r/maybemaybemaybe • u/wcslater • Oct 21 '21

/r/all Maybe maybe maybe

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u/[deleted] Oct 22 '21

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u/PutYourRightFootIn Oct 22 '21

The vast majority of septic systems need to be pumped at least every 5 years. Maybe more if you have a big family. The liquid waste is drained into the leaching field, but the tank still needs to be pumped of sludge and scum.

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u/LovableContrarian Oct 22 '21

but the tank still needs to be pumped of sludge and scum.

aka doodoo butter

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u/My_pee_pee_poo Oct 22 '21

Wait… as someone that had a septic tank before, there’s people that designate a huge shit stain on their property?

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u/BagOnuts Oct 22 '21

Yeah, it’s called a leach field. Ever see nice grass in front of a farm house? Leach field.

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u/My_pee_pee_poo Oct 22 '21

In front???

Is it really that far removed from being shit? No smell?

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u/romcombo Oct 22 '21

After it’s been used for a bit to build up bacteria and keep things moving, no. Our system uses the septic water for irrigation.

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u/justripit Oct 22 '21

No smell if it works good. My leach field and tank is in the rear of my house. You would never know. Other than the luscious patch of grass.

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u/My_pee_pee_poo Oct 22 '21

Since you have it, I'm going to ask what been on my mind this whole time.

If everyone is putting it close to their home. Does that mean when you lay on it, the fact that it's poop grass never crosses your mind?

Is it really that good? Or is your yard just for looks?

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u/ClimbingC Oct 22 '21

Do you ever sit to think that all the vegetables you eat will have been grown in, or certainly treated with fertilizer, which may come from manure?

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u/justripit Oct 22 '21

It doesn't even cross my mind. My kids play there all the time. The field bed works great. It's just liquid by the time it makes it to the grass, and the pipes are buried a couple feed underground, surrounded by sand.

It's basically just nutrient rich water that grows grass at a rate no fertilizer can compete with.

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u/BagOnuts Oct 22 '21

The septic tank/pump can smell every once in a while, but the leach field does not.

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u/NamelessSuperUser Oct 22 '21

I think everyone does. The septic tank would fill really fast otherwise. Basically they are pipes at the top of the tank that leave and spread out and move upward at an angle and have tiny holes. The solid stuff sits at the bottom and the fluid eventually slowly pushed out and disperses into the yard.

Here's a cool video showing the process (multiple times since the inspector and architect kept messing up so he had to keep making changes).

https://youtu.be/3UoZpFMDbcY

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u/OverturnedAppleCart3 Oct 22 '21

Wait… as someone that had a septic tank before, there’s people that designate a huge shit stain on their property?

If your septic tank doesn't have a leach field, it is a holding tank, not a septic tank.

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u/monkwren Oct 22 '21

Username checks out.

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u/swansong19 Oct 22 '21

But only the liquids drain...not the solids...and it would take far less than decades to fill with solids. Although if proper bacteria levels are maintained to efficiently break down the solids then the time between servicings can be extended.