When Should I Pump My Septic Tank?

how often should you pump your septic tank should you pump your tank at all if you ask around you're bound to get some bad advice the fact is knowing when to pump your septic tank is one of the most confusing parts of owning a septic system in today's video we're going to learn how to use a special tool that's going to show us when it's time to pump your tank not only will this allow you to take proper care of your system but it's going to save you money over time all that today on Stuart so before we learn how to use a core sampler let's first learn how septic tank works okay let me give you some background as they draw a cross sectional view of the septic tank since we all prepare different foods take various medications and use a variety of cleaners each septic tank is basically its own chemistry project the amount of wastewater we generate our personal habits and products we use all affect the workings of our septic tank and how often we need to have that tank pumped out remember the longevity of your septic system is directly linked to proper maintenance and the amount and strength of wastewater you put into your system tanks are usually made of concrete under about eight feet long by four feet wide and three to five feet deep on this drawing the inlet is on the left and the outlet is on the right the inlet flow is baffled by a plastic tee the outlet is usually a few inches lower than the inlet and this means the tanks normal water level is even with that outlet pipe the job of the septic tank is to separate the waste water into three separate layers trapping the solids and greases inside the tank and only allowing the liquid effluent to leave the tank this settling is done through both biological activities and retention your tank doesn't settle out into these three layers there's something not right and your tank is not working as it should let's look at the layers the scum layer is the top layer shown here in brown and is made up of fats oils and greases the yellow middle section is the liquid effluent the tanks outlet T is designed to allow this water and this water only to exit the tank and move on to the absorption field the sludge layer accumulates on the bottom of the tank and is shown here in black the tank should be pumped when the sludge plus the scum layer equal 25 to 33 percent of the liquid depth of the tank never pumping your tank allows the sludge and scum to build up to unhealthy levels excessive sludge buildup will render the septic tank useless and allow all wastewater to bypass the tank going out into your field system and wreaking havoc have all your sludge and scum removed when it's time in fact be sure to verify that your pumper has done a thorough job when they pump your tank don't allow them to leave six inches of sludge in the bottom a good pumper will back flush into the tank to help put the sludge into suspension so they can effectively pump it out so this is the core sampler as you see it comes in this fancy PVC case that looks like a giant ear cleaner all right so this is the core sampler it's eight feet tall at one end you have this cute little ball here and you've got the tube is clear and then at the bottom you've got a little stopper and what that stopper does what you do is you is you we're going to put this down into the bottom of your tank and then we're going to when it hits the bottom we're going to pull this shut Boop so does that makes that exact sound it makes a Boop sound and closes the end of this and when it does that what we're going to do is we're going to wrap it around this boat looking thing what would you call that I think it's something they use on a boat so I'll call it boat thing and then we can look at the contents of the tank so let's do that I'm going to pull this lid off pull out the internal lid and I have to make grunting sounds when I do that because it's such hard work so here's the open end we're going to put it down into the tank and I'm just going to push it down in there slowly and straight down until I get to the bottom oh there's the bottom so then I'm going to take the this and while holding it down on the bottom gently I'm going to pull on the rope and it made a thud sound which means that the the end of the tube was engaged so I'm going to wrap it around the boat thing right here and then as I pull it out look what we have we have a cross-sectional view of the contents of the septic tank and so the first thing you notice is that our water level is here so this is the water depth of the tank this is how deep the tank is so we've got one two three almost three and a half feet of water depth now when we're down here we've got the sludge you see the sludge goes to almost two feet so the rule of thumb with sludge is you want to pump your septic tank when your sludge layer is twenty-five to thirty three percent of the depth of your tank so this tank has almost 2/3 sludge so it needs to be pumped quite badly another scenario would be say if you had four feet of water and the sludge was at a foot you'd be right at the edge of needing to have that tank pump so maybe you could wait a little while longer till it was about a third or you can go ahead and have it pumped but if you have four feet of water and you only have six inches of sludge then you don't need to have it pumped even if it's been five six seven years you don't need to have that tank pumped and that's where you're going to save money because the core sampler tells you exactly when you need to have the tank pumped and this tank needs to be pumped so then we loosen the end here around the boat thingy and the contents fall right back into the tank so that's how the core sampler works if you'd like to purchase one feel free to give me a call or send me an email hi I wanted to mention a few things before we go one you know make sure that you wear rubber gloves if you're getting into your septic tank or if you're doing a core sampling septic water is you ply if guest is kind of nasty it's not something you want to get on your hands you also might want to have some alcohol-based hand sanitizer on hand just in case you know the fact is pumping your septic tank is expensive but it's also a necessity having your local septic pumper on a regular schedule and have them come out and pump your tank every year or two might be convenient for them and it might be profitable for them but it might not be necessary using a core sampler for goes the guesswork and lets you know exactly when it's time to pump your tank you can purchase the core sampler online at septic design comm or by contacting me directly at the number below thanks again for watching we'll see you in the next video birth

Channel: Meade Septic Design Inc.

Views: 430,990

Rating: 4.7644515 out of 5

Keywords: septic tank, pump tank, septic care, core sampler, septic system maintinance, septic system, how septic works, tank cleaning, clean septic tank, pump septic, septic need pumped?

Id: rAGEuk3RgHg

Length: 8min 40sec (520 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 18 2014