Question for a Plumber

[siringo]

Need a new pump for the septic. Is it possible to get a pump that lives outside the septic/grey water tank?

The pumps have always lived inside the tank and we seem to go through pumps every 5 years. Our septic/grey water tank is under our 'just' paved pathway to the shed.

Thnx.

 

[bullwinkle]

You'd want a lot bigger pump to suck out the water rather than push it out. When we got ours put in about 9 years ago, my plumber said to expects about 5-7 years from a pump. We got about 6 from the first one. He reckons Orange are the best brand.

Edit- this plumber specialises in sceptic systems.

 

[Tappet]

I'm no plumber but a Mono brand pump of the right spec may be the trick.

 

[Nevyn]

Not quite my area of expertise, but the pumps in septic tanks etc. are of the macerating type. They need to chop your waste up to be able to pump it. Submersible pumps are the only ones I know of that do this. Like I said not my area, but that's my understanding.

Cheers Brad

 

[Rabbid-chop]

Yuk. The only time plumbers are actually worth the $100 an hour they charge is when they are doing this..., in which case I think they are worth $1000 an hour.

 

[bullwinkle]

Not sure of your septic design, but mine is what's known as a sand filter. All waste goes into a tank and the fluid then flows through sand and into another tank which is about 6 foot deep and fills from the bottom. The pump empties this second tank into the dispersal lines. The 'water' that comes out is clean, clear and doesn't smell. Due to a design fault by our incompetent local council, my dispersal lines don't work (straight into clay - remember I live in Ballarat, it rains here)' so I pump the water around the garden through a one inch poly pipe.

 

[Old.Tony]

Not sure of your septic design, but mine is what's known as a sand filter. All waste goes into a tank and the fluid then flows through sand and into another tank which is about 6 foot deep and fills from the bottom. The pump empties this second tank into the dispersal lines. The 'water' that comes out is clean, clear and doesn't smell. Due to a design fault by our incompetent local council, my dispersal lines don't work (straight into clay - remember I live in Ballarat, it rains here)' so I pump the water around the garden through a one inch poly pipe.

That sounds like an interesting system. Questions:

1) How often does council insist on inspections?
2) Do you ever have to pump out either tank (like septic)
3) Does the sand ever fill up requiring replacement?

 

[bullwinkle]

G'day Tony.
1. Never
2. Recommended every 3-5 years for the solids tank. We've built the house and moved in almost 9 years ago and haven't had it done yet - no need yet.The water tank pump has a float and it empties once or twice a day.
3. No idea, but it's working as well as the day it was installed, and I check pretty regularly.

The beauty of my set up is that I can turn the pump off at the switch and let the water build up and then give anything that needs it a good soak. Because of the 'nutrients' in the water, it does wonders for the lawns and trees. We had no choice when we built. I wanted a biocylcle type but the council had not developed a maintenance policy. Turns out I pretty much got one anyway, at half the cost. Interestingly a mate who built a couple of years after us, only about 600 metres away put a biocycle system in and it failed last summer - all the worms died.