Tank refilled in days!

[carldefillipoDB]

My best friend recently purchased a house built in the 1950's. The previous owner had mentioned that for the 7 years she lived there she never had the septic tank pumped. After purchasing the house and moving in 2 weeks ago he had it pumped. Well here we are a week and a half later and it's full. He called the company that came out and on top of the initial 350 they charged they want to charge additional 400 to do it again. Something doesn't seem right to me. Why would it fill up so quickly. The company says it might be a leak. But I smell a scam. Thoughts??

 

[Diehard]

Septic tanks a typically full, to a point. In case you are not aware, here's a picture of a typical tank.
The normal full height would be at the elevation of outlet pipe to the leaching field.
If above that height, it is overfilled and the problem is likely the leaching field.
Ground water could be flooding the leach field and flowing into the tank.

Not all septic tanks have access to both inlet and outlet.

It may take a professional to determine if it is above it's normal operating level.

 

[Diehard]

What made the owner look at the level a week and a half later? Was it causing some problem?

 

[Jeff Handy]

Ask the pumper why it costs more than the first time.

They have already done most of the hard work.
Access ports have been located, and the contents of the tank are probably mostly water.

Sounds like a total scam company.

 

[RS]

Sounds normal to me, septic tanks are supposed to be almost full, usually about 4-8 inches of air space above the liquid. A normal household should refill a tank in a couple of weeks, but it should only need to be pumped out every 3-5 years, much less often if just one person is living there.

 

[Ferdinand]

A pump-out should only be required once the sludge layer or scum layer becomes too deep. You don't want either of those layers ever leaking out into the leaching field, only the liquid layer. Our municipality sends an inspector around every two years to measure the levels.

The tank needs to be filled with liquid to the level of the outflow pipe. If the liquid level is too low, the scum layer floating on top might go out the outlet pipe. When the tank has been pumped out it should promptly be refilled with water. An empty tank, especially a light weight plastic tank as compared to a heavy concrete tank, can actually shift and "float" up in areas with a high ground water table.

 

[Mikey]

We just had the tank back up into the house due to an overload of toilet paper, which clogged at the inlet baffle. I think this was because of a predominance of those of the female persuasion using a lot of TP in the first place, and low-flow toilets not providing enough water to completely clear the path. With a riser and cover over the inlet, it's easier to clean out the clog than to prevent it, imho.