I would just like to say

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Had fun this morning.:rolleyes:
Trying to unblock the outlet from the septic tank.:(

Again.:mad:

Had to do this 3 times including this time. Each time at least a year apart.
Complete pain in the rear.
No obvious reason for it, and can't tell what's blocking it, it is the other side of a 90 degree bend. But where it is it is unlikely to be tree roots. I don't have anything that would grab a piece of it to see.

I suspect a fat ball. And I suspect that THAT is due to the faulty dishwasher and us not being as fussy about keeping fat out of the sinks and dishwasher as we now are. But according to tinternet it could also be loo paper even though it is supposed to be OK for septic tanks, as all types are really. We don't shove hair or wetwipes down the lav or anywhere.

So spent a long time poking at it with a bent branch and flushing with a hose connected to the main. It does seem to empty OK. but just ouside the tank, which is more or less buried in the ground, where the pipe leaves the tank, there is a puddle of yuk. The seal between the pipe, the plassy thing that sits in the top of the tank that holds the filter and the concrete side of the tank, has never sealed particularly well. (The people who did the drains were total cowboys as we discovered far too late.)
Not looking forward to having to empty the tank sufficiently to be able to improve the seal. and then to seal it with summat as yet unresearched. I Imagine a form of mastic.
Yet another voyage of discovery.

Off to the toon in a bit to obtain large quantities of jam sugar and lemons so W can turn the cherries into jam.

Hope you are all enjoying your days. :):):)
 
Stanleysteamer said:
Had fun this morning.:rolleyes:
Trying to unblock the outlet from the septic tank.:(

Again.:mad:

Had to do this 3 times including this time. Each time at least a year apart.
Complete pain in the rear.
No obvious reason for it, and can't tell what's blocking it, it is the other side of a 90 degree bend. But where it is it is unlikely to be tree roots. I don't have anything that would grab a piece of it to see.

I suspect a fat ball. And I suspect that THAT is due to the faulty dishwasher and us not being as fussy about keeping fat out of the sinks and dishwasher as we now are. But according to tinternet it could also be loo paper even though it is supposed to be OK for septic tanks, as all types are really. We don't shove hair or wetwipes down the lav or anywhere.

So spent a long time poking at it with a bent branch and flushing with a hose connected to the main. It does seem to empty OK. but just ouside the tank, which is more or less buried in the ground, where the pipe leaves the tank, there is a puddle of yuk. The seal between the pipe, the plassy thing that sits in the top of the tank that holds the filter and the concrete side of the tank, has never sealed particularly well. (The people who did the drains were total cowboys as we discovered far too late.)
Not looking forward to having to empty the tank sufficiently to be able to improve the seal. and then to seal it with summat as yet unresearched. I Imagine a form of mastic.
Yet another voyage of discovery.

Off to the toon in a bit to obtain large quantities of jam sugar and lemons so W can turn the cherries into jam.

Hope you are all enjoying your days. :):):)
Click to expand...
You have a bit of a weird setup though don't you? its not strictly a septic tank more a holding tank which then goes off to the mains?
Is it because you don't use it all the time, so when you come back its had time to dry out and solidify somewhere in the line?

Hopefully it will drain enough now the blockage is clear, so you can clean the lid and seal it better.
Do you know where the 90 is and how deep?
J
 
marjon said:
You have a bit of a weird setup though don't you? its not strictly a septic tank more a holding tank which then goes off to the mains?
Is it because you don't use it all the time, so when you come back its had time to dry out and solidify somewhere in the line?

Hopefully it will drain enough now the blockage is clear, so you can clean the lid and seal it better.
Do you know where the 90 is and how deep?
J
Click to expand...
It is a proper septic tank, it could be connected to an"épandage" i.e crowsfoot outfall, if we had wanted. But we asked and that would have been a bit more expensive so we opted for the septic tank connect to the "main drains" which aren't, it turned out. Aren't really. So we in fact treat our own sewage cos the local water company cannot! I think I must have explained the barmyness of all this before. So no, it isn't a holding tank it does do the anerobic biz and treat the influent.

i am sure that not using it all the time must lead to a certain amount of drying out but it didn't start misbehaving until; about 3 years ago and that would coincide with the dishwasher only running on the hot water we connected it to. Or I suppose it may have simply built up.
But each time we clear it the blockage goes away for a very long time. As it is, and even as it was when I opened it up, the "water" level was below the level of the outflow, so it was never completely blocked.
I'm not convinced there isn't just one problem.
The 90 is just after the outlet so I can put one hand on it to keep it at least semi-sealed to the tank while prodding it and round it, with the other hand. It then goes down about 2 metres and then there is another 90 deg outwards going towards the edge of the land, (one has to assume we cannot see it!), along the bottom of two neighbours' land and eventually into the drain under the road in all 250 metres away from the house. It's a right flipping mess! But at least it is all down hill.
If I had to I could cut the 90 deg off, then attack the blockage a lot more directly, then make up a new 90 deg and outlet. I'm not a plumberist otherwise this is probably what I would have done at least the 2nd time. The 90 deg is glued on, but the rest of the system isn't glued much at all. This is the way a lot of plumberists do it round here. They claim it is to allow for movement of the land. Again what do I know?
 
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