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KackyK
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| Posted: April 08 2014 at 6:14am | IP Logged
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Hello!
We are so excited to be moving this May to a property with 7 acres and no HOA. We are even managing to lower our mortgage payment too..yay..of course longer commute for hubby but he's way up for the benefits of doing so!
Anyhow...we will have a septic tank and well now. Neither of us have ever lived in a home that did have them before.
We've been doing some Internet searching.
I'd love to hear any tips, musts...donts...needs...that you'd like to share!! Even I'd you think it's obvious...please don't assume I know! Like I said I have no first hand experiences!!
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KackyK
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 08 2014 at 7:55am | IP Logged
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I don't remember a lot about septic other than the general stuff I'm sure you've found out one thing that is obvious but doesn't tend to occur to you when you aren't used to it..
When you lose electricity you lose water as well. It's a good thing to have some water storage and up that if you have a storm coming through. We'd do things like fill the bathtub (you can scoop that water for flushing the toilet) and fill pitchers before we lost electricity.
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: April 08 2014 at 9:10am | IP Logged
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Kacky, congratulations on the move! It would be a good idea to find out when the previous owners had the septic tank pumped last, if possible. Be sure to ask the previous owners, real estate agent or inspectors for the location, capacity and condition of the septic, drain field and water pump. You especially need to know the location of the drain field to avoid driving over it.
If it's been several years since your septic was last pumped you might want to have it done or have it checked out by someone who does that kind of work. It depends on the capacity of the tank. Our tank can go 3-5 years between pumps and it costs $300-$400 to have the job done.
We use thinner toilet paper (Scot 1000 sheet rolls). Even though some thicker, softer brands say they're safe for septic, our septic guy told us they can make it necessary to have the tank pumped more often.
Some country areas, especially those with dirt roads, have restrictions at certain times of year against large tanker trucks using less stable roads. We live on a dirt road and can't get our tank pumped when roads are muddy or soft.
Like Jodie suggested, we keep extra bottles of water on hand for flushing during power outages. There's a bit of a trick to doing it ~ pour a lot of water as fast as possible from the front of the bowl. Practicing before you actually need to do so might be helpful. A bucket works best for this since it allows a larger flow of water than bottles. We keep 2 liter pop bottles filled for an emergency supply of water and it usually takes an entire bottle per flush of the toilet, so it's helpful to flush less frequently when you don't have power for the water pump and to train dc not to flush until absolutely necessary, or wait for an adult to take care of flushing.
We usually tape all handles on toilets and sinks as a reminder not to turn on water during such times. Your pump and bladder can lose its prime if water is used when there's a power outage. I know you were mainly asking about septic issues, but well pumps are another element of living in the country that take some getting used to, especially during power outages. Dh has replaced both well pumps and a pump bladder, so it's definitely doable for those who have some level of skill with DIY jobs.
May God bless your move!
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kingvozzo
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| Posted: April 08 2014 at 2:18pm | IP Logged
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You also want to minimize how much bleach you use in your general cleaning. I Mostly use baking soda anyway for cleaning my sink and toilet, but bleach will kill the beneficial septic bacteria.
Also, I know it says on the packaging it says "safe for septics" but all I've heard is not to use those moist, flushable toilet wipes. They'll plug things up.
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mom2mpr
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| Posted: April 09 2014 at 9:32am | IP Logged
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I have been living with well and septic the past 15 years and really like it 
Well- I second the storage of water for power outages and toilet flushing. Also, have storage of drinking water for your family size for a day or two. If the power is out you get the first flush free(the toilet tank is already full) and then it's manual flush time.....also, my kids know the "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down" mantra-especially when the power is out.
When we built our house in Va our wonderful builder suggested bleaching the well every other year or so. You can find directions online. Good idea to just clean out any bugs that might be wanting to grow. Oh, and if you just want to be sure, get the water tested as often as you feel comfortable-especially if it is drinking water. But try not to use those guys trying to sell you systems. Do something independent.
Septic-use only natural cleaners and no antibacterial soap. Even at the sinks for hand washing. Don't flush anything but waste and TP. And you get it pumped every few years so factor that into your budget. Try to spread laundry loads out over the week. Big rushes of water move things out into the field before they are ready and could cause some issues. Learn how it works. We have one with 2 fields and have to switch the pipe to use the other field every 6 months or so. Find out where your tanks are AND your field. You do not want cars driving over your septic fields-they could damage the pipes with the weight. You cannot put an above ground pool or patio over the field. Also, be sure not to plant trees on your field. The roots could get down there and cause problems. Really it's not hard, you will have 7 acres 
After a nasty ice storm a few years ago when we were out of power for 4 days we bought a portable generator. The priorities for it were the well pump for water in the house, the furnace(gas hot air), refrigerators and a few lights. It makes life so much easier to run it for a few hours here and there to just keep things somewhat normal. Just something you might want to consider.
Best wishes in your new adventure!!
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: April 09 2014 at 1:18pm | IP Logged
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The only thing I would add is to make sure you have everything inspected well. Did they pull the papers from the county? Our inspector was very thorough, but friends who bought at the same time have had issues, looked into getting a new field, and discovered the previous owners had tried to have a new system put in, but the ground didn't perc. This is HUGE! It really should have come out during the buying process.
Also, just because a system works well for a widow living alone for 10 years doesn't mean it will be able to handle a large family. Our house seemed fine with a new field only 15 years old, but our inspector noticed that there was no distribution box and no inspection portals so she couldn't inspect the field itself, and when the workers (no affiliatiion with the inspector) went in to replace the box, they discovered the field was completely spent! We had to get a second field put in at a large cost to the homeowners. The widow living alone had not had the septic pumped in years and years, which destroyed the field.
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Maryan
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| Posted: April 09 2014 at 1:19pm | IP Logged
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Second/Third all the stuff about Scott Tissue and how to flush the toilet with a 5 Gallon bucket and a filled bathtub during power outages. Find out from your neighbors how often you lose electricity and for how long to determine how much water you should keep on hand.
Here we are on a main power line (due to all the schools near our street), so for the last ten years that I've lived here, we've never been out for more than 12 hours. So a filled bathtub and a supply of 24 water bottles usually is fine. My parents growing up could be out for days, so we stocked up a lot more.
Well water generally has more minerals and sediment. If you run your sprinklers to water the lawn (for example), you might stir up some of the minerals, sediment in the bottom of the well. So if your water stream in your washing machines or faucets seem not as powerful, just unscrew them and rinse out the screen. (Easy on a faucet, not difficult on the valves of the washing machine -- just more involved.)
Also, what KIND of well water will determine your deposits on your hot water heater and the necessity for flushing that more often. Do you know if you have a water softener? We don't have one and our water is FILLED with calcium, so we have lots more spots on our dishes from the dishwasher (handwashing works better) and have to change the element/fuse on our hot water heater fairly often. Once you figure out how to do that on your machine -- we just keep replacement items on hand.
Some well water is delicious; some not so much.
FYI Mary H. has a really cool water softener that didn't make her well water taste bad and got rid of all her calcium deposits.
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KackyK
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| Posted: April 10 2014 at 5:26am | IP Logged
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Okay you guys are awesome...thanks! There will be an inspection as required by law. However Lindsay I'm inspired to see if I can be there for it. It is set up by the seller so I will ask! We have been sent all the county docs as part of the sale disclosure stuff. They were not totally clear where the fields are in relation to the house...but two fields were noted. It also looked like, if we read it right, there is a 1200 gallon distribution box..good size or not? Maybe I'm not even calling it the right name?
What about shampoos and just normal body soaps...the big is just not antibacterial? Can we use Lysol wipes, we've never flushed with them?
Are you scraping every small solid of food off of plates? Composting? I'm assuming no drops of cooking oil down the sink either? I'm envision way more paper towel usage than previous 
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: April 10 2014 at 5:56am | IP Logged
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I am not sure how large our tank is, but it isn't huge, and we use the costco brand toilet paper that is two ply and quilted (reminds me of northern girl, but it isn't super thick like charmin), and I can tell you that while I keep a strainer in the sink, food stuff does make its way down the drain and into the dishwasher. We had the tank pumped after two years of living here, and he said it looked great. No problems at all. So I feel pretty good. I sort of have to take his word on it, yk? perhaps if I used Scott, were more diligent about scraping, etc..., we could go three years?? But is hasn't harmed the tank to be more relaxed.
I do use oxyclean in my laundry, but no bleach, and I do try to space out laundry in general. We replaced the old washer with a high efficiency so that there would be less impact on the field and such with our high laundry load! We only use chemicals in the toilets occasionally when the iron stains get bad (another possibility with well water--you just don't know--IL's water smells and tastes like sulfur  ). I can't imagine a disinfectant would be a problem unless poured into the toilet regularly and flushed or down the sink.
We hired our own inspector as a contingency on the purchase of the house. It was expensive, but since we ended up getting a whole new field, it was certainly worth it. You might talk to your realtor. Ours was the one who suggested we have the inspection. Just remember that if the sellers hire the inspector, the inspector works for them, not you, kwim? In the least, I think your plan to be there for it is good. It will tell you a lot about the system, location of things, etc... And answer a lot of your questions and concerns.
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Lindsay
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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mom2mpr
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| Posted: April 10 2014 at 10:04am | IP Logged
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KackyK wrote:
Okay you guys are awesome...thanks! There will be an inspection as required by law. However Lindsay I'm inspired to see if I can be there for it. It is set up by the seller so I will ask! We have been sent all the county docs as part of the sale disclosure stuff. They were not totally clear where the fields are in relation to the house...but two fields were noted. It also looked like, if we read it right, there is a 1200 gallon distribution box..good size or not? Maybe I'm not even calling it the right name?
What about shampoos and just normal body soaps...the big is just not antibacterial? Can we use Lysol wipes, we've never flushed with them?
Are you scraping every small solid of food off of plates? Composting? I'm assuming no drops of cooking oil down the sink either? I'm envision way more paper towel usage than previous |
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I have no idea the size of our distribution box :) or tank? Might want to ask the inspectors. I hope you can be there. It really is nice to know all you can about your septic and well.
We clean the toilets with Clorox wipes and just toss them in the bathroom wastebasket. Normal shampoos and body soaps are fine. No, you don't have to scrape EVERY crumb off the plates. And try to limit the oil-if you deep fry or have a lot let it cool and put it in a saved jar and toss out with the trash(that always bothers me but no other ideas as to how to deal with that -we only fry a few times a year so I try not to get too crazy)
You are doing great!! Isn't this fun? 
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Anne, married to dh 16 years!, ds,(97), Little One (02), and dd (02).
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Septic and well tips???
