Septic tank being pumped tomorrow....

-
inkjunkie

inkjunkie

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
17,413
Reaction score
3,082
Location
......
Could not help but wonder what is done with the.....contents? Todd, the installer was recently here to check on things for me. I asked Todd and he made mention that some of the pumpers will treat it with a chemical of sorts prior to spreading it on the ground. Did a quick internet search and read that it is often sold to farmers as a fertilizer....article said that if the food you are purchasing is not organic it very well may have had septic tank contents as a fertilizer.....

http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/plumbing/septic-tank-cleaning2.htm

Now that is something I could have live the rest of my life without knowing..
 
Careful, you might find a few Chevy guys down there!! Pry best to just put em back...
 
Christ, run for the hills! I'd leave the house for a few hours while the guy is doing his "Smell of Money" task, and allow the putrid scent dissipate before you get home!

Normally the tank truck carrying this goes to a local sewage treatment plant and they pump it right into that and its then treated.....I'm not sure if federally they're allowed to "sell" raw sewage, without it being treated in the USA... I know however, worse things have been done in this country.....

BUT when the sewage treatment plants are "cleaned" or the bottoms "lowered" they call that "Sludge", and that can be sold for fertilizer.......And that stuff is potent, BUT harmful, to the ground where it is, as it puts heavy metal concentrate into the ground not only the nitrogen and other minerals the ground needs to grow crops,...... They have recently outlawed its use here in New Hampshire for that very reason as some of the small local farmers (notice I said "small" here) had bought it and found it seeping into the local river, and killing the fish as the high metal content was highly present in the water and in the ground around it and it just started a chain reaction and thats how they found what it does to the ground!
 
They used to spread it on the fields here, but they changed the rules for that and it has to be processed at the sewage treatment plant now. Which consequently raised the price of a pump by over 100 bucks.
 
I lived off base in Germany in 1970 when I was stationed there. The old Farmer I rented from told me then that they fertilized their vegetable fields with what they pumped out of the septic system. Once I got past that idea I have to say the tomatoes were some of the best I ever ate.
 
I had my tank pumped and the guy told me it had to go to the treatment plant and would cost extra...When he left I had some errands to run, and saw him down the road spreading it on a field .... So not only did he lye to me but he also took the extra money...I was going to stop and confront him but the wifey said just let it go...I was some kind of pissed off...Bill
 
pro-tech said:
I had my tank pumped and the guy told me it had to go to the treatment plant and would cost extra...When he left I had some errands to run, and saw him down the road spreading it on a field .... So not only did he lye to me but he also took the extra money...I was going to stop and confront him but the wifey said just let it go...I was some kind of pissed off...Bill
Click to expand...

That was a crappy thing for him to do.
 
They also spread it in fields here, but the do need a license to do so. No different than manure spreaders really....
 
I have 3 Tanks on my property. 1 - 2500 Gallon and 2 - 1000 Gallons. with 5 Seepage pits.

I have only had to pump them once so far in 8 years. I pumped the Seepage pits as well.

Take the advise and leave when he does it. That smell will linger on a 10 Mile Radius for hours. Damn!

The guy I used puts some chemicals in the tank on his truck and called it a HOT LOAD after doing so, whatever that means.
 
pro-tech said:
I had my tank pumped and the guy told me it had to go to the treatment plant and would cost extra...When he left I had some errands to run, and saw him down the road spreading it on a field .... So not only did he lye to me but he also took the extra money...I was going to stop and confront him but the wifey said just let it go...I was some kind of pissed off...Bill
Click to expand...

I rarely travel without a camera, I would have taken a picture of that with time and date stamp and turned his arse in. After resisting the urge to go chase him around the field.
 
when I was in Vietnam the locals cleaned the outhouses and spread contents on their crops by hand. It had not been through a septic tank either, pure stuff! Joe
 
I think the turds are dried out and then it is spread by crop dusters over many cities across the country. stay tuned I will try to find a link to verify my findings. LMAO
we would fry it in diesel in the old days.
 
Mad Dart said:
I have 3 Tanks on my property. 1 - 2500 Gallon and 2 - 1000 Gallons. with 5 Seepage pits.

I have only had to pump them once so far in 8 years. I pumped the Seepage pits as well.

Take the advise and leave when he does it. That smell will linger on a 10 Mile Radius for hours. Damn!

The guy I used puts some chemicals in the tank on his truck and called it a HOT LOAD after doing so, whatever that means.
Click to expand...

That "HOT LOAD" signage was to make a statement, your hot ****! LMAO

No really, all joking aside that chemical he added made the whole tank "hot" to kill any and all bacteria in it, no matter from you or the place he pumped out before you. they are to add it EVERY time they pump just before they leave the location.
 
Anything pumped here is trucked to Washington DC as they always need more for some reason.
 
Mad Dart said:
I have 3 Tanks on my property. 1 - 2500 Gallon and 2 - 1000 Gallons. with 5 Seepage pits.

I have only had to pump them once so far in 8 years. I pumped the Seepage pits as well.

Take the advise and leave when he does it. That smell will linger on a 10 Mile Radius for hours. Damn!

The guy I used puts some chemicals in the tank on his truck and called it a HOT LOAD after doing so, whatever that means.
Click to expand...

How do they go about pumping the drain fields? Ours is a gravity fed field, be like sucking water thru the rocks...
Not going to be able to leave. Have to be here to let the dogs out when he is done.....
 
67 Power Wagon said:
.

BUT when the sewage treatment plants are "cleaned" or the bottoms "lowered" they call that "Sludge", and that can be sold for fertilizer.......And that stuff is potent, BUT harmful, to the ground where it is, as it puts heavy metal concentrate into the ground not only the nitrogen and other minerals the ground needs to grow crops,...... They have recently outlawed its use here in New Hampshire for that very reason as some of the small local farmers (notice I said "small" here) had bought it and found it seeping into the local river, and killing the fish as the high metal content was highly present in the water and in the ground around it and it just started a chain reaction and thats how they found what it does to the ground!
Click to expand...

this is what has started around here but they are stockpiling it in a field and the heavy metals are starting to cause issues in that area. Nobody will believe it because everyone thinks its healthy for the ground :banghead:
 
inkjunkie said:
How do they go about pumping the drain fields? Ours is a gravity fed field, be like sucking water thru the rocks...
Not going to be able to leave. Have to be here to let the dogs out when he is done.....
Click to expand...

I don't know about pumping drain fields. Too many holes in the pipe so that is a mystery to me.
 
When my family had the dairy farm, we mucked out the barns, loaded it up in a "honey wagon" and spread it out on a field. Never an active grazing paddock, just bean or corn fields or a paddock that's been worn out. We also allowed a septic guy to come and spray,(he had to spray poo!) on the fields also. but only prior to planting and after combine.
We had had some great soil. We could could 4 or 5 good cuts of hay a season 6 if it rained well enough. You turn the soil, the poo goes to dirt. No big deal. It's not pleasant to smell at first, but animals in general are foul smelling anyway.
If you guys knew where most of your food came from, you probably wouldn't eat again :D
 
67 Power Wagon said:
That "HOT LOAD" signage was to make a statement, your hot ****! LMAO

No really, all joking aside that chemical he added made the whole tank "hot" to kill any and all bacteria in it, no matter from you or the place he pumped out before you. they are to add it EVERY time they pump just before they leave the location.
Click to expand...

A septic tank works by the bacteria digesting the solids. Is is normal that a shot of bacteria is placed in the tank to reactivate the function of the tank. A tank without bacteria will not function. In the days before additives we used buttermilk and yeast to reactivate a tank that had just been pumped.

How a septic tank works..... link below.....
http://septicpages.com/homeowners/how_does_a_septic_system_work
 
Oklacarcollecto said:
A septic tank works by the bacteria digesting the solids. Is is normal that a shot of bacteria is placed in the tank to reactivate the function of the tank. A tank without bacteria will not function. In the days before additives we used buttermilk and yeast to reactivate a tank that had just been pumped.

How a septic tank works..... link below.....
http://septicpages.com/homeowners/how_does_a_septic_system_work
Click to expand...

Spoke to Todd, the fellow that installed our system about this. Been doing excavating/septic work for 20 years or so, his Dad for another 35 or so before him....he said the best thing to do to an empty septic is to take a dump in it. Said all the other stuff is "snake oil". I know when we moved up here the tank was empty as Todd moved it from its previous spot. We added nothing to it when we started using it.

The smell....was gone by the time the pumper got the hoses put back on the truck. When he started I walked up to get the paper, about 250' from the tank and could not smell it...

Asked Bruce, the pumper guy, where he unloads the truck. Said they used to sell it to farmers, but now it goes to a processing plant. Fine is 10k for dumping it into a field....
 
Oklacarcollecto said:
A septic tank works by the bacteria digesting the solids. Is is normal that a shot of bacteria is placed in the tank to reactivate the function of the tank. A tank without bacteria will not function. In the days before additives we used buttermilk and yeast to reactivate a tank that had just been pumped.

How a septic tank works..... link below.....
http://septicpages.com/homeowners/how_does_a_septic_system_work
Click to expand...

Yes, this is true in a septic tank in the ground! It can not be "hauled" in a METAL tank for transport in that state, in case of accidental spillage.... It has to have a neutralizer added which makes the contents of the actual tank "hot" I was not speaking of the buried Septic tank, I was talking of the truck with a tank fulla ****.....

This is called Detoxifying. The chemical reaction to the bacteria in the contents creates the temps....Which detoxifies the whole lot for travel. Just temporarily....

Durring travel they aren't trying to digest the solids at all......At that time its a bit to late as its removed from the septic system of that property,. its being removed to empty the local septic tank(s) where that solid will be injected into another much larger septic system or plant to then begin the digestion all over again!

This is from the days I worked for a local school district as a Building & Grounds supervisor, it was a nasty job, but every year I'd have a sewage pump company come in to drain the whole system so that it could be maintained and limit issues throughout the "school" year and this was what I read in the paper work for our local state laws concerning sewage removal, and treatment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top