends on the age of the system and the type of soil in your area.

 

[kellyg403]

My parents house had a septic tank, and the county made them pump every year. They had to prove that it was done.

When I moved to NC, our house had a septic tank. It was older and had not been pumped in quite some time. The gentleman who came out said that it should be pumped every 2 years. It was an older system and unfortunately, when it was first done, we didn't have tampons, double tp and alot of other things that can mess up the system. He recommended every year for us due to the size of our family.

Kelly

 

[TheRatPack]

Ours hasn't been pumped since the house was built....that we know of. The previous owners didn't know where it was and we even called out the county health inspector when we adopted (had to have the septic inspected) and he just pointed down in the yard and said it's 'somewhere over there' and signed the form and left. I find it odd that so many people act like it's no big deal....we've never been told it had to be emptied. We've actually been told the opposite, that if we pump it too much it messes with the bacteria that breaks things down and it won't work as well and if it's working then to leave it alone. No one in our neighborhood has had theirs pumped in the 5 years we've lived here....and my grandparents have never had theirs pumped and they've had 2 or 3 houses with older septic systems.

Our house was built in the 80's so again....it must be full by now LOL There are 7 of us, the previous owner was just a family of 2 and the ones before that were small as well. When I have buttermilk that is out of date (pretty often as we don't use a ton of it but we seem to buy it at every store trip LOL) I pour it down the sink.....other than that we don't use any RidX or Yeast...etc.

Hmmm, definitely have to look in to this more.

 

[crispychicky]

We have about the same situation. We've had our house for six years. The people that owned the house before us bought it in 1940 (It's almost 200 years old), but we bought the house after they died and weren't even given any indication of where it is. There's a rectangular area of the yard where the grass turns brown if it's a really dry summer, so I assume that's where it is.

Every few months it crosses my mind that we should probably have it emptied, but we've never had any issues and then I forget about it again for a while.



We have no vent. I've sort of put off having it done because I don't want to dig all over to try to find the lid for the thing.
Any insight for me?

Try your town clerk's office. Our town clerk has maps with everyone's septic tank/leach field, well placement, etc.

 

[Sandy61]

Our house is 5 years old and we just had it pumped out for the first time. It was $350. The guy said based on how many family members, size of it, etc we need to do it about every 5 years. He said do NOT use RidX or other products but I can't remember why. The guy that installed it told us not to use those things not the septic cleaning guy.

 

[scrapquitler]

We moved into a home in 11/07 that has septic, we've never had any experience with it before. My dh is looking into getting our tank emptied, how much would you expect to pay? How often do you get yours taken care of? Oh, and one quote he got was $200 for every 1000 pounds(?) of waste, is that a good deal or would we likely spend more with him than someone who offered one flat fee? Thanks for tolerating some dumb questions...

We had ours done last August. It cost about $250. I'm not sure what size it is, but it is a 3 bedroom house. We usually have it done every 3 years. When we had it done last year, the guy told me it was 50% full.

 

[Nancyg56]

We have lived here four years and have not had our septic tank emptied.

My aunt in KY has lived in her house since 1974 and has not had to have it emptied. It has never backed up or given her any problems.

Has someone who does not stand to profit given you a reason why yours needs to be emptied annually?

We have ours pumped every 2 years. I don't know if it is required but if you have ever been near a system that needs to be emptied you won't bother to ask why it needs to be cleaned. The $250 is cheap enough insurance IMO to make sure I am not dealing with any backup or clogged lines.

Try your town clerk's office. Our town clerk has maps with everyone's septic tank/leach field, well placement, etc.

In our area the Health department keeps those records.

I never put any additives down the toilet. Our leach fields broke down 15 years ago and our little yard was too small to replace them so DH had two huge beehive things installed. The Health Department needed to inspect the entire process and sign off on it.

 

[seashoreCM]

All septic tanks need to be pumped out. How often depends on how much toilet paper, how much grease, how much food waste from a sink disposer, goes down into the septic tank and also depends on the size of the tank.

Because it is cumbersome to dig up and open the hatch just to inspect the septic tank every year, you can use a time schedule such as every 3 years. Don't just use "3 years" but have the tank pumped "now" if not done recently and again 1 to 2 years later. The second time if not sooner, have the company estimate how long it should be until the next pumping. Then make an educated guess as to how often you need to have it done.

Each time the tank is pumped, it should be inspected inside to be sure that parts such as baffles are in place, and repaired if needed.

Failure to have the septic tank pumped will shorten the life of the leach field (finger system) and repairing or replacing that is very expensive.

By the way, the normal level of liquid in a septic tank is about 9 inches below the top. Pumping out a septic tank in less than 3 months' time accomplishes nothing and is a waste of time and money except to give yourself some breathing room while the leach field is being rebuilt.

Home handyman hints: http://www.cockam.com/home.htm

 

[Hardy]

We had our septic (1974) pumped out in 2008, a year after we bought the house. The last receipt we found showed it was pumped in 1998, and it was not full. Our septic guy recommended every 10 years, but we will probably do every 5 or so. It cost us $230 then. He asked us if we used any rid-x, which we do not, but I guess the last owners did b/c he could tell. He said those products actually mess up the septic system causing a weird oil slick sort of layer that doesn't allow it to work properly. Now my parents have a new two part septic system that one part holds solids like normal, but the rest is pumped up a line b/c the field is all the way up their 1/4 mile driveway. Theirs must be checked and pumped much more frequently (every year).

If you have septic, things to remember...

NEVER flush anything but septic safe TP down the toilet. (If it doesn't say septic safe, it isn't, most 1 ply are, some 2 ply are)

With toilet bowl cleaners, also be sure they say septic safe, again, they say nothing if they aren't.

Be careful with overuse of cleaning chemicals, try to use natural products (I mostly make my own)

Try to use liquid over power laundry, and ideally also eco-safe, and try to limit to 2 loads per day.

Be cautious using a garbage disposal. I really don't put anything down the drain.

Use an eco-safe dishwasher detergent.

 

[Friendly Frog]

So what about septic systems in vacation homes? They go a long time "dry" then get heavy use. Would rid-x or some such product help those?

 

[pampam]

We have lived here four years and have not had our septic tank emptied.

My aunt in KY has lived in her house since 1974 and has not had to have it emptied. It has never backed up or given her any problems.

Has someone who does not stand to profit given you a reason why yours needs to be emptied annually?

With proper care, your septic system should be trouble free for some time.

The enzymes in the tank will eat the sewage so the tank fills up very slowly but if you use excessive amounts of detergent, it could plug your tiles pretty quick. Bleach will kill the enzymes, so use it sparingly. It's toxic anyway. If you have raw hamburger that has spoiled, flush it down. Same with yeast. If you live where you get snow in winter, and you think your septic system is acting sluggish, have it pumped before winter. It can be a major problem getting it dug up in winter.

 

[cjnix29]

Man....I live in the the wrong part of the country or something! We have to have ours done every two years, per law, and I just had it done last week. Cost me $370.

 

[kiddo76]

I think we paid around $200 to have our septic tank pumped. We’ve been in our house 6 years and our septic system is about 30 years old. It was pumped and inspected before we bought the house and we pumped it again 3 years later. The septic guy said we should be fine with every 5 years with our usage.

I look at pumping your septic tank as a kind of insurance. Having to replace your system is very costly and proper maintenance can help prolong the life of your system. I’ve heard of too many people having to dig up their yards and spend thousands of dollars to put in a new system. On the other hand, you could be fine not pumping at all. Our neighbors have been in their house since it was built 30 years ago and have never had their septic pumped and have never had any problems. As a buyer, I would look at that and wonder what condition the leach field is in and would be afraid it was just a matter of time before it failed. I would feel much better purchasing a house that old where I knew the septic system was maintained. It’s not a guarantee against problems, but it lowers the risk.

I’ve also been told not to use Rid-x or any other additives, which can actually make matters worse and increase the risk of solids making their way into your leach field. Regular pumping is the best maintenance for your system.

 

[DVC-Don]

Ours cost about $160 to pump out. How ofter depends on the tank size and how many people in the household. We've been pumping out every other years, but now that the kids are off to college for 8 months of the year we'll be going to every three years. Found a chart online a while back on this.

 

[Debbie7452]

Our last house, we pumped when we put in on the market. It had been 18 years and the septic guy said it still did not really NEED to be pumped. We do not worry about TP, but we don't flush any "feminine stuff" of any kind. Also, we barely use the garbage disposal. We are a family of six and use a lot of water. Only 2 loads of laundry a day?? I WISH!

 

[seasheller]

We are notified by county zoning to pump ours every three years. We have to send in proof that it has been done or at least inspected. Pumping was $90 in 2008 - much less that posted elsewhere. It's on the agenda for next month so I'm hoping the price hasn't changed too much.