Septic Tank "Basement"

An interesting story turned up while on the Open Studios Tour yesterday. You know how it is, you are looking at art, sculpture, jewelry, and the topic of the sewer comes up. You could be at the grocery store or at Sweet Springs and the topic of the sewer comes up. Not always of course, but what other town besides one beset with sewer woes for lo, these 40 years, and paying through the nose for those delays, and the topic of the full-on sewer tax hitting us now that everything is in, would the sewer topic have come up?

Well, I guess these days, Morro Bay.......... But it is not quite the same comparison, as they have had a sewer for many, many, many years. In contrast, we are in the almost finished process of saying goodbye to our septic tanks, except for those areas in town where they are not forbidden.

The (presumed) owners of one house either: Thought there would never be a sewer; they loved their septic tank so much they didn't want to part with it, so hid it; OR, did not know where it was when they built their living room on top of it. Or maybe they did not care, or thought they could just not bother with a permit? (Our personal wild-wild-west example: We found a whole room built inside of the garage when we bought the house - drywall and everything.)

So....when it was time to hook up, in order to pump the tank, they had to cut a hole in the living room floor. Maybe I am a clean freak, but the thought of the pulsing, stinky, waste evacuation hose snaking over ruined carpet, or maybe shattered tile, or ecologically friendly splintered bamboo flooring seemed kind of gross! I don't know what the requirements were to fill in the tank, cement or gravel, but for sure, it would not be re-used for rainwater catchment!

Septic Tank Quad System

From the 'burbs of Cleveland, July 2015: 

This is what a septic system looks like on a two acre parcel. I will protect the owner of the property by calling him Mr. X. He very generously gave me a septic tank tour and it was quite different from anything that I had seen before. I suspect out in the 'burbs, on a large chunk of land, you will find different systems from what we, in tiny-lotville, could possibly have. (You may click on any of these images to enlarge them.)

Pictured above are three of the four chambers of this system. The contents flow from the first through fourth chambers, the water becoming progressively cleaner as it advances. I am standing on the first, underground tank, to take this photograph. Pictured below is the unseen underground first chamber which receives the output from the house: sinks, tubs/showers, laundry, toilets.

The lid to the second chamber, above and below.

Mr. X kindly lifter the concrete lid to the second, visible chamber. 
No noxious aromas wafted forth.

Pictured below is the concrete lid to the third chamber.

Mr. X lifted the lid to the third chamber. Again, no fumes.

Below is the concrete lid to the fourth and final chamber.

Below, the lid opened, reveals some sort of attached mechanism. I forgot to ask what it was. A pump perhaps? This final phase water drains out into piping in the woods. Whatever nitrates or other components are left are sucked up by the vegetation to which the water flows.

Below, you are looking back at the one invisible and three visible tank lids. The forest is maybe another 20 feet behind me where the water eventually goes.

The forest into which the reclaimed water is received. It was pretty darn green I'll have to say; but then it actually rains in the Cleveland 'burbs—a lot this past year.

For fun and refreshment, please don't take this as a depressing tease to the parched Californians, what you see is the lake in the front yard, stocked with bass of some sort. Just enjoy a sight that we are longing to see. We could move to the Cleveland 'burbs to escape the drought if we really wanted to.....and have a nice two-acre parcel with a small lake and lots of fluffy, green trees, that you actually don't need to water.....

Thanks to Mr. X for the septic system tour!

Gazing Into The Mysterious Depths......

.......Of what you might ask. 

Could it be a piece of pottery? 

A Christmas ornament sans the metal cap? 

Perhaps a window into the universe?

Actually, none of the above. 

Had you been where I was standing, had you wobbled due to horrific aromas, you too might have wanted to change the the reality of what there was in the lens of your cell phone with Photoshop, 

Reality is what you see below, and I'm happy to not be able to include the Smell-O-Vision version here, but I can next year if we both buy this (wouldn't that be not fun?):

Above you see a really LARGE septic tank just having been pumped. 

I will be glad when the last putrid smells become diluted into the breeze, the contents of our tanks are pumped one last time, and they are finally put out to pasture in noble and gainful use as rainwater catchment chambers, or perhaps, simply and humbly filled with rocks.

New Year's Resolutions, PZ Style!

What would a New Year's sewer resolution look like anyway one might ask? The answer is simple for Prohibition Zone residents (and anyone on a septic system, in the Zone or not) and the answer is supported by each of our bottom lines: Be more kind to your septic tank! Unless you have replaced yours, and, as septic tanks have a 25-30 year lifespan, you might want to be very, very careful as no houses were built in the PZ since 1987, you do the math!

PZers, you DO NOT want to replace or repair your tank or your leach field/pit if you do not have to before 2016 when we start using our brand new sewer system, as that would not be cost effective!

Our wastewater system is barreling ahead toward our eventual personal hook-ups. We are over three-quarters done with the collection system and the project treatment plant contract will be awarded in January and the estimate for completion is 24 months. The pump stations will be complete in early 2015. So to have to spend any money on the present systems that will be abandoned in 2016, makes no dollars or cents, sense, or, ugh, scents.

If you aren't already, do the simple steps below:

• Don't overload your system
• Don't drive over or park on your system
• Don't pour cooking grease, paints, oils, pesticides, solvents, drain cleaners, other household or automotive chemicals into your drains
• Don't flush diapers, baby wipes, feminine hygiene products, condoms, kitty litter, coffee grounds, dental floss, cotton swabs, cigarette butts, paper towels, hair or Kleenex (can you add to that list)?
• Pumping/Inspection. Times vary. Some pump every two or three years, some haven't pumped for 30 and everything still works. Inspections are supposed to be done every 2-3 years. Well, let your conscience be your guide, or you can read about what the EPA says to do here.

Personally, we stopped using our garbage disposal as well. Granted, it broke, but we did not replace it in the kitchen remodel. But we have a vacant electrical switch for 2016, just in case. (I know I should do a compost heap but I don't. I would be a bad parent, best not to create one!)

*

Well, that about does it! Have a safe and sane night on the 31st! All my best wishes to you readers for a Happy 2014 in all your endeavors, sewer or otherwise!

*My eternal gratitude to Don Bearden for providing the community a real tank to view so we could see what we don't see buried in our yards. And this is the pristine view, before burial and use. (There are also concrete models and—shudder—really really old redwood models and—worse—55-gallon drum models, right here in our town.....)