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SEPTIC SYSTEMS HOME SEPTIC SYSTEMS ONLINE BOOK SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN BASICS SEPTIC TANK PUMPING TANK PUMPING FREQUENCY TABLE WHY DOES A TANK NEED PUMPING? EFFLUENT RETENTION TIME WHEN NOT TO PUMP A SEPTIC TANK SEWAGE LEVELS in SEPTIC TANKS SEPTIC TANK SAFETY SEPTIC VIDEOS INSPECTING SEPTIC TANKS SEPTIC TANK INSPECTION CHECLIST STEEL SEPTIC TANKS CONCRETE SEPTIC TANKS FIBERGLASS / PLASTIC SEPTIC TANKS HOME MADE SITE BUILT TANKS SEPTIC TANK BAFFLES SEPTIC TANK SOLIDS & SCUM SEWAGE LEVELS in SEPTIC TANKS MEASURE SCUM & SLUDGE CLEANING SEPTIC TANKS SEPTIC PUMPING CONCLUSIONS SEPTIC LIFE EXPECTANCY SEPTIC PUMPING REPAIR SEPTIC TREATMENTS More Information InspectAPedia® Home & Site Map Air Conditioning & Heat Pumps Bookstore Electrical Environment Exteriors Heating Home Inspection Insulate Ventilate Interiors Mold Inspect/Test Plumbing Water Septic Roofing Structure Accuracy & Privacy Policies Contact Us |
This document describes how to inspect the condition of a septic tank, providing special considerations for inspecting steel septic tanks. Inspecting steel septic tanks is a key component in onsite wastewater disposal systems. The photo shows an area where the author walked just before stepping through a rusted-out steel septic tank cover (shown below). This is a chapter of Septic Systems Inspection, Testing our online book about septic system inspection procedures, defects in onsite waste disposal systems, septic tank problems, septic drainfield problems, checklists of system components and things to ask. Also see The Septic Information Website our main page of articles and information about septic systems and onsite wastewater disposal systems inspection, testing, diagnosis, maintenance, and repair. © Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website. STEEL SEPTIC TANKS - Life Expectancy, What Breaks, What to Look ForGuide to Steel Septic Tank Maintenance and RepairSpecial Hazard Warning for Steel Septic Tank CoversRusting steel tank covers can cause death! Rusted covers can collapse. We have reports of children and adults who have died from this hazard, as recently as December 1997. In 2000 the author consulted in a fatality involving an adult falling into a cesspool. At a building inspection the author, even though walking carefully, stepped through a hidden, rusted-through steel septic tank cover (shown in the photo included here). Falling into a septic tank, drywell, or cesspool is quickly fatal, either from being buried by falling soils and debris, or by asphyxiation. Septic gases are highly toxic and can kill in just minutes of exposure. Even leaning over an empty (just pumped) tank has led to collapse and fatality of a septic pumper. Steel septic tank baffle problems: on a steel septic tank the inlet and outlet baffles often rust out and fall off before the owner realizes that the tank needs repair or replacement. This damage permits solids to enter the soil absorption system. In the photo shown above on this page the steel septic tank baffle has rusted away at its top - visible in the lower left of the tank top opening. If a steel septic tank is otherwise in good condition but its baffles have become damaged or have been lost entirely, try inserting a plastic tee in the inlet and outlet waste lines. Septic tank baffles, or septic tank tees prevent solids from flowing out of the tank into the drainfield, or from blocking waste flow into the tank from the building it serves. But if you see that the steel septic tank baffles have been missing for some unknown time, perhaps a long time, especially at the tank outlet end, you can assume that this condition has reduced the future life of the drainfield by permitting solid waste to flow into that area of the septic system. See Septic Tank Tees for more details about this septic system component. Steel tank bottoms rust out permitting effluent to leak into soils around the tank, possibly giving a large void in tank at time of testing, thus subverting a loading or dye test. Since steel tank tops can be replaced while leaving the old tank in place, the condition of the top itself is not a reliable indicator of tank condition. ... Technical Reviewers & References
Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website. INSPECTING SEPTIC TANKS More Reading about septic tanks
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10/23/2009 - 0 7/03/1995. InspectAPedia.com/septic/steelseptictanks.htm - © 2009 - 1988 Copyright Daniel Friedman All Rights Reserved - InspectAPedia® is a Registered U.S. Trademark