Septic or Sewer?

[Raffine]

Recently I was plagued by what appeared to be a septic tank problem. Any time the toilet was flushed, water was ran in the sink, or the shower was used water and yeech would back up into all the drains. I've lived in this house for five years and other than using a septic replenishing product like Rid-X had not done any maintenance on the septic system.

I do have traumatic memories of childhood when our septic system failed and we had to dig up and replace the tank, field lines - the whole nine yards. Sometimes I think I can still smell it on my hands.

A friend (with years of plumbing experience) and I dug the thing up, and it turned out to only be a bad clog right above the outlet into the tank. Further more he pronounced my septic tank to be in extraordinary shape and one of the finest examples of a septic tank he'd ever seen. There was a good two feet of clearance and almost no solid build up at the bottom of the tank.

I was beaming with pride! 

So do you live with the modern marvel of a sewer system or the scientific miracle of a septic tank? Or maybe some other system (I know several people around here with an outhouse).

Or do you have no idea or care even less what happens when you flush the toilet?

[Andrew]

Which reminds me, the septic tank in this house we purchased needs to be pumped out.  The people who owned this home did absolutely no maintenance that I could see in the time they lived here - not even painting the outside door trim. 

[Psycho Circus]

Sewer system round here, sometimes it floods on the next street and all the kids splash around in all the crap. 

[Dennis]

Which reminds me, the septic tank in this house we purchased needs to be pumped out.  The people who owned this home did absolutely no maintenance that I could see in the time they lived here - not even painting the outside door trim. 

Andrew, congratulations on becoming a home owner, it's a great to own a house and make it your family's home.
I assume that you will soon acquire a family pet, my own personal favorites are beagles and Irish wolfhounds, I recommend one of each.


In reference to the topic, our house has been connected to the sewer system since 1933.

[CheezeFlixz]

Recently I was plagued by what appeared to be a septic tank problem. Any time the toilet was flushed, water was ran in the sink, or the shower was used water and yeech would back up into all the drains. I've lived in this house for five years and other than using a septic replenishing product like Rid-X had not done any maintenance on the septic system.

I do have traumatic memories of childhood when our septic system failed and we had to dig up and replace the tank, field lines - the whole nine yards. Sometimes I think I can still smell it on my hands.

A friend (with years of plumbing experience) and I dug the thing up, and it turned out to only be a bad clog right above the outlet into the tank. Further more he pronounced my septic tank to be in extraordinary shape and one of the finest examples of a septic tank he'd ever seen. There was a good two feet of clearance and almost no solid build up at the bottom of the tank.

I was beaming with pride! 

So do you live with the modern marvel of a sewer system or the scientific miracle of a septic tank? Or maybe some other system (I know several people around here with an outhouse).

Or do you have no idea or care even less what happens when you flush the toilet?

Does't really sound like a septic problem to me, more like a line problem going to the tank. Tanks and lines normally leak into the yard if they are full.

Rid-X ... over priced bakers/brewers yeast. I replaced one system on one house, it was no big deal to me. I've always had a septic system because I've always lived in the country. Those-them-there-city-folks pay out the nose for sewer bills. It's about 200% of the water bill.

[Patient7]

I believe we are connected to the sewer system around here, once the whole pipe running out of our yard backed up and we needed some guys to come in, dig up the entire front yard, and fix it.  Idiots hit the gas line and needed people to come in and fix THAT, THEN they plowed a backhoe into a tree in our yard, it actually looks kinda neat now because the tree bends a bit near the stump.

[Doc Daneeka]

I've got a septic tank, kinda surprised so many others do too! I think I'm the only person I know personally to have one, my family lives on a big hill.

[Raffine]

Does't really sound like a septic problem to me, more like a line problem going to the tank. Tanks and lines normally leak into the yard if they are full.

Rid-X ... over priced bakers/brewers yeast. I replaced one system on one house, it was no big deal to me. I've always had a septic system because I've always lived in the country. 

Yeah, I was wondering why there wasn't any seepage or a 'grease trap' - but I'm glad we dug the thing up so I could check on it since the thing's been in the ground for 20 or so years without any maintenance (as far as I could tell). Since the blockage was so near the tank we probably would have wound up digging the thing up anyhow, despite the fact my friend has one of those super electric 'roto rooters'.

We spent about thirty minute playing a very entertaining game of "I'll flush something down the toilet and you watch it pop out in the septic tank".

I buy the generic septic tank additive at the Dollar General store, so it's not nearly as expensive as Rid-X. I'll try brewer's yeast next time, though.

Those-them-there-city-folks pay out the nose for sewer bills. It's about 200% of the water bill.

We don't have garbage pickup or sewer to inflate the bill, so water bills around here tend to be in the 15 to 20 dollar range.

[AndyC]

I'm on a sewer, which is interesting for a town as small as this. I guess being on a lake, septic systems aren't a great idea for a town, but it is done some places. Funny, they have to pump the sewage for several miles to the treatment plant, because the waterways near the town flow into the lake, and they needed one flowing out.

While we have municipal sewers, we do not have municipal water. My house is on an artesian well, which gives pretty tasty water, although it has to be tested occasionally. It's very reliabale, unless a toilet happens to run all day, which drains the well and pulls air into the pump, which then runs and runs and runs until it gets very hot, and then I have to shut it down and prime it and whisper a few magic words to it in order to get the whole thing working again. It also doesn't work if the power goes out, which is more frequently than most people would like, but we have a backup generator.

Oddly, while we have public sewers but no water, the next town over has public water but no sewer. Weird.

[CheezeFlixz]

Yeah, I was wondering why there wasn't any seepage or a 'grease trap' - but I'm glad we dug the thing up so I could check on it since the thing's been in the ground for 20 or so years without any maintenance (as far as I could tell). Since the blockage was so near the tank we probably would have wound up digging the thing up anyhow, despite the fact my friend has one of those super electric 'roto rooters'.

We spent about thirty minute playing a very entertaining game of "I'll flush something down the toilet and you watch it pop out in the septic tank".

A lot of old systems, 1970's and before used a main drain pipe called "orangeburg" the stuff is notorious for collapsing and blocking the line.

[Torgo]

My childhood home which I lived in until I was 23 had a septic tank. Sometimes after a big rain for some reason it would get kind of squirelly but it did fine for the most part.  My house that I've been in for almost 4 years is sewer though.  I did see on the news back in the 90's a septic explosion that was somehow caught on camera. Talk about impressive!

[asimpson2006]

The house I lived at until 1999 was hooked up to the sewer.  The house I live in now went to a sewer system 13 years ago. 

[JaseSF]

Living in a very rural area, definitely a septic tank.  Many people though just set things up so it justs go right out into the ocean.

[AndyC]

I assume that you will soon acquire a family pet, my own personal favorites are beagles and Irish wolfhounds, I recommend one of each.

A Beagle and a Wolfhound. Now there's an interesting pairing.

[Dennis]

I assume that you will soon acquire a family pet, my own personal favorites are beagles and Irish wolfhounds, I recommend one of each.

A Beagle and a Wolfhound. Now there's an interesting pairing.

Actually in a dog show Beagles and Irish Wolfhounds compete in the the same group, that is the 'Hound" group. I've always thought it's kind of weird.