Septic tanks

[Books Cards & Things Corralejo]

Does anyone have any knowledge of septic tanks. As in how are they maintained, emptied etc.

[calculator]

If it's a minimum 2 chambers or 2 separate tanks, the answer is NEVER.

Once the bacterial action starts, it eats everything on a continual basis. You just need to cut back on the use of chemicals like bleach, etc as that stops the process. We irrigate the gardens using a submersible pump to get rid of the liquids.

In our village, I notice some people empty them once of twice per year. Clearly there is something wrong with their process.

The only maintenance we have is to unblock the pipe from the house occasionally. To do this we opened an inspection "hole" outside the house for this purpose. Most properties don't have them.

P.S. For a small fee, the townhall (Puerto) empty tanks on request. Should be the same with the rest of them.

[suendrob]

It could be that those who get them emptied actually have cess pits, which need regular emptying. They are simple, theoretically 'sealed' underground storage tanks which store the waste, ready for collection. I believe they can be used on smaller plots.
Septic tanks in the UK need to be a minimum distance from the house, as they are a mini sewage works and potentially release noxious gases.

Some time ago, we bought a home (Isle of Wight) which wasn't connected to the main sewer, even though that crossed our land. Very soon, the drains blocked. We discovered that the cess pit was full and the pipe to it blocked. A family of four produce a lot more than the man we bought from!
The council sent two men and a tanker - signwritten "Turdopwer" - for a fixed price. It took them a full day and three loads to finally empty it, after much flushing! It hadn't been serviced for 23 years! There was a secret overflow, which explained the lovely lush, verdant triangle of undergrowth down the slope beyond. We never did have it emptied again and neither did the new owners. Or connect to the mains and pay for it? I don't think so!