Sunday, January 06, 2013

Sewer

This week, I've been noticing a problem with my household sewerage system, and I've been researching solutions.  Unfortunately, you never really know what problems you have lurking underneath your lawn until you start digging, literally.

When we bought this house, we were told that we were on a rural sewer system, and indeed, I've been paying bills for sewerage treatment every month since I've been living here.  I also knew that this house was built before the rest of the subdivision and had a treatment plant in the mix.  When I bought the place, I assumed that when the rural sewer system came into being, that the previous owner had cut the treatment plant out of the system and had connected directly into the system.  And, you know what they say about assuming.  Yeah.

Turns out, the jazzbo who hooked the house to the rural system kept the treatment plant in the mix.  He simply hooked the end of the discharge line to the system, so I've got a treatment plant that acts as a catch basin.  When solids run into the tank, they settle out and let the water go through.  And over the years, the tank has become completely clogged with solids, to the point where water seeps through, not really flowing, but simply seeping through.

Fortunately, eldest son is a certified water-treatment guy and knows all about these things.  I had him out this morning after church and he diagnosed my problems and offered some solutions.  The very first thing we need to accomplish is to get that tank pumped, and he hooked me up with a guy who'll go that tomorrow morning.  After that's accomplished, that will give us time to work through the problem with the solutions.  Very shortly, that treatment plant will only be an artifact, a bit of concrete with no useful purpose.

Let's simply say that my Sunday morning has been very interesting, and very educational.

5 comments:

Old NFO said...

Thankfully, you had somebody to 'reach out' to that could help... Good luck with the fix!

MSgt B said...

When they pump that baby out, you might want to have plans to be elsewhere.

Pawpaw said...

Copy that, MSgt.

Bibi Karpel said...

The lesson I’ve learned when buying a house is to inspect everything. This is so I will not be surprised when things suddenly go wrong because I’m aware of it. It’s great that you have a son that you can count on. At least, it will not bother you for a long time. :)
{Bibi Karpel}

Darryl Iorio said...

Wasn’t it great that you have your eldest son who did the plumbing work for you? You didn’t need to ask for the help of an expert to do the job. You were able to save effort, time, and money at the same time. Well, I just really hope that aside from the sewage system, you wouldn’t encounter other house problems in the future.