thinkgreen216
Member
I have septic tank on a piece of land I purchased a few years back and I have some questions that are seeking answers. The piece of land is used durning the summer weekends to camp on so the septic doesn't see allot of use. The questions I have relate to ventilation. Keep in mind I'm a newbie when it comes to septic systems so I'll do my best to describe my situation.
I believe the previous owners at one point of time poured a 8'x8' cement pad over the top of the septic tank and built an enclosed building over the top of it. Inside the shed is a plumbed traditional toilet. On the other side of the shed from the toilet is a 10-12" metal tube which sticks up about 6" from the cement pad and it has a lid that opens the tube up for inspection. Coming off the side of the tube is an elbow which connect to a PVC pipe and runs up through the roof of the building as a vent. I've attempted to shorten this tube because every winter the heavy snow load keeps snapping the pipe off where it comes out of the roof. This last year I finally decided to place a cap on the tube which basically seals the septics tanks gases from escaping out the roof. The only problem now is the sheds starts to smell a little fowl once the toilet gets some use.
My question is does this tank need to have a vent in order to work properly? I didn't like the old vent running out the roof because when it got windy you could pick up the unpleasant smell from time to time all over the property, now I'm at least able to isolate the smell in the shed but I can at least close the door to keep the smell from escaping. I've also considered running a vent under the roof line out the side of the building and hooking a vent fan with a timer on it so I could program it to vent the smell out during non waking hours. Will this help cut down on my unpleasant smells?
I've also noticed when looking down the inspection hole that there appears to be a concrete divider. I'm not sure the purpose of this and it also appears that the water level is about 15-20" below the top of the vault. I know the system has a drain field because my parents saw one being installed about 10 years ago because they have land adjacent to the property but that's about all I know. I'm not sure the last time this tank was pumped either. It's probably been over 10+ years but it's only use is in the summer weekends and the only thing going into it is the toilet water. What thoughts can you provide me?
I believe the previous owners at one point of time poured a 8'x8' cement pad over the top of the septic tank and built an enclosed building over the top of it. Inside the shed is a plumbed traditional toilet. On the other side of the shed from the toilet is a 10-12" metal tube which sticks up about 6" from the cement pad and it has a lid that opens the tube up for inspection. Coming off the side of the tube is an elbow which connect to a PVC pipe and runs up through the roof of the building as a vent. I've attempted to shorten this tube because every winter the heavy snow load keeps snapping the pipe off where it comes out of the roof. This last year I finally decided to place a cap on the tube which basically seals the septics tanks gases from escaping out the roof. The only problem now is the sheds starts to smell a little fowl once the toilet gets some use.
My question is does this tank need to have a vent in order to work properly? I didn't like the old vent running out the roof because when it got windy you could pick up the unpleasant smell from time to time all over the property, now I'm at least able to isolate the smell in the shed but I can at least close the door to keep the smell from escaping. I've also considered running a vent under the roof line out the side of the building and hooking a vent fan with a timer on it so I could program it to vent the smell out during non waking hours. Will this help cut down on my unpleasant smells?
I've also noticed when looking down the inspection hole that there appears to be a concrete divider. I'm not sure the purpose of this and it also appears that the water level is about 15-20" below the top of the vault. I know the system has a drain field because my parents saw one being installed about 10 years ago because they have land adjacent to the property but that's about all I know. I'm not sure the last time this tank was pumped either. It's probably been over 10+ years but it's only use is in the summer weekends and the only thing going into it is the toilet water. What thoughts can you provide me?