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IainC
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Joined: 04 Jul 2007
Posts: 2552
Location: nr 'Meldrum
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 Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 8:26 am Post subject: |
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| Maidenstone wrote: | | Our septic tank man said things like that don't do any good. Just don't use bleach. |
The way I understand it, is that chucking a dead rabbit (or similar) into one helps the rotting down process get started, but it won't keep it working if you are filling the thing with harsh bleaches, etc. The whole point of those chemicals is to kill all bacteria (which you don't want to do in a septic tank).
Even with the milder ones now, that's why people nowadays have to keep emptying tanks every so often, whereas before tanks were rarely (if ever?) emptied (as far as I'm aware). |
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Welly
Neepster
Joined: 05 Jul 2007
Posts: 311
Location: Strichen
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| Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 9:39 am Post subject: |
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| Smooth Hound wrote: | yes i think its fine, im not certain of the way the inlets outlets etc work in the tanks, i only know about concrete pits as such. but it certainly seemed to be working well now,
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I think concrete pits (we have one) and septic tanks are very much the same in principle (by septic tank, do you mean one of the modern plastic type things?).
The inlet is slightly higher than the outlet, and each is a pipe with a kind of 't-piece' attached to the end with another short lengh of pipe pointing down into the 'stuff'. I think this is called a baffle.
The baffle on the inlet stops anything coming into the tank from disturbing the 'stuff' too much. The baffle on the outlet ensures that what flows out comes only from the central belt of effluent - the bacterial fluid between the crust and the sludge.
Gotta love this terminology!
The inlet pipes are extremely shallow on the run from the house to the tank, because otherwise all the fluid runs away quickly leaving 'stuff' behind. Once this starts to happen, more 'stuff' just gets caught up, and then more, and so on until you have a blockage.
The downside of the shallow pipes is that if there has been a slippage in the pipe, it wouldn't have to go far before it had a negative gradient. In other words, the run would be in the wrong direction, forming a 'trap' of standing water. This could be dicey, but is extremely unlikely I would think.
I also think it unlikely that the drain has collapsed if you can rod it. Quite hard to push bits of squashed pipe and rubble through with rods I imagine.
If it blocks again, you might be able to see what's causing it if you can actually see what the rod is pushing out (obviously this takes two people!), or you could throw hundreds of pounds away on a firm with a drain camera. Personally, I would opt for the former.
I would also recommend that you invest £20 on a set of drain rods, or as many sets as are necessary to reach through the longest single run of pipe in your setup (ie, between inspection points).
I have fours sets or rods for that very reason. Not cheap, but knowing I can clear a blockage at any time gives a peace of mind that's worth every penny!
Glad everything's flowing though WG. Well done.
Welly
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Two's company, three's a herd!
Tales from the Croft...
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be. (Douglas Adams) |
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IainC
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Joined: 04 Jul 2007
Posts: 2552
Location: nr 'Meldrum
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| Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 9:54 am Post subject: |
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Agreed... we bought enough rods to do ours as well (think it was two packs plus a pack of extra rods IIRC).
We had never had an issue with ours (or even needed it emptied) until we got new neighbours, then we seemed to be having no end of issues with it, but it was blocking up in the pipes that only we used (apart from a short part at the bottom that we shared).
Was wondering if it was something that they were doing that was causing the issues, until we eventually found the culprit was a semi collapsed drain by the road side. It'd been damaged by the guy doing the road to another house, and I guess the removals truck for the other neighbours going, and the new ones arriving shifted it enough for it to start becoming an issue 
Thankfully its all sorted out now, but it's worth checking your pipes every now and then and giving them a quick rod out, just to avoid it blocking up... nothing worse than HAVING to be out there doing it regardless of the weather, time of day, etc, when you could just do a quick clear out one afternoon/evening, the same as you do with a chimney. |
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wildgarlic
Site Admin
Joined: 02 Jul 2007
Posts: 8305
Location: Alford-ish
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| Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 10:07 am Post subject: |
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thanks again - I will definitely be investing in some rods.
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Smooth Hound
Neepster
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 8684
Location: near turriff
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| Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 11:19 am Post subject: |
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| not bad 20 quid, how many rods do you get to a set. |
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wildgarlic
Site Admin
Joined: 02 Jul 2007
Posts: 8305
Location: Alford-ish
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| Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 11:35 am Post subject: |
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Found one on Amazon with 10 rods for £15.44 delivered! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-273193-Drain-Rods/dp/B000LFXFGA
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Smooth Hound
Neepster
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 8684
Location: near turriff
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| Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 11:44 am Post subject: |
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thats really good  1.50 a rod, you cant beat that can you  |
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Welly
Neepster
Joined: 05 Jul 2007
Posts: 311
Location: Strichen
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| Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 12:42 pm Post subject: |
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That's a good price for sure. I was basing mine on an email I got from Screwfix, so I'm glad you've found something cheaper.
You might want to take a look at www.toolstation.com.
They have a set of 10 rods plus a screw and a plunger fitting for £16.31. Delivery is free for orders over £20, so with a few extra bits and pieces, you could easily make that.
They also do a whole series of other attachments (inc a chimney brush) which might be useful.
Welly
_________________
Two's company, three's a herd!
Tales from the Croft...
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be. (Douglas Adams) |
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Smooth Hound
Neepster
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 8684
Location: near turriff
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| Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 1:55 pm Post subject: |
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| a chimney brush would be handy, i think id get one of those one drain end, and 2 sets, if i was going to get some, im not going to though, as my landlords got a set |
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