Our septic tank backed up. Popped the top and a think "cake" floated on
top of the first chamber. when moved away from the inlet the clog eased.
we had the pumping done. but you know the first chamber was not full.
It had only been three years since pumping. when we bought the place.
The question is what caused this floating mass? It seems full of air.
Could an exceptionally wet year, 163% of normal could be the cause?

--
I'm unfettered,unbound,triumphant,glorious& splendid

Crusader george wrote:
Our septic tank backed up. Popped the top and a think "cake" floated on
top of the first chamber. when moved away from the inlet the clog eased.
we had the pumping done. but you know the first chamber was not full.
It had only been three years since pumping. when we bought the place.
The question is what caused this floating mass? It seems full of air.
Could an exceptionally wet year, 163% of normal could be the cause?


Normal. It is a wad of undigested grease, air, plastic. Normal pumping
is about 2-3 years anyway, some do it annually.

If you consider this to be too often to pump, then you need to CLOSELY
examine what you put down the drains. You need to closely examine the
cleaning solutions used in tubs and tiolets. Remove the food disposal
if it is still in place. Wipe all dishes clean into the trash before
using the dishwasher

Web searches turn up LOTS of useful info on this topic

On Tue, 09 May 2006 13:30:08 GMT, Robert Gammon
wrote:

Crusader george wrote:
Our septic tank backed up. Popped the top and a think "cake" floated on
top of the first chamber. when moved away from the inlet the clog eased.
we had the pumping done. but you know the first chamber was not full.
It had only been three years since pumping. when we bought the place.
The question is what caused this floating mass? It seems full of air.
Could an exceptionally wet year, 163% of normal could be the cause?


Normal. It is a wad of undigested grease, air, plastic. Normal pumping
is about 2-3 years anyway, some do it annually.



What he said. ALthough I'm mildly curious, was the dross blocking
the OUTFLOW or the inflow? And what happened to the baffle?
My cess-pit has a down-turned bend at the outflow pipe,
so you'd have to have around 24" of scuz as the top layer,
before it started blocking fluid-flow. The stuff that exits
the pit comes from about 1/4 of the way down.

The purpose of the tank is to separate the waste into three distinct
layers:

- scum (top layer)

- liquid (middle layer)

- sludge (bottom layer)

ONLY the middle layer (liquid) is supposed to flow out the tank's
effluent pipe and into your drain field. To make this happen, the
tank has either a) baffles or b) downpipe at the effluent end. The
baffles or downpipe prevent the floating scum from entering and
blocking the effluent pipe.

You must pump your tank BEFORE the scum layer gets so thick that it
gets into the effluent pipe. The other thing that can happen is that
the sludge layer (bottom layer) builds up so high that it gets into the
effluent pipe.

The scum layer is caused by grease, soap, hair, and other things. The
sludge layer is mostly decomposing poop, and dirt.

When the guy comes to pump your tank, he should work the hose to remove
the top scum layer while it is still floating, before sucking out the
liquid and sludge. If he just sticks the hose all the way down and
walks away while it is pumping, you're not getting a quality job. The
scum will settle down into the sludge and won't get completely removed.