Scheduled or urgent
Septic tank pumping
Getting the tank emptied is straightforward. Knowing whether emptying it will actually solve your problem is the part worth getting right first.
Plenty of tanks get pumped that did not need pumping, because the symptom, a slow or backing-up house, is identical whether the cause is a full tank, a blocked building sewer, a blinded outlet filter or a failing drainfield. Pumping a tank that was not full costs you the visit and leaves the actual problem exactly where it was.
So we look first. A camera on the building sewer and a check of the tank and filter takes very little time and tells you which of those four you are dealing with. Then we schedule the pump-out with a licensed hauler and do the line work on the same visit.
Pumping is the answer when
- Sludge and scum have genuinely reached capacity
- Several years have passed with no service
- Multiple fixtures slowed at the same time
- The house sewer cameras clear all the way to the tank
- You are preparing to sell the property
Pumping will not fix
- A blocked branch line to one fixture
- A blinded effluent filter that needs cleaning
- A saturated or failed drainfield
- Roots in the building sewer before the tank
One visit, both halves
We coordinate the licensed pump-out and do the line clearing and camera work at the same time. It means one visit, one disruption to the yard, and one set of answers rather than two contractors each describing half the picture.
Straight answers
Questions about septic tank pumping
How do I know the tank is actually full?
It gets measured rather than guessed, by checking the sludge and scum layers against the tank outlet. That is also how you find out whether the real problem is the filter or the line before spending on a pump-out.
What happens if I leave it too long?
Solids carry over into the drainfield and begin to clog it. A drainfield is dramatically more expensive to replace than a tank is to pump, which is the entire economic argument for keeping to a schedule.
Related
You might also need
Flat rate, quoted before we start
Let's get it flowing
Call and talk to a person. You get a straight answer on what it is, what it costs, and when we can be there.