We’ve noticed going through many blog searches that there are few if any current blogs relating to the septic business.  I’m not sure if it’s a lack of interest on the topic or the unavailablity of businesses on the web interested in helping.

We are here to help.  Our experience with septic systems of all kinds makes us a perfect resource for questions and feedback.  Obviously we will have more specific answers to residents of South Jersey, however, that doesn’t limit our knowledge to the rest of the U.S. and beyond for that matter.  If we don’t know the answer we will say so but we will do our best to find out.

We’ve received some questions recently and we thought it might be a good idea to share one of them today:

(Q) Our house and cesspool were built in 1967 and we’ve had it pumped out every 18months since the house was built.  We have a vegetable garden that is about 6 years old and we water it twice a day.  A few weeks ago we noticed there was standing water around the lid of the cesspool and it doesn’t seem to be going away.   What can we do?

We needed to pump out the cesspool to determine if there was anything visible or out of the ordinary.  After pumping we saw there was no history of high water levels but there was a significant coating of slime on the bricks all the way to the bottom.

(A) We have two options for you.  Option 1 is to do a high pressure washdown and chemical treatment of the brick surface.  The current treatment calls for a three step procedure. Step 1:  Use a high pressure spraying wand to reduce the amount of slime and grease coating the brick surface.  Step 2:  Wait two weeks to allow the water to return to the cesspool and put caustic soda into the water.  This dissolves a majority of the slime and grease inside the holes between the bricks and begins to enter into the crushed stone surrounding the cesspool.  Step 3:  After another two weeks we introduce a robust chemical into the water which completes the cleaning of the brick surface, the holes between the bricks and finally the crushed stone surrounding it.   Option 2 is a like kind replacement of the cesspool.

We will be adding information like this in future posts.

There were two recent situations regarding problems with local competitors pumping out septic tanks which we feel compelled to comment on.

The first happened on Thursday, January 22, 2009.  This is a brief paraphrased summary of the conversation:

A potential customer called us to inquire about a problem they were having with a bathtub draining slowly and their laundry drain overflowing.  We generally ask about any recent problems when a new customer calls for pricing.  We scheduled this customer for a pumping the same day and when we arrived at their house the driver opened the septic tank lid and noticed a large volume of solids inside the tank.

Our experience in cases like this tell us that a competitor removed only liquid from a tank for a cheaper price and not the solids or sludge.  This is very dangerous and potentially expensive for the homeowner because as the solids and sludge build up, they will wash into the disposal field reducing its life expectancy or a portion of those solids will break off when the tank fills back up with liquid and clog the outlet pipe which prevents any more liquid from entering the field and backs up into the house.

In this first instance a portion of the solids had broken off and had indeed clogged about 95% of the outlet pipe.  Fortunately, the fix for this is relatively easy but not inexpensive and required digging up the distribution box cover and jet the line from the tank to the d-box and jet the lines from the d-box out through each lateral line in the field.  This would not have been necessary had the solids and sludge been removed from the septic tank as per the NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection guidelines.

The second instance happened December 18, 2008 and is similar in nature but with a different outcome:

A potential customer called complaining of water backing up into the house and overflowing out of the septic tank’s inspection port.  We responded to the situation immediately and upon arriving we opened the tank lid and a large discharge of solids billowed out of the tank with a mushroom appearance.  This septic system was approximately 10 years old and had always been pumped out by the same company.  After cleaning up the discharge we saw a tremendous amount of solids still remaining in the tank.  The thickness of the solids was about 3 1/2 feet thick.  Over the years the solids had exited the tank and had flown out to the field bed which caused a premature failure of the entire field bed and the only available option for repair was to replace the field bed at the insistence of the County Health Department.

It is our educated opinion that when hiring a company to routinely pump out your septic tank, as a homeowner, you should be present to ensure that company opens the septic tank lid completely and removes ALL of the solids at the top, ALL the liquid in the middle and ALL the sludge at the bottom.  Never let a septic pumping company try to remove the contents of the tank through the inspection port or try to tell you that leaving even the smallest amount of solids and sludge in the tank is ok.  It’s not ok and is also potentially catastrophic financially speaking.

We were contacted recently by a licensed Master Plumber who was having work done his house and the contractor involved while having a regular conversation withthe Plumber passed on some terrible advice.  The contractor told the Master Plumber that his pumping company told him it was OK for them to leave the sludge at the bottom of the septic tank because “it jump-started the bacteria process in the tank after pumping”.

English Sewage disagrees with this strongly and we strictly adhere to the NJ Dept of Environ. Protection’s guidelines which say, paraphrasing, septic tanks should be completely emptied on a periodic basis.  The NJDEP recommends frequent pumping and while they have never specified the time frame involved in “frequent pumping”, we have learned, with 40 years of experience to back it up, that pumping a septic tank or cesspool should be done every 18-24 months depending on the number of people living in the house and the number of bedrooms.

There was a recent article in the January edition of “Pumper Magazine” written by Roger E. Machmeier, Ph.D., which addresses the particluar point of having the septic tank pumped out:

“As we know, the purpose of pumping a septic tank is to remove the accumulated solids.  The sludge on the bottom of the tank and the scum on the top of the tank are put into suspension by back flushing or with a mechanism that stirs the tank contents.  I suggest as much as possible of the suspended solids and liquid be removed from the tank.  There are still plenty of bacteria in whatever material remains on the tank bottom and sidewalls.  In addition, we often forget the septic tank started working when the home sewage was deposited in a clean concrete tank.  After installation of a new system there are no bacteria, other than those in the toilet wastes being deposited into the tank.”

This is the consensus opinion of most professional, licensed and experienced pumping companies.

Through the 1990’s, in addition to the other services already provided, English became a distributor for package treatment plants for home and small business.

English Sewage Disposal is a close partner with BECA Environmental Consultants.  The partnership brought new environmental and technical expertise across a range of environmental areas, including expanded wastewater, water, air and system operations.  The changes allowed English to offer complete on-site and community wastewater management services — from maintenance, rehabilitation of failing systems, to complete turn-key customized wastewater treatment systems.  Now with the additional technical support services available, new services are on the horizon.

In 2003, with the advent of the New Jersey On-Site Septic System Inspection Standards, English immediately adopted them in order to provide the most up to date and complete inspection services available in New Jersey to protect both the home seller and buyer from the prospects of an uninformed purchase of a failed or failing septic system.

Included with this direction are homeowner tailored on site septic system management contracts and system warranty programs both for new and qualifying existing septic systems.

English has developed a network of local service providers and can collectively bring a significant level of resources to bear to ensure timely response to and correction of any septic system related problems.

Our depth of services has resulted in our moto: If water flows through it – We do it.  There is no water related project to large for our team of professionals.   From engineering to implementation and operation, we bring together the resources to provide you with septic peace of mind.

For additional information regarding your septic system or related services, contact:

English Sewage Disposal, Inc.

PO Box 5189

Seabrook NJ 08302

(856) 358-4771 Office

(856)-358-6376 Fax

To Order your next septic service, inspection or portable toilet on line 24/7, visit us at www.englishsewage.com

I just wanted to give you a quick email to give some kudos to one of your employees…

Jeremy was the young man who showed up at my home today to pump my septic system and he couldn’t have been nicer and more helpful with all my questions.  I just wanted to let you know that if he is like all your employees than that is a testament to the quality and integrity of your business.

Thanks again to Jeremy for his assistance today and I just again wanted to express to him my appreciation.

Larry Kniceley

Brian

Dear Brian,

The code says that all wastewater, including laundry, is supposed to be directed into the septic system.   The laundry water contains the same bacterial contamination as the shower water or toilet water although in theory lower concentrations.  The concern is the ability of the wet area creating a breeding ground for fly and insects which in turn create their own set of problems.

The discharge of laundry water into a french drain or dry well is a common practice.   Without installing a lint filter on the laundry it will quickly clog and fail.  Lint and laundry detergents will clog the soil and require replacement of the french drains or dry wells periodically.   The septic tank will help to trap the lint where it is removed during normal septic service.   We still recommend laundry lint filters AND septic tank effluent filters even with septic systems to aid in protecting the systems from premature system failures.

The best system is to direct the laundry to the septic system, install the laundry lint filter and the septic tank effluent filter, pump the septic tank COMPLETELY every two years provided you are not overloading the system (maximum of one person per bedroom) and be careful of what cleaners you use and what you flush into the system.

Keep the trash out and the bacteria healthy.

The first happened on Thursday, January 22, 2009.  This is a brief paraphrased summary of the conversation:

A potential customer called us to inquire about a problem they were having with a bathtub draining slowly and their laundry drain overflowing.  We generally ask about any recent problems when a new customer calls for pricing.  We scheduled this customer for a pumping the same day and when we arrived at their house the driver opened the septic tank lid and noticed a large volume of solids inside the tank.

Our experience in cases like this tell us that a competitor removed only liquid from a tank for a cheaper price and not the solids or sludge.  This is very dangerous and potentially expensive for the homeowner because as the solids and sludge build up, they will wash into the disposal field reducing its life expectancy or a portion of those solids will break off when the tank fills back up with liquid and clog the outlet pipe which prevents any more liquid from entering the field and backs up into the house.

In this first instance a portion of the solids had broken off and had indeed clogged about 95% of the outlet pipe.  Fortunately, the fix for this is relatively easy but not inexpensive and required digging up the distribution box cover and jet the line from the tank to the d-box and jet the lines from the d-box out through each lateral line in the field.  This would not have been necessary had the solids and sludge been removed from the septic tank as per the NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection guidelines.

The second instance happened December 18, 2008 and is similar in nature but with a different outcome:

A potential customer called complaining of water backing up into the house and overflowing out of the septic tank’s inspection port.  We responded to the situation immediately and upon arriving we opened the tank lid and a large discharge of solids billowed out of the tank with a mushroom appearance.  This septic system was approximately 10 years old and had always been pumped out by the same company.  After cleaning up the discharge we saw a tremendous amount of solids still remaining in the tank.  The thickness of the solids was about 3 1/2 feet thick.  Over the years the solids had exited the tank and had flown out to the field bed which caused a premature failure of the entire field bed and the only available option for repair was to replace the field bed at the insistence of the County Health Department.

It is our educated opinion that when hiring a company to routinely pump out your septic tank, as a homeowner, you should be present to ensure that company opens the septic tank lid completely and removes ALL of the solids at the top, ALL the liquid in the middle and ALL the sludge at the bottom.  Never let a septic pumping company try to remove the contents of the tank through the inspection port or try to tell you that leaving even the smallest amount of solids and sludge in the tank is ok.  It’s not ok and is also potentially catastrophic financially speaking.