Thank you - we owe you a pint or eight

Agree that 1 is definately a drilled well. I have a similar pipe in my garden!\

Not sure about 2 & 3 though. Logic would say that they are the septic tank but ours certainly doesn't have a vent. It could be a dug well although round here at least they tend to be a metal corrugated ring with a cone on top.

I guess the only way to tell is to get some strong people around and lift it up and have a look see. Another part of the voyage of discovery that is Canadian home ownership!

Come on Ziggy - come help me lift the lid off tomorrow! I will shout you a coffee

I can come and have a look to see if it looks like my neighbour's at the w/e, PM me your address. The OH (canadian) thinks it's a well too.

Does it have anyway of opening without removing the concrete? Because pumping companies don't come with lifting gear.

Best keep him away after his recent spell at tree removal.

You might be right . They will throw him out of the Country soon!

The first for sure is a modern drilled well cap. The second could be an old well (we have two in the yard that look like that...although they have smaller 2' square access covers in the middle.

It could also perhaps be access to the septic, as the vent looks sealed to me. They arent always burried. Its a bit of a way from the house though... Only way to find out is to open it I guess, although you could undo that jubilee clip, remove the rubber sheet and take a sniff I suppose?


Is it at least in the right direction going by the waste pipe? Is there anything that could be the tile bed near it? You do have a septic system, and not a holding tank right? A holding tank system (without the weeping bed) will have an above ground cover, because it will need emptying every 6 months or so. The cottage next door to us is like that.

Hi
In our house well it will be in 12 days
The previous owners put a bird bath over the septic tank access so it can be identified easily. The venting must be very low pressure just naturally seeping out.
As for emptying we were informed by our relator that the time between emptying depends on the number of people in the house:
As a rule of thumb 2 people 4/5 years
4 people 2 or 3 years between emptying.
Also we were advised to write into the contract that the previous owners are to have the tank emptied regardless of when it was last done. You do not want to pay for the disposal of someone else poe do you I belive this is quite normal.

You need to empty your septic tank, when the level of solids inside the tank reaches 12inches 30 cms below the bottom of the outlet T.
Used properly, a septic tank will take about 20 to 30 years to reach this point.
Used as a rubbish dump it will fill up in less than a year.
So, there you have it, 70% of solids are water, the anaerobic process that takes place within the septic tank turns the remaining 30% of solids into water and various gases, once processed there is very little left.

Thats a very academic answer....If you have to dig the thing out to open it to check the solids level then you might as well get it emptied and know its done.

They dont recommend for amateurs to go sticking their heads into the tank to check the levels anyway as they have a nasty habit of expiring from the lack of oxygen and falling in.

I think maybe you are confused. The 20-30 year thing does not apply to how often to get the tank pumped, its the minimum expected overall life of the septic system before the outflows into the weeping bed get clogged to the point they are not effective, and assumes that the tank is pumped periodically. Sadly septic beds dont last forever, and as pointed out above, its a potentially expensive business to dig them up and replace them.

You are right though that if you treat your septic with care and dont dump the wrong thing down it, it will hold up a lot longer than if you treat it like a garbage disposal.

What else would you be putting down the loo into your septic tank other than...well number 1's and number 2's?

Hair, Food waste, Cat shit/ litter, Various other miscellaneous Garbage etc etc etc.

Excessive cleaners and chemicals will kill a septic pretty quickly and are probably the #1 rookie mistake

Yup...it's absolutely amazing what some people will try to flush down the loo.

When we first moved into our present house one of the toilets didn't flush correctly, we found an Old Dutch potato chip bag stuffed in there.

Yuk - people are quite mad aren't they!!!

You will be a hero if you can remove all the septics out of Canada. *ducking*

(Sorry, I couldn't resist)