Septic Report, Or, That's a Lot of S...
Sep. 21st, 2007 12:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellyssianStones. Of course, what else do you think you're going to find in my yard if you investigate with a backhoe?
The guys pulled the stones aside for me, as it was, there was still three or four front scoopfuls of dirt that were piled alongside the driveway (hopefully to assist with aiming runoff in the proper direction).
Anywho, they dug a trench about 3-4' deep and exposed the lids to the two sections of the septic tank. While one of them worked on cutting some plastic pipe - similar to what we put in for the Rachel River except wider and shorter - the other slurped up 1500 gallons or so of... septic system filling... and then another 500 gallons of dousing tank juice. We tested the float and alarm on the dousing tank and it... failed. After filling in the extensions - so we won't need a backhoe next time - the guy checked the alarm out in the cellar.
It's supposed to get its electricity from a wire and plug right there. Instead, the alarm wire - which shouldn't be powered - was live. And shocking him. We killed the power to the septic pump, and stuff worked right. This meant there was a problem with the wiring at the pump or at some point between the alarm and the pump (i.e. 6' under my front lawn, about 150' of possibilities). He turned the breaker back on and went out to check the wiring box in the dousing tank. The top two screws came off okay, the bottom ones were live. I ran back in, killed the breaker, and he opened the box. One of the wire nuts had corroded, the wire popped out, and thus: what should have been ground was live, and, possibly, there was arcing whenever the pump ran. The box - a $70 item - is allegedly waterproof, but he was quick to point out "The only thing that is waterproof is a duck's ass." As the level in the dousing tank hadn't immersed the box, it was likely condensation that did the killing. He cut, stripped, crimped, and shrink wrapped all of the connections, so they should be a little more stable from here on in.
Neighbors had warned me about the costs involved in a septic system pumping, so I was already expecting a bill somewhere in the $3000 to $5000 range just for the pumping, let alone the extensions, backhoe, and electrical repair. Thankfully, those who gave me the information either can't count or were ripped off. The whole deal came out for quite a bit under $1000.
The guys pulled the stones aside for me, as it was, there was still three or four front scoopfuls of dirt that were piled alongside the driveway (hopefully to assist with aiming runoff in the proper direction).
Anywho, they dug a trench about 3-4' deep and exposed the lids to the two sections of the septic tank. While one of them worked on cutting some plastic pipe - similar to what we put in for the Rachel River except wider and shorter - the other slurped up 1500 gallons or so of... septic system filling... and then another 500 gallons of dousing tank juice. We tested the float and alarm on the dousing tank and it... failed. After filling in the extensions - so we won't need a backhoe next time - the guy checked the alarm out in the cellar.
It's supposed to get its electricity from a wire and plug right there. Instead, the alarm wire - which shouldn't be powered - was live. And shocking him. We killed the power to the septic pump, and stuff worked right. This meant there was a problem with the wiring at the pump or at some point between the alarm and the pump (i.e. 6' under my front lawn, about 150' of possibilities). He turned the breaker back on and went out to check the wiring box in the dousing tank. The top two screws came off okay, the bottom ones were live. I ran back in, killed the breaker, and he opened the box. One of the wire nuts had corroded, the wire popped out, and thus: what should have been ground was live, and, possibly, there was arcing whenever the pump ran. The box - a $70 item - is allegedly waterproof, but he was quick to point out "The only thing that is waterproof is a duck's ass." As the level in the dousing tank hadn't immersed the box, it was likely condensation that did the killing. He cut, stripped, crimped, and shrink wrapped all of the connections, so they should be a little more stable from here on in.
Neighbors had warned me about the costs involved in a septic system pumping, so I was already expecting a bill somewhere in the $3000 to $5000 range just for the pumping, let alone the extensions, backhoe, and electrical repair. Thankfully, those who gave me the information either can't count or were ripped off. The whole deal came out for quite a bit under $1000.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-21 04:45 pm (UTC)Still--my heart goe sout to you.
Imagine how shocked I was to discover that there really was no such thing as the Shit Faery.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-21 07:30 pm (UTC)BTW, I'm very gald the wiring/electrical stuff got fixed. Do you know if this will be a regular 3 or 4 year task?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-21 07:44 pm (UTC)