On Feb 17, 12:58 pm, "Steve Barker"
wrote:
Open it up and do a visual inspection? Obviously you've never had a septic
system. There is no visual inspection until you PUMP it. Opening it up and
looking, all you will see is the "scum" on top. And only the pumping guy can
really tell (by feel) how deep the sludge is/was. 3 to 5 years max, or
trouble ahead. Period.

Not necessarily true. When I had mine inspected & pumped after 10
years use, the first thing they looked for was floating debris in the
scum. Seeing none he said it would be in good shape because stuff at
the bottom of the tank gets dissolved but floating stuff stays a
*long* time. When it was pumped there was 3-4 inches of sludge only.
He said based upon that, I could go 15 years easily if usage doesn't
change. So a visual is not all inclusive, but is a good indicator.

Red