Posted: 5/27/2013 5:16:54 AM EDT
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I'm one of the "lucky" people with a cesspool. The configuration for my house is actually 2-4 foot rings that accept the main waste from the house, and then an overflow pool made up of another 2-4 foot rings that takes primarily clear water. The soil here on long island is very sandy.
I haven't had anything done to the system since we added the overflow pool 10 years ago. We added it when we abandoned a separate dry well that the washing machine drained into, and when they installed it, they pumped the main pool out. I'm thinking that with 4 of us in the house, I should probably have some preventative maintenance done...I just don't know what's recommended. I've spoken to a few different companies, and their suggestions range from aeration and adding acid to the main pool, to just skimming off 1000 gallons from each pool . Anyone have any experience with cesspool preventative maintenance? (and yes... this IS a poop thread) |
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Quoted:
Where are you? 2 separate good friends have cesspool companies on Long Island. I'd say at the min, you need to pump, aerate + chemicals. Worst case, time for a new pool. I'm in Suffolk county. We're not having any problems, and the main pool is not original to the house ( it's probably about 20 years old). I was thinking aerate and pump out the main pool, and treat the bottom drain field with chemicals. Since the overflow is just for gray water, i think we can leave that alone. |
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Have the solids scooped out of the first pond to restore its capacity, then any solids downstream that have overflowed into the other pools.
I'm amazed that your system is so small, despite the great percolation. I also don't understand why you aren't using a dry well for all of the grey water. I wish I had percolation like that. |
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Quoted:
Have the solids scooped out of the first pond to restore its capacity, then any solids downstream that have overflowed into the other pools. I'm amazed that your system is so small, despite the great percolation. I also don't understand why you aren't using a dry well for all of the grey water. I wish I had percolation like that. On long island, it's pure sand once you dig down more than a foot or two. The bad part is we have a high water table, so my overflow pool started filling in with ground water at the 15 foot mark. The reason we ditched the drywell was it was failing, and upon closer inspection we found that it was made out of cinder blocks. The cost to abandon it and replace it with a pre cast dry well was very close to adding the overflow pool which adds about 3x the capacity for the whole system. |
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A conventional dry well should have porous sides, so I would think loose blocks filled with rock would suffice, if the soil can support the walls.
Are your pools constructed from concrete? In Missouri, a cess pool is a clay lined pond, and no more complicated. In the region where I live north of the Missouri River, the entire hole is gray clay, there's no need for a liner. My property ends just about at the end of the glacier and there are no rocks unless someone left them here. Just a mile farther south has a plenty of gravel. Islands in Puget Sound have septic installations with bermed constructions just above grade. I suspect the soil there is equally sandy as Long Island. |