Peptic Septic

Ugh. We know nothing about septic systems, but we're learning. The first step in getting our new systems was pumping the old ones. The septic guys did that yesterday. That was a smelly job. He told us that one of them was completely taken over with roots. I'm surprised we didn't have gunk bubbling up in the yard.

So he pumped both of them in the back, then told us we have a "grease trap" in the front yard (in front of the kitchen). I didn't know what a grease trap was, but...OK. So they dug in the yard and found the lid. I was curious about it, so I went out to watch. Apparently, it is a small tank and it was FULL to the brim with a slimy, stinky sludge. When they stuck the hose down in to pump it out, I had enough and went inside.

The worker told me that it needed to be pumped about every year, but it probably hadn't been pumped in several years. It's no wonder. Nobody knew it was there. It was underground. So I asked him how we could have it pumped without digging up the yard every year. He told me they could put "risers" on the top to lift the lid up to ground level. That makes sense to me. What doesn't make sense is to put in a tank that needs to be pumped, but not put an easily accessible lid on it.

Today they are supposed to come crush the old tanks that were just pumped and fill in the holes with dirt. Then they will put the new tanks out behind the fence instead of in the yard. I was told that the whole process only takes a few hours.