Hilltopmom Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 For those of you who get their septic tank pumped regularly, do you have an easy way to get to it? In our area, the entire top/ entrance/ whatever it's called, is buried underground- everyone has to get the whole yard dug up to have it pumped. So it's not something that is done unless there is a problem, certainly no preventive pumping every year! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 The main tanks on mine have a concrete lid. A couple of times a year as I'm doing yard work, I try to clear leaves and mulch off of it. One small access tends to get buried regularly so I've plopped a flat stone there to at least mark where we are to dig if needed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenaj Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 Our old one had a cement lid but it never got covered enough to have much trouble. Our new ones have plastic? really tough plastic??? lids that really sit pretty much on top of the ground. Not very attractive for the landscape but at least it's easy to get to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 I've never known of a septic tank that didn't have a concrete access lid. They're often buried, but the septic guys know how to find them. That usually involves taking a thin steel rod and poking around in the general area they know it will be until they hit it and then digging a small hole to access it. The hole needed is usually similar to what you'd dig to plant a shrub. When we bought this house this past spring and were having the septic system inspected it took the guy maybe all of three minutes to locate the (buried) lid and maybe five more minutes to dig it out. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angie in VA Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 We have a white access pipe in the yard. That's how they pumped it the one time we had it pumped. Perhaps an easier access can be installed for yours. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mohsmom23 Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 Our septic tank has a small pipe sticking up about a foot out of the ground which is standard around here. There is a cap on it that they take off when pumping. My parent's house has a cement access lid. Even though ours is easy to access, we do not have it pumped regularly. In the 15 years I've lived here, we've only had it pumped twice. We do not have any issues with it. I don't recall my parents ever having theirs pumped when I lived there and they never had issues either. We do know others that constantly have issues so I guess we're just lucky! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgo95 Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 Ours had a concrete top that was buried as well. The septic company would dig it out for free if it was x inches deep and charge a little bit more if it was > x inches. We pumped ours out every 2 years and that part of the yard looked like a forest floor, so it was no big deal to cover it back up with dirt. At another house, they had built up a concrete "collar" so that the lid was above ground and then surrounded it with shrubs that disguised it. Since it's the norm around where you live, I'm sure the septic companies are familiar with how to locate and dig out the tank lid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenn in FL Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 I've never known of a septic tank that didn't have a concrete access lid. They're often buried, but the septic guys know how to find them. That usually involves taking a thin steel rod and poking around in the general area they know it will be until they hit it and then digging a small hole to access it. The hole needed is usually similar to what you'd dig to plant a shrub. When we bought this house this past spring and were having the septic system inspected it took the guy maybe all of three minutes to locate the (buried) lid and maybe five more minutes to dig it out. This is exactly how our septic tank works as well. Ditto on the time to locate and time to dig out. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopmom Posted November 16, 2016 Author Share Posted November 16, 2016 If we stay here, we plan to have it pumped this year, just in case. It's never been done, in 20 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 Yearly. No. Never. We had a system designed for the maximum number of people we expected to be living in this house. It is a PITA, but certainly not something we have done yearly. More of a rare occurrence here. But yes, there is a small section of our yard that gets dug up, looking for the 2 or 3 tanks that are there. The main one is there, and at least one other tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 Ours has a riser installed: http://www.flohawks.com/blog/septic-tank-risers-pros-and-cons/ And a fairly uncomplicated lid that is heavy duty plastic. The riser is beneath the ground and the lid is under the edge of a bush so that it isn't too much of an eyesore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCF612 Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 Glad this was posted about. We bought our house last year and the septic was pumped before we moved in. We kinda forgot about it after that! I need to look into how often we need to have it pumped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 (edited) Ours is under a rock garden/flower bed area of our yard. The lid is only about 2ftx2ft, and it is buried a few inches below the soil. I keep that area clear of any thing important, and kind of have the area marked with a rock. It isn't a big deal to dig it up.ETA: If they are digging up your whole yard just to pump, they are doing it wrong. Edited November 16, 2016 by The Girls' Mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 Our old one had a cement lid but it never got covered enough to have much trouble. Our new ones have plastic? really tough plastic??? lids that really sit pretty much on top of the ground. Not very attractive for the landscape but at least it's easy to get to. Ours is plastic too. About 3' diameter. It's in our "back yard". Definitely not attractive, but easy enough for them to get to it. I made my husband put extra screws into the lid because I was worried it was TOO accessible with the kids playing out there. Here the tank size is based off of bedrooms- we have far more bedrooms than people so ours only needs to be pumped about every 5 years from what our septic guy tells us. If it's functioning correctly and we don't put things down it we shouldn't, we should be okay. Our county requires four "maintenance visits" a year, so we pay him $225 a year and that covers all of the maintenance visits and certifications etc. required by the powers that be. Still much, much cheaper than paying the sewage portion of a water bill! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xixstar Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 I went to a talk from a local provider and he highly suggest adding the access that are those large plastic covers that are mostly flush with the ground. He had very good point as to why that is better than what we have: cleaning out via the access pipes that stick up. I think we will add that access at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 We have a riser on ours as well; just had it pumped today, actually! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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