do you have to put bugs in it: no
do you have to get it pumped out once every 5 years or so: yes

you will not know something is wrong untill it is too late, and a dead
septic/leech field is a big problem; you might have to move out of your
house (or get tank pumped once a week untill leech field is fixed).



"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...
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......