My birthday suprise septic tank.


  #1  
Old 05-18-09, 05:04 PM
G
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 16
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
My birthday suprise septic tank.

Hello,

I bought my house a little over a year ago as 'sewer connected'. The house consists of an original 1961 3 beds/2 baths house and an attached enclosed carport addition of 1bed/ 1bath in the front.

On the week of my birthday, my house gave me a very special gift. I 'found' a small septic tank in my front yard. The tank is completely empty of liquid, there is a solid tangle of roots at the bottom that can be lifted freely from the tank with a rake and tons of roots are coming out of the drain field pipe to the bottom of the tank and then a few of the roots went up the waste line into the house (I cut those off with my clippers immediately when I made that horrific discovery). The tank is about 5 ft in diameter and about 5 feet deep and has a strange oval shape to it. Seems to be made out of fiber glass. There are no Ts, baffles, separate chambers or inspection ports, only one 18" dia. hole with a lid that was screwed in. I found this tank because I was curious of where the sewer line was for the third bathroom in the yard in order to add a sink to that addition.

The addition has remained unused for over 18 months (our year in the property and the time the house was vacant before sale). The 'original' house is connected to the sewer (i.e. flush any of the original plumbing fixtures and no water goes to the tank). But the addition bathroom is connected to the tank.

Can the roots be removed (from the tank and/or the leach line) and the system be used reliably for one bathroom ? The original plan was to add a kitchen to that addition and make it a in-law suite :S. Right now I would be thankfull if I can keep the bathroom.

I have tried unsuccessfully to find the distribution box of the leach line. Its very hard in this extra hard caliche soil to go on exploratory digging. Takes me 4 hrs. to make a 3ft long 1 ft deep trench (by hand).

Attached some pictures.





 
  #2  
Old 05-21-09, 12:39 PM
lexus114's Avatar
Member
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Lehigh Valley,PA
Posts: 14
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by goldeneye08
Hello,

I bought my house a little over a year ago as 'sewer connected'. The house consists of an original 1961 3 beds/2 baths house and an attached enclosed carport addition of 1bed/ 1bath in the front.

On the week of my birthday, my house gave me a very special gift. I 'found' a small septic tank in my front yard. The tank is completely empty of liquid, there is a solid tangle of roots at the bottom that can be lifted freely from the tank with a rake and tons of roots are coming out of the drain field pipe to the bottom of the tank and then a few of the roots went up the waste line into the house (I cut those off with my clippers immediately when I made that horrific discovery). The tank is about 5 ft in diameter and about 5 feet deep and has a strange oval shape to it. Seems to be made out of fiber glass. There are no Ts, baffles, separate chambers or inspection ports, only one 18" dia. hole with a lid that was screwed in. I found this tank because I was curious of where the sewer line was for the third bathroom in the yard in order to add a sink to that addition.

The addition has remained unused for over 18 months (our year in the property and the time the house was vacant before sale). The 'original' house is connected to the sewer (i.e. flush any of the original plumbing fixtures and no water goes to the tank). But the addition bathroom is connected to the tank.

Can the roots be removed (from the tank and/or the leach line) and the system be used reliably for one bathroom ? The original plan was to add a kitchen to that addition and make it a in-law suite :S. Right now I would be thankfull if I can keep the bathroom.

I have tried unsuccessfully to find the distribution box of the leach line. Its very hard in this extra hard caliche soil to go on exploratory digging. Takes me 4 hrs. to make a 3ft long 1 ft deep trench (by hand).

Attached some pictures.





Man,that is one funky looking site!! Its kind of eerie actually.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: