Septic pumping.

[Brittany1116]

Obviously I can call tomorrow but how often do you have yours done and how much does it cost you? 4 houses near me have had theirs done very recently and I'm thinking it's overdue for us.

[Melissa in Australia]

We were told it should be done every 5 to 7 years. 

it was probably 5 years ago when  had it done last, it cost just under $200

[Kassia]

It really depends on how many people you have living in your home.  My MIL living alone can go a few years without having hers pumped.  Same with her neighbors who go down to FL for part of the winter every year. 

When we had our four kids living at home, I think we had each pump done every two years?  I would call the septic company and ask.  If you go too long it could be a huge problem. 

ETA: EPA site says:   Household septic tanks are typically pumped every three to five years.

Edited May 12, 2022 by Kassia

[Carrie12345]

I have a tank rated for a 5 bedroom house on my 3 bedroom house, where we’ve had up to 10 people living, and we go about 5 years. But we had to have it done more and more frequently in my childhood home, even with just 4 people, because the water table rose after it was first installed, due to all the neighborhood construction through the years, and it was old.

There are lots of factors. They come in different sizes, drain field conditions and sizes vary, families have different amounts of water/waste use, water tables change (permanently or temporarily), parts get worn out…

Technically, they should be able to tell you when they look in your tank. But then it comes down to whether or not you trust the people you hire. I did NOT expect our guy to tell us 5 years was working fine,  because that means we only call him every 5 years.

I’ll be calling him sooner at our new house, because I won’t have gotten to know our system in that location yet.

[Carrie12345]

Oh, and I’ll look up my receipts in a bit. I think it’s around $300 for us, but I’m not certain off the top of my head.

[Tenaj]

We have two 1500 gal tanks because at the time it was put in we had 10 people living here.  It is pumped every three years and the last time cost around $1000.  As kids move out we'll be able to start stretching out the pumping.  We have 7 people now and 1 more chick leaving the nest this week and I think we'll be able to wait five years the next time !  

Edited May 12, 2022 by Tenaj
Incorrect size on tanks

[Pawz4me]

It's been a little over five years since we had ours pumped. I think it was $300, but I can't swear to it. I'd like to have ours pumped again this summer or fall, but DH thinks it's okay for another year or two. There are just three of us here, we had our drain lines redone a couple of years ago, and we use water saving appliances. OTOH, we have family members who have to have theirs pumped a couple of times a year even though it's just the two of them. Their drain lines are shot and everything backs up when they get a lot of rain. I'd feel sorry for them except they have plenty of money to redo their lines. They just don't want to.

[LifeLovePassion]

We have to have it done every 3 per the city. (We are in a suburban area...not rural). Usually around $350/400. The close is determined by tank size. We are a family of 4 and our tanks are never even close to full. 

Edited May 12, 2022 by LifeLovePassion

[Carrie12345]

Found my last receipt! $306 for 1250 gall.  Previous was 1500 gall., but we also had other work at the same time for a $700 bill.

[Carrie12345]

Adding another variable - how well your bacteria is operating.
With lots of bacteria-killing stuff going down the drain, waste can break down slower/build up faster.

[CTVKath]

About every 5 years. And about $225.

[BlsdMama]

We have it done every 1-2 years but obviously we have a lot of people and they're home almost all day.  It's $250 here.  Our tank is 1200 gallons.  Tank size matters.  The average family only needs it done every 3-5 years assuming they aren't using bleach etc. to kill off beneficial bacteria.

[Scarlett]

3 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

I have a tank rated for a 5 bedroom house on my 3 bedroom house, where we’ve had up to 10 people living, and we go about 5 years. But we had to have it done more and more frequently in my childhood home, even with just 4 people, because the water table rose after it was first installed, due to all the neighborhood construction through the years, and it was old.

There are lots of factors. They come in different sizes, drain field conditions and sizes vary, families have different amounts of water/waste use, water tables change (permanently or temporarily), parts get worn out…

Technically, they should be able to tell you when they look in your tank. But then it comes down to whether or not you trust the people you hire. I did NOT expect our guy to tell us 5 years was working fine,  because that means we only call him every 5 years.

I’ll be calling him sooner at our new house, because I won’t have gotten to know our system in that location yet.

All of this.  So many variables.  My BIL has a septic cleaning business and he says the same thing.  
 

One house we lived in for 8 years, never pumped.  Xh lived there another 10 years, never pumped.  

The house Dh and I lived in  before this one—7 years never pumped.  
 

And most impressive my boss was able to go 20 years before needing to pump the business tank.  
 

 

[EKS]

Every 5 years.  I think it costs about $500. 

That said, my grandmother lived in her house for 30 years and never had hers pumped.

[Splash1]

once in 18 years, however we have one built big enough for a small shopping center because they counted bathrooms to decide size as well as it is built to not need pumped.  Had a problem about seven years ago, fixed it and he said it was good to go unless something else happened.

 

 

[Brittany1116]

Thanks.  I called around and got quotes in this order... 500, 400, 375, 300.

[Pawz4me]

We have a neighbor who has lived here since the late 1980's and he says he's never had his pumped. And who knows--maybe you can get away with that, but maybe not. If we have ours done every five years it works out to less than $100/year, and I figure that's cheap maintenance. And I'd rather do maintenance at my convenience than have to deal with an emergency.

Edited May 12, 2022 by Pawz4me

[Roadrunner]

Every two years and that’s not enough for us. Our tank must be really small. We pay about $350. 

[Scarlett]

42 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

We have a neighbor who has lived here since the late 1980's and he says he's never had his pumped. And who knows--maybe you can get away with that, but maybe not. If we have ours done every five years it works out to less than $100/year, and I figure that's cheap maintenance. And I'd rather do maintenance at my convenience than have to deal with an emergency.

My BIL says there is no emergency in septic tank business. 😂

[Brittany1116]

We have been here 13 years and did it only once before. I don't recall what it cost. But I read about new construction changing the water table and that may be why we have new issues. Time is also a factor because it has been 5ish years or more.

[Pawz4me]

47 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

My BIL says there is no emergency in septic tank business. 😂

Maybe on his end, but I suspect homeowners have a different opinion on that. 😉 

[HomeAgain]

We had ours pumped last year.  We'd lived in the house 4 years and wasn't sure when it was done before that.  It was a pleasant surprise, though.  The septic guy said ours was really low and well maintained, so gave us the go ahead to call him again in about 7 years, unless our household usage went up.

[Scarlett]

7 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

Maybe on his end, but I suspect homeowners have a different opinion on that. 😉 

Well, it doesn’t just one day explode back into your house.  There are annoying warnings way ahead of time. 

[Kassia]

2 hours ago, Scarlett said:

Well, it doesn’t just one day explode back into your house.  There are annoying warnings way ahead of time. 

We had it happen to us with no warning.  

[Anne]

Our soils are terrible, and our system is well over 30 years old, which is old here.  I have ours pumped every other year.  I do *NOT* want to have to replace my drainage field - it will cost $$$$ because there's not a good secondary location for it.

Anne

[Melissa in Australia]

3 hours ago, Scarlett said:

Well, it doesn’t just one day explode back into your house.  There are annoying warnings way ahead of time. 

my neighbour had it happen with no warning. They had heaps of rellies over visiting, then it just started overflowing. it was an emergency. they since have had new lines put in, divert the laundry water to not flow in there, and have it pumped every 2 years.

[Shoeless]

We divert the laundry water, which helps keep the system from being overwhelmed. 

We have ours done about every 4 years. I don't remember the tank size. There are 3 people living here, 3 bedroom 2300 SQ ft house.  I think it cost around $300 4 years ago. I expect the price has gone up since then. 

[Pawz4me]

7 hours ago, Scarlett said:

Well, it doesn’t just one day explode back into your house.  There are annoying warnings way ahead of time. 

Not always.

Sometimes you look out your back window and see what looks like a fountain in your yard. A fountain that wasn't there a few seconds ago. Or things start coming up in the downstairs bathroom.

Now what we had were mainly issues with the septic pump (which was improperly wired so the alarm didn't sound when the pump died) and with the lines/drain field, not technically the tank itself. But definitely septic issues can happen w/o warning. And I'm pretty dang old now and have lived with a septic system for most of my life, so it's not like I was some newbie who wasn't familiar with how things worked and missed warning signs. There weren't any.

[Hilltopmom]

We never had ours pumped in 14 years, I was always told that a properly working system doesn’t need pumping.

But- our laundry/ grey water went to a dry well, not the septic, so I think that made a big difference.

[Tenaj]

4 hours ago, MissLemon said:

We divert the laundry water, which helps keep the system from being overwhelmed. 

We have ours done about every 4 years. I don't remember the tank size. There are 3 people living here, 3 bedroom 2300 SQ ft house.  I think it cost around $300 4 years ago. I expect the price has gone up since then. 

When we moved here, our laundry water was diverted from our leech field but then we found out it was illegal to have it that way so when we had to replace the whole system they had to add the laundry water to it. 

[Roadrunner]

We also divert the laundry water. 

[Pawz4me]

It's illegal here to divert laundry water, and has been for a very long time.

[cjzimmer1]

My dad never had it pumped in the 35 years he lived in my childhood home.  My sister bought the property and lived their trouble free for several years.  Some government entity passed a law required it to be pumped every 3 years.  She's had a ton of problems since she had to start pumping.  It was very clear that pumping messed up the well operating system that had been in place.  

[shawthorne44]

Why is it illegal to put laundry water someplace other than the Septic system.   
Genuine question.   I've never lived with a septic system just curious.  
I can see how toilet water needs to go straight to the septic.  

[Carrie12345]

3 minutes ago, shawthorne44 said:

Why is it illegal to put laundry water someplace other than the Septic system.   
Genuine question.   I've never lived with a septic system just curious.  
I can see how toilet water needs to go straight to the septic.  

I don’t specifically know if it’s illegal here, but I wouldn’t do it where I am because we already have issues with run off into our waterways. And I wouldn’t want, say, my neighbor’s Tide or bleach getting in my surface water or topsoil.
I don’t expect the septic process to completely eliminate contaminates, but it will force them through sand filtering and sort of keep them a safer distance from my well and other water sources.

I do use “safe” detergents and the like, but I also wash clothes with lots of micro plastics. And I used to wash cloth diapers, so there’s a whole other thing!  If I had an easy to divert system, I’d happily collect gray water for gardening or whatever when I know it’s going to be pretty “clean”.

[Melissa in Australia]

19 hours ago, shawthorne44 said:

Why is it illegal to put laundry water someplace other than the Septic system.   
Genuine question.   I've never lived with a septic system just curious.  
I can see how toilet water needs to go straight to the septic.  

here it is illegal to store grey water. it has to be flowing.  we have a line that goes along a row of fruit trees. it is just under the surface of the soil. 

 in the past I have washed cloth nappies etc.- extra fertilizer. 

[City Mouse]

This is a bit off topic, but after I first read this thread I went to YouTube, and a video was in my recommendations that was a news clip about a woman who had had her septic system recently pumped out. The worker told her that there was a crack in the tank and recommended that it be replaced. She thought he was just trying to swindle her or something, so she did not follow his advice. Not long after the tank collapsed while she was walking  in her yard and she died from the fall.

Edited May 15, 2022 by City Mouse