Does anyone have a septic tank?????

[Lowryn]

OMG I am feeling so sick!
We are renting a place that has a septic tank...Now we have lived here 5 years and after we moved in we had the tank emptied...However, we haven't had it done since and TBH I completely forgot we had one!

The sink in our kitchen has become completely blocked. I have used Mr Muscle and Harpic sink unblockers to no avail.
The Harpic sink thingy blew some brown lumpy gunge up the overflow and all over my arms.

Uh, I am gagging again

I have just remembered that we have the septic tank and am wondering if it may need emptying, and the blockage is because the tank is full????

Does anyone know how often they need doing? Or how you know it is time to empty it?
Or failing that, how to unblock a sink full of black and brown gunge...Wahhh!

Take a walk down the garden to the manhole cover that is furthest from the house, lift and see if full, if not work back towards the house lifting each one as you go. if all clear/empty you proobably have a blocked drain between the sink and the first manhole, probably with greese.
Good luck!!

I can't find any manhole covers in the garden and the septic tank is virtually inaccessable now!
It may be a job for DH when he returns from work...I'll go all girly

I get the feeling you havent looked too hard..?!

WE have a tank under the ground at bottom of garden. We only have 2 man hole covers, we have tank emptied about every 6 months. We have never had any prob with it coming back up into house. Ours does our house and next door.

It isn't any prob being emptied a tanker comes along the bottom path and hey presto. All done.

Why not phone up to get it emptied anyway?

My dad has a septic tank at his place and he has to have it emptied every few months. If he doesn't get it done in time (and he is an awful procrastinator) all the drains back up and toilets overflow etc. I remember one time the whole garden was ankle-deep in sewage with delightful pink toilet paper floating about.

Yamamote, unfortunately our backgarden resembles the land that time forgot. I am sure that the nearby Army airbase use it for jungle training.
Yes, I am a complete pansy and would rather get DH to go all David Bellamy out there!
Mind you, I have never seen any manhole covers out there.
I think we had better get it sucked out.

Our neighbours had theirs done recently and the only access the lorry can use to get to the tanks is to drive across the field out the back...It has just been ploughed so this should be interesting!

Can't spell can I! That should have been an O!

AFAIK:
There are two types of "private drainage":
One is basically a sealed box, which fills up then needs emptying, when it's full. This is pretty unusual, and it's unlikely this is what you have.

The more common involves a 'soakaway' type system, where the water / liquids soak from the system into the ground, and the 'solids' generally get destroyed by the bacteria. As the liquids and solids both get dealt with naturally there are a couple of views on these tanks re emptying. Some people never / hardly ever empty them - they leave the system to do its job without interference, as emptying can disrupt the way it's working. The other is to get it emptied regularly (1 or 2 years is typical). When we bought this house, we had a cople of pages of detailed advice from our surveyors (who specialise in rural, old properties) on looking after the septic tank / soakaway we have, and IIRC they didn't recommend emptying it routinely. The previous owners got it done every 2 years. It helps if you are considerate what you put down the drains - i.e. avoid / minimise use of bleach, biological laundry detergent etc, use Ecover or similar products if possible, and don't pour nasty chemicals (left over paint / oil / solvents) in - you shouldn't pour these down any drains, anywhere.

My parents had a soakaway septic tank, and I only remember them emptying it when there was a problem. The main problem with their drainage - quite probably the problem you have - is blockages in the pipework, best dealt with as per Yamamoto's advice.

Ringing up and arranging to have it emptied will also be easy enough, and will be reassuring. They often look full in the first tank because that's the way they work. If there's a blockage (rather than just being full), emptying the tank alone won't help.

Personally, despite being pretty practical around the house, I do leave the practical elements of drainage and septic tank issues to DH. Too much yuck-factor for my stomach.

Lowryn, when the guy comes around with his huge Poo Sucker it oftens pays to have a cupa ready and waiting in the 3rd division mug just in case when asked if he wants a cuppa he stays into your kitchin, (if its not flooded that is)

May be worth removing the trap under the sink first tho, as this is the only blockage you have so far(?) and I would bet this is where your prob is.

poo sucker

Thanks softfroggie.
I guess the fact that we haven't had it emptied for over 4yrs should mean that we get it done even if the blockage is under the sink.

I'd probably get it emptied if I were you - just so you know it's done. You'd probably be more comfortable getting it emptied every year or two.

But my guess is that the blockage is under the sink or in the pipes from the sink to the main drainage pipe.

Am I right in thinking that Countess Dracula has a video of a septic tank being installed? Would that help?

If you're renting your landlord will know where the septic tank is. Yes, 4 years does sound like a scarily long time to leave it. Ours is done 3 times a year.