Hi, I was wondering if anyone knew of any good alternatives to the standard Aerator in the Septic Tank. I know the purpose of this is to inject air into the septic tank. I'm getting tired of purchasing new aerator motors as they run in quite a hostile environment, and seem to be prone to wearing out easily.

I have heard of people injecting compressed air into their tanks, and was wondering if this was a good idea. If this is a somewhat common practice, does anyone have any details, such as what PSI to use, and what size air line?

Thank you,
Jonathon

 

Not aware of the air system you are describing. I do know that when those aerator pumps fail, it is soon enough that backhoe Joe shows up digging up the field to remove the clogged system.

How often are you replacing these pumps? What brand are you using?

 

why would you need to dig the system up? there is no clog; the water levels are fine. it used to be that when it rained heavy, the water would get into the septic tank, and would rise enough to kick out the motor (per design), but a cleaning out of the field tile took care of that...

It seems that the very harsh environment, along with hair and other things gets on the end of the shaft and may keep the motor out of balance enough to kill the bearings.

I'm just thinking, the whole idea is just to inject air into the tank; couldn't this be done with compressed air?

 

A significant amount of my service calls related to drain cleaning when dealing with septic systems with aerators are usually linked to owners not seeing the necessity to replace the pump if and when it fails. Next thing is all the waterborn waste carries out to the leaching field and clogs the system, thus the need for backhoe Joe. Not once did I mention your system in relation to my response.

Aerators in tanks have been installed in systems for years, I haven't seen any alternatives that follow the same logic. This is where my experience as a plumber stops since I don't deal with septic systems other than drain cleaning and troubleshooting problematic backups in septic systems. I leave this for the outside guys to do. But, I've helped set tanks, ran laterals to the distribution box, septic tank, leaching fields. Laid down countless chambers. There is easier work inside the house.

Contact numerous licensed septic tank installers in your area and see what there response is in regards to the compressed air idea. They might offer something similar.

 

ok, I guess I misread what you meant by that. I'll see if anyone else has some ideas... thanks!