[masraum]

Originally Posted by Mark Henry

Anything that won't break down, most common items are sanitary napkins, baby wipes, tissue, etc. This might not be an issue with you and your wife but if you have visiting young (city) women they have to be educated. Also you don't want to use bleach cleaners and you have to use septic safe TP etc. We stopped using Costco TP, it says it's septic safe but I can see it doesn't break down well.

Best investment is I installed risers with covers on the tank so I don't need to dig to find the covers. We have two grown kids and their friends so we pump the tank every 3 years.

Good to know. About the only thing I remember about the septic in the house that we lived in when I was 4 is that the tank required digging in the back yard to access. The place that we're looking at buying has a clearly visible concrete pad with 2 large round concrete "doors". So no digging involved. Something is already in place to give permanent access.

Originally Posted by Groesbeck Hurricane

Have not been here in a while and saw this interesting bit....

Well: How deep is the well? Where is it placed in reference to the septic?

No idea. Part of the contract includes a disclosure/declaration sheet that discusses the well and septic. The current owners have only been there 5 years, and per the sheet, they don't know anything about the well or septic (other than septic having been pumped in 2018), depth, installer, etc....

I am assuming you are looking at places in Southeast Texas. In the Piney Woods many wells have a high level of sulpher. I would test the water through Texas A&M. You can get some very good, sweet water in that area!

I've been curious what part of Texas it's considered. Most maps seem to call it the Gulf Coast or Upper Gulf Coast, but some consider it "Central" or "South Central" Texas. We're on the northwest corner of Colorado county which is on the line of coastal vs central. Per some other maps, it would either be "Post Oak Savannah" or "Blackland Prairie."

Make sure of the rate of available water. We really, really loved this one place which was EXTREMELY secluded. Felt wonderful and had the perfect topography for cattle and hunting with a small area for growing hay. Available water was estimated at less than 1 GPM at 300+ feet. Not very much water! The previous people were taking off a three acre lake and filtering. We passed but do somewhat regret the decision.

good to know, thx

Septic: Most older systems are going to be drop systems. These will have fields for draining. They can work very well and give zero issues when maintained properly. We have had them and liked them. Last one was huge and had not been pumped since the early 1970s. Did not need it.

Check on zoning, some areas MAY require you to upgrade to an aerobic system no matter what you have or have not done or tested. My aerobic system was not that expensive. Check around!

Our current system is similar to what a small city utilizes. It cost barely more than a large drop system with multiple lines. We have a 1500 gallon first stage drop tank. There is a three station "processing plant" behind the unit. It provides further breakdown of components. The final stage pumps water and we have a watering system which waters a huge butterfly garden with lots of permanent plants. The water comes out the same quality as if we were a small cities processing plant. The installer joked it was of good enough quality to drink coming out. There is ZERO odor, system runs well but does require electricity to operate the air pump (does make droning noise) and the water pump to the spray nozzles.


Living with septic:

No processing of kitchen waste down the sink, this means do not even think of using a grinder. Kitchen waste does not breakdown easily in the system. Make a compost pile, much easier to manage. No hygiene products down the toilet. No wet wipes down the toilet.

Remember any chemicals going down the drains and into the septic system WILL end up on your land. No oils, toxins, other things you do not want to see again. You will kill the good microbes!

Run microbes into your system. Change the filters/chemicals as necessary. We do not use any chlorine/chlorox products in our system. All soaps we use are septic safe as is all toilet paper. Most toilet papers today are septic safe and they state as much on the labelling. We have an automatic dishwasher and use septic safe products from Cascade, they are no more expensive and are readily available locally.

Good to know, thanks.

Originally Posted by Groesbeck Hurricane

Oh, and salt water is only an issue nearer the coast if I remember correctly for SE Texas....

This place is ~70 miles from the nearest salt water (Lavaca/Matagorda Bays), and I think at about 320' elevation, so I wouldn't think salt water would be an issue.

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

I agree with Mark Henry on the risers , if you don't have access once you do dig down install risers . I did that on ours and now any time an inspection or pump out needs to be performed remove 8-10 screws from the riser cover and you are there . The principle of a septic tank is pretty basic . Water and solids enter the tank , the solids go to the bottom and the liquids flow out to the leach field . The solids break down due to mold/enzymes in the tank .

Unfortunately most areas do not allow grey water to go into a separate tank so it all goes into the septic . Soapy water from showers/sinks/dishwasher/washing machine along with bleach and other chemicals has a tendency to kill the mold/enzymes needed to break down the solids . That's why there are products like Rid-X and others to add the bacteria back into the system . Old timers just flushed yeast down the crapper to feed the tank . Really anything that will promote mold/enzyme growth in the tank is good . Likewise anything that kills that growth is bad .

Thanks. Maybe we should occasionally flush some of our home-made sauerkraut.