Stan Brown wrote in
t:
The previous owner lived here seven years, and in an email he said he
never pumped it until right before settlement.

02 Nov 2007 03:07:18 GMT from Dan Warren
:
Generally pumping out is required at the sale of a house. A big question
is do you have a garbage disposal? If so, more pumping, if not, you most
probably can go longer.

No, no garbage disposal. I'd like one, but my plumber discouraged me.
I need to find a different plumber anyway, and I'm going to get a
second opinion. Frankly, if I have to pump the tank every year
instead of every two years, it would be worth it to me. I'm only one
person, and I don't generate even one whole bag of garbage a week, so
right now the kitchen can gets pretty funky in the summer.

As an aside. Never flush antibiotics down the toliet if you have a septic
system. They can kill the bacteria in the tank.

Right, and I read somewhere that those various "enzyme" systems are
as likely to do harm as to do good.

I'm careful about grease, too -- I have a soup can that gets any
liquid grease e.g. from bacon, and I paper-towel any greasy pan
before washing it.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
"If there's one thing I know, it's men. I ought to: it's
been my life work." -- Marie Dressler, in /Dinner at Eight/