Maintenance for Cesspools?

What needs to be done to properly maintain a cesspool? Does it need to be pumped regularly? We've had our home for 4 years now and haven't touched it & DH doesn't know if the previous owner had it pumped. I'm a city girl so this is new to me, lol.

TIA!

Re: Maintenance for Cesspools?

In general, I've heard to leave it alone unless you have a problem. But to be smart about what you put in it, use thin TP, don't flush things that take a long time to degrade, if it acts up, be careful about water waste in too short a period...

If you have an open-top style cesspool and you pump it, you run the risk of it collapsing. We had to replace ours and have the new style and haven't had a problem in 2 years.

Re: Maintenance for Cesspools?

Re: Maintenance for Cesspools?

I agree - don't do anything unless there is a problem, but be mindful of waste/water usage. Too many loads of laundry followed by lots of showers and running the dishwasher could be asking for trouble!

Re: Maintenance for Cesspools?

We had our old cesspool for over 14 years, and never touched it. They only reason we had to do anything was because of our reno, and we needed a bigger system for the bigger house.

The cesspool guys also said that we should never have to touch it.

Re: Maintenance for Cesspools?

Thank you all for your input!!! One more question - how do I know if I am having a problem with the cesspool? What are some indications?

Re: Maintenance for Cesspools?

We started hearing gurgling in the master shower drain. There was a pvc pipe coming out of the house between the kitchen and the master bedroom and there was wastewater draining into the ground. We found out this was because the cesspool was backing up to the lowest part of the house - the washing machine in the basement which was right underneath the overflow.

I won't go into the whole story, it's actually in threads on the Home board somewhere complete with pictures but suffice to say, it was a mess and very expensive. I hear typically you either get drains that won't drain or actual sewage backing into the lowest part of your house.

Re: Maintenance for Cesspools?

Oh I just thought of something! How about the hair that clogs the drain in the bathtub? Can the hair create a problem in the cesspool?

Re: Maintenance for Cesspools?

Posted by greenfreak

We started hearing gurgling in the master shower drain. There was a pvc pipe coming out of the house between the kitchen and the master bedroom and there was wastewater draining into the ground. We found out this was because the cesspool was backing up to the lowest part of the house - the washing machine in the basement which was right underneath the overflow.

I won't go into the whole story, it's actually in threads on the Home board somewhere complete with pictures but suffice to say, it was a mess and very expensive. I hear typically you either get drains that won't drain or actual sewage backing into the lowest part of your house.