Khan
Gone but not forgotten
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Any idea how much it costs to have a septic tank pumped out?
Septic tank
- Thread starter Khan
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pb4uski
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
In our area it is $250-$350. I had mine pumped a couple months ago and it cost $340. The guy I use is a bit on the high side but is a family friend so I grin and bear it.
YMMV
YMMV
JakeBrake
Full time employment: Posting here.
$275 in November 2012 to pump a 1200 gallon septic tank. This is part of an aerobic septic system. The company I use specializes in aerobic septic systems. I call them when the aerator needs repair. That may be from two to four years. The septic tank has never actually been full when they repaired the aerator and pumped the tank. The $275 for pumping the tank is a separate charge from repairing the aerator.
Jack_Pine
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We pay $225, have it done every 3 years.
ERD50
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It can be very location specific. Laws/regs vary be area, availability of land to dump it on (regs cover how this is handled) versus having to take it to a municipal treatment plant.
I don't think other answers will tell you much about your specific situation.
-ERD50
I don't think other answers will tell you much about your specific situation.
-ERD50
Dalez
Dryer sheet wannabe
$180.00 in the Albany, NY area.
Ronstar
Moderator Emeritus
$250 here in northern Illinois
REWahoo
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+1
It can also depend on the size of your tank. Only disposal legal here is a municipal treatment plant which charges the "honey wagon" folks $X per 100 gallons offloaded, so the charge to pump is more for a larger system.
REWahoo
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give
Wow.
Jack_Pine
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We don't but garbage in ours...27 years?
ERD50
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Not 'having' to do something is vastly different from what you 'should be' doing.
Sure, you can get away w/o pumping for a very long time. But you are sending unprocessed 'stuff' into the drain field. When the drain field fails, the cost will be much higher than pumping every 3 years or so (dependent on usage and size of tank).
Some other poster I think, talked about how he doesn't need to pump because he adds some bio-something every month. I posted numerous links of evidence that those likely do more harm than good - I don't think he ever responded.
I wonder if he got his tank pumped?
-ERD50
Well, I stretched it a bit, 26 years and 9 months we have lived in this house. I have never seen a septic service at any of my neighbors either.
F4mandolin
Full time employment: Posting here.
Length of time depends on how many people you have in the house doing the flushing. Large family will need a pump every 3 years or so. Only 2 of us so I would push it out to 4-5 years. We paid around $330 I think last Spring....but it cost more because the guy had to find the tank. Every extra effort costs more. Next time I will have the tank tops dug out and waiting for them to just show up and pump.
2 of us and $300 about every 3 years. Had we not had it done this last time, we would not have discovered a partially collapsed exit pipe, which cost us $500 to repair, but would have been lots more had it gone much longer. Lots of rain had caused things to noticeably shift.
meierlde
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
It cost me $325 in the spring of 2012. There are web sites that will tell you based upon the number of folks living in the house how often to pump the tank. (And if you use a garbage disposal). Here is a link to a web site that has a schedule: Septic Tank Pumping Schedule Table - how often should you clean the septic tank?
You will note it depends on the number of folks living in a house and the size of the tank,
For example 1000 gallons in 12 years with one person, 5.9 with 2 3.7 with 3 and so on. The site hints that if you use a garbage disposal reduce the time to 80% of the value without. (of course that will depend also on how and what you cook).
You will note it depends on the number of folks living in a house and the size of the tank,
For example 1000 gallons in 12 years with one person, 5.9 with 2 3.7 with 3 and so on. The site hints that if you use a garbage disposal reduce the time to 80% of the value without. (of course that will depend also on how and what you cook).
pb4uski
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
+1 if you don't pump it out you risk putting solids rather than just effluent into your leach field, plugging the leach field and having to put in either a replacement leach field or possibly a whole new septic system (tank and leach field).
In some situations, you may not have the space to replace the leach field and might need to put in a mound system somewhere else on the property.
IMO it is much better to spend a few hundred every few years to pump the septic tank than risk having to replace a leach field (or worse).
Like that old oil change commercial stated - "pay me now or pay me later". An oil change/engine rebuild is analogous to pumping the tank/replacing the leach field.
I had the septic system checked about 10 years ago, after 16-17 years of use and the verdict was pumping wasn't required and that the system was working well. Maybe it is time to have it checked again this spring. Mine is a 1200 gallon system with only 2 people.
tryan
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$275
Pumping requirement can be a function of the laundry detergent being used. Lots of bleach effectively "kills" the system and will cause solids not to break down. Many route the laundry out a separate dry well for this reason. Or do a Ridx monthly treatment.
Pumping requirement can be a function of the laundry detergent being used. Lots of bleach effectively "kills" the system and will cause solids not to break down. Many route the laundry out a separate dry well for this reason. Or do a Ridx monthly treatment.
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Jack_Pine
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The other good thing about having them come out is they discovered a partially collapsed run. They are coming out to repair in the spring (assuming spring ever comes)
travelover
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I was paying $300, but switched pumpers. The new guy pointed out that I had been previously charged for a 1500 gallon tank, when my tank is only 1000 gallon. I guess my old pumper guy didn't know sh!t.
No matter what, it's wise to keep an eye on the system.
In our area, the aerobic type septic system we have (Jet brand) is no longer legal to install. If it ever had to be replaced (with a legal system), the cost would be nearly $20,000.
Needless to say, I monitor it on a regular basis.
In our area, the aerobic type septic system we have (Jet brand) is no longer legal to install. If it ever had to be replaced (with a legal system), the cost would be nearly $20,000.
Needless to say, I monitor it on a regular basis.
REWahoo
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give
I checked my records and saw we were charged $410 to pump our 600 gallon aerobic system in November of 2010. That seems high, but is on the lower end of the prices I was quoted from two other pumpers. And the 600 gallon figure is the capacity of the aerobic tank only. The total combined volume of the three tanks in the system is ~1,500 gallons so that's what I'm paying for. And I do know the municipal systems keep going up on what they charge these guys to offload their cargo...
REWahoo
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give
We are required by state law to contract with a licensed septic company to have our aerobic system inspected three times a year.
