Need advice on pumping septic for party???


  #1  
Old 08-11-09, 04:47 AM
H
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northeast
Posts: 103
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Need advice on pumping septic for party???

Hello Everyone. I'm planning a retirement party for my father at my home. The thought occurred to me that it might be a good idea to have the septic tank pumped for the party. I'm expecting about 40 people and I have a 1,000 gallon septic tank that was last pumped only about 5 months ago. I'm concerned that with all the people using water and flushing, the system might become overloaded. I'm looking for advice on when (before or after the party) or if I should get the tank pumped.
Thanks!
 
  #2  
Old 08-11-09, 06:01 PM
nap's Avatar
nap
nap is offline
New Member
Join Date: May 2006
Location: north
Posts: 3,821
Upvotes: 0
Received 2 Upvotes on 2 Posts
pumping the tank won't do anything for you and is unnecessary if you had it pumped 5 months ago.

the tank servers several purposes. It allows the solids to settle out of the effluent. It also allows the solids to break down so the fluids can then be allowed to go to the leach field and the remaining solids will settle to the bottom of the tank.



If you have filled your tank with solids in 5 months, all I can say is you must be full of .....well, I won't say but it takes a lot to fill the tank with enough solids that require you to pump the tank.


Are you having any problems with any part of your septic system?
 
  #3  
Old 08-12-09, 04:39 AM
H
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northeast
Posts: 103
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Thanks for the reply. I have not had any problems yet, but I like being pro active. I was not sure if the volume of water usage could push solids into the leach field before they had a chance to settle in the tank. I'm glad that I don't need to worry about it. Now I can focus on all of the other s... that I need to do to get ready
 
  #4  
Old 08-12-09, 08:42 PM
nap's Avatar
nap
nap is offline
New Member
Join Date: May 2006
Location: north
Posts: 3,821
Upvotes: 0
Received 2 Upvotes on 2 Posts
there is a baffle in a septic tank to prevent any floaties from passing directly into the leach field.

the rest of the solids will simply sink
 
  #5  
Old 08-16-09, 10:11 AM
P
Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Lake Wales, FL
Posts: 424
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
You probably have in the back of your mind that while the solids will be held back by the baffles, the smaller suspended solids will be flushed through the septic by the enormous volume of cold water.
And possibly that the drain field will not be able to cope, as it is unlikely that it was designed for forty people.
The solution to the suspended solids is to install a filter in the out going T, this will pick up all suspended solids over 1/16th of and inch in diameter.
This is probably a good idea to be used by anyone, as a constant flow of minuscule solids will eventually block the drain field anyway.
In normal use, letting the septic rest for eight hours a day allows the solids to settle.
As far as the drain field goes, you will realise that there is little you can do, except have the septic emptied and not refilled with water, this will give you something in the region of 1,200 gallons of space to accept all that water that will be flushed during the party.
However, treat this idea with care, as if your water table is high, the septic may pop out of the ground and cause a big problem.
You could try and guess how much water your guests will use and part fill the septic. Please be careful.
 
  #6  
Old 08-16-09, 08:02 PM
nap's Avatar
nap
nap is offline
New Member
Join Date: May 2006
Location: north
Posts: 3,821
Upvotes: 0
Received 2 Upvotes on 2 Posts
if each of the guests used the toilet 3 times, it would only add 200 gallons of water to the system. I highly doubt this one time short term increase is going to cause any problems unless there are already problems.

each guest using the toilet 3 times is a very generous allowance. I suspect it would be considerably less.

I see absolutely no reason to be concerned about any adverse effects for such a limited over use for such a limited time.
 
 

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