I recently attended a septic system inspection. Unfortunately, the system failed and needs replacing.
It's difficult to say exactly why its condition deteriorated. The tank had not been pumped as recently as it should have been. Also, the house has a garbage disposal which generally requires more frequent pumping than houses that do not.
One issue that jumped out at me was
when the tank had been pumped, it had been pumped through the air vent. The proper way to pump a septic tank is by removing the septic tank cover.
I've owned homes with septic tanks for over twenty years. On two occasions I've caught the pumping company trying to pump the tank from the vent. Doing so will not properly remove all the solids from the tank and could eventually lead to solids getting into the leaching lines.
The crews for the septic pumping companies sometimes take this short cut because many tanks require significant digging to uncover. Digging down three or more feet when the ground is either dry or muddy is a nasty job. It's not surprising that an unsupervised crew would seek a short cut.
When another one of my clients had their septic system inspected, it took a lot of digging for the septic tank cover to be reached. They decided to add an extension to the tank opening so it could more easily be pumped in the future.
Not everyone can stay home when their septic tank is scheduled to be pumped. However,
if the ground over the septic tank has not been disturbed, the pumping crew is likely to have taken a short cut. Beware.
