Long story but we moved into a home 5 or so years ago. Upon purchase was informed that there was a lift station after the septic tank to lift effluent to leach field (due to high water table). That pump has gone out a couple of times and I have replaced it (or unclogged it). There has been at times a mild sewage smell from a couple of the bathrooms off and on and it seemed to mostly coincide with, but not completely, the lift station pump going out.
By chance I talked with a plumber that had worked on the house before we bought it and I mentioned the smell. He told me that he thought there was a lift station just outside the foundation with a grinder in it that lifts the waste to the septic tank and then another after the tank that lifts the effluent to the leach field. I knew about the one after that tank but not about the one before the tank so I dug around and, low and behold, found the cover and power to it by a wall with a large bush covering it. There is power to the plug but, when I plug in the pump (without the float switch piggy back) does not come on. I dug it up and pulled the concrete cover and there is a VERY thick layer of heavy sludge (almost solid, maybe like and very thick and heavy whip cream consistency) that seems to be about 18" thick and liquid beneath it (I stuck a piece of rebar down into the tank).
My guess is that that pump has not been working for a long time and that the waste is able to barely get to septic tank level just before it backs up all the way to the lowest drain(s) in the house and, because the fluid and waste has been basically sitting full in the grinder tank for years has developed this thick layer of sludge.
I am not a septic guy but have generally done most of the maintenance on our septic tanks over the years (all of our homes have been on septic) and have a decent understanding of them. Am I correct in thinking that this grinder lift station before the septic tank should not be full of a thick sludge and that it developed because the pump has not been working for a long time, or is this normal? My thinking is to clean it out (it's a concrete rectangular chamber, about 2' x 2' by 4' deep) and then address and fix the pump/grinder issue. Next, what is a good way to clean it out? At the moment all I can see to do is use a bucket or shovel to scoop the sludge out and put it into something and take it to the land fill. Anyone have a better idea than that? My guess is that this has likely been the source of our mild yet persistent odor in the house. Does that sound right? While I thought the smell sort of came and went my wife is pretty sure it's always present just to different degrees and, as we all know, she is probably right.
I'm hoping I will be able to somehow clean the sludge out, replace the grinder and I should be good to go.
I will try to attach a picture of the sludge.
Any thoughts and input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
Tfast
By chance I talked with a plumber that had worked on the house before we bought it and I mentioned the smell. He told me that he thought there was a lift station just outside the foundation with a grinder in it that lifts the waste to the septic tank and then another after the tank that lifts the effluent to the leach field. I knew about the one after that tank but not about the one before the tank so I dug around and, low and behold, found the cover and power to it by a wall with a large bush covering it. There is power to the plug but, when I plug in the pump (without the float switch piggy back) does not come on. I dug it up and pulled the concrete cover and there is a VERY thick layer of heavy sludge (almost solid, maybe like and very thick and heavy whip cream consistency) that seems to be about 18" thick and liquid beneath it (I stuck a piece of rebar down into the tank).
My guess is that that pump has not been working for a long time and that the waste is able to barely get to septic tank level just before it backs up all the way to the lowest drain(s) in the house and, because the fluid and waste has been basically sitting full in the grinder tank for years has developed this thick layer of sludge.
I am not a septic guy but have generally done most of the maintenance on our septic tanks over the years (all of our homes have been on septic) and have a decent understanding of them. Am I correct in thinking that this grinder lift station before the septic tank should not be full of a thick sludge and that it developed because the pump has not been working for a long time, or is this normal? My thinking is to clean it out (it's a concrete rectangular chamber, about 2' x 2' by 4' deep) and then address and fix the pump/grinder issue. Next, what is a good way to clean it out? At the moment all I can see to do is use a bucket or shovel to scoop the sludge out and put it into something and take it to the land fill. Anyone have a better idea than that? My guess is that this has likely been the source of our mild yet persistent odor in the house. Does that sound right? While I thought the smell sort of came and went my wife is pretty sure it's always present just to different degrees and, as we all know, she is probably right.
I'm hoping I will be able to somehow clean the sludge out, replace the grinder and I should be good to go.
I will try to attach a picture of the sludge.
Any thoughts and input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
Tfast