According to uncle k :

"Chris Lewis" wrote in message

In your case, obviously some or all of your drain plumbing in the house
is _below_ the tank, hence you need the septic pump.

Whoa! Not so fast... In our area, pumps are now required on all new
installations. More on that, below.

Are you sure they don't mean on systems where the leach field is above
the tank (ie: "mound systems"?).

If you're in an area with poor soils almost always needing "mound systems"
in order to get sufficient percolation, it might lead you to believe
that up-pumps and vents are mandatory everywhere, but in actual fact,
it's specific to your local soil conditions.

I find it hard to imagine that codes would insist on septic pumps
_unless_ there was a percolation problem. Because a pumped system
has a higher likelyhood of failing sooner or later.

Septic tanks need periodic cleanout if they're used more than
occasionally. Mostly to remove the solid buildup, and as such,
you can often skip cleanout of the liquid tank. If you know
when it was last cleaned out, remember to get it done again in 3
years later, and ask them to tell you whether it needs to be
done more or less often.

Really? I had one pumped last year that hadn't been pumped for about 15-20
years. It was about half filled with solids and in perfect working order.
Mostly, it depends on the composition of the soil, who is using the system,
and what they allow to go into it.

The buildup of solids is exclusively dependent on the habits of the
homeowner, and has nothing to do with the leach field. It can't - it
hasn't gotten to the leach field yet, has it? ;-)

If you have a larger-than-necessary septic tank for your habits,
you can go longer than usual. If you use more toilet paper than
the average, shorter intervals. Etc.

While it's true that some combinations of septic system/people could
go virtually forever without pumping out at all (especially
cottage systems - my father's system hasn't been pumped in almost 40
years), most "correctly sized" residential systems with the average
family living in it full time will need pumping every 2-5 years.

The issue is that with a new house, you have no idea what the
situation is, and often no idea when it was last done. So,
you need to figure out some sort of baseline.

Not knowing when it was last done, I had two pumpouts done
three years apart, consulted with the pump-out guy, and made
an intelligent guess of my own - especially after seeing what
it looked like after we forgot and left it 5 years - if it's a
hard/dry crust that you have to beat down with a crowbar,
you've left it too long :-(

3-4 years seems to be our "sweet spot". The pumpout guy says
he has one customer who _has_ to be pumped out every year - slightly
undersized system from the beginning, it has 5 people with
very long hair living there ;-)

The issue with leaving it too long is that the solids may build
up to the point where it'll start going thru the overflow to the
second half, and potentially plug the pipe, or fill up the liquids
half too. Once that fills up, you start spewing solids
into the drainfield. _Big_ trouble.

A properly installed septic system is pretty forgiving.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.