Doc wrote:
I have a house that was built new in '88. I've never had the septic tank
pumped, never put any of these treatments in it. Never had any problems
with it to date. For the most part, after the ex vamoosed around '90, I've
been the sole user.

Is pumping the tank periodically necessary? Is there any benefit to using
any type of septic tank treatment? I was under the impression that the
bacteria that's in there is supposed to be self sustaining.

Thanks for all shared wisdom



It all depends. But eventually the bottom will
fill up and the top will fill and you will start
getting stuff flowing into the drain field. That
can plug the field but it might not, all depending
on composition of the drain field, how wet you
keep it (how much you are using), temperature,
etc. With only one guy, no feminine pproducts
(which shouldn't be flushed anyway) it will take a
long time. At our house, one woman, one man, and
one kid, we had ours pumped the first time after 8
years. There wasn't much there and the pumper,
smiled, and said, "See you in another 10 years."
The next time we had it pumped, there wasn't much
there either. So you could easily go 15 years or
so, but then you might not.

We put yeast in ours once in the early years
(about year 2, I think). Supposedly helps, but I
doubt it. Just to be careful you could put
bacteria in ever so often, especially after long
vacations (no use) but certainly not more than
once a year. Probably won't do any good, but......