Stealth Geeks Obsess

NO! What do you mean No?

Just No, that was the response from the Health Department. No to installing a short system to tide us over until sewer comes through, No to building a new full system, and No to repairing the one we have.
Take a breath, here's a kitten.

My septic guy was just as confounded as we were. I guess the rationale is that although the short system would be ideal, the Health Dept. has no guarantee that we will hook up to Sewer as soon as it comes through, even if we promise, or sign papers, they cannot make us. So that option is off the table. No to a new full system, I am not sure of the rationale behind this one, I think it is because we don't have a proper  reserve, or because it is too close to our patio?
No to repairing the old system, because it cannot be repaired while people are using the system, that is what I gleened anyway.
So when confronted by septic guy she said she would think about it and get back to us.
Here is what she came up with,
A timer on the system.
Yup, just a timer on the pump that turns on over a 24 hour system to slow the leaching into the damaged field.
Now this will cost around $1,000. versus the 25-30 thousand for a new system so I should be happy. But I am not, and here's why. If we have trouble with the timer system and the leach field, it backs up into the house, as it is, if there is trouble it overwhelms the system and comes up in the yard.
Which would you rather have, effluent in the yard? or coming up in the house?
It's okay..... More kittens

My septic guy was not happy, so he will be working with the Health Dept over the next few weeks to come up with a better solution.
On a happier note, we have cut back our water use by half what it was last year, and the equivalent of a two person household!! (we have 5)
Yea us.
Now! More Kittens!!
 

When Green Grass is a Bad Thing

Ahhh, to have luscious green grass in Late July. In general I don't care if my grass goes brown in late summer, when my neighborhood association complains I remind them of the whole reduce, reuse, recycle philosophy. Don't get me wrong, it's never so dead that it doesn't come back by September, or creates a fire hazard, but it is not as luscious as the photo above, unless...... "You are the proud owner of a FAILED septic system!" That's right, the "poop on a stick" turned out to be a bit more of a problem than we initially thought.
You see it looks as if our septic system might have failed years and years ago. We did not know this because the drainfield was built so deep that the effluent never surfaced, until we started prodding the ground with a stick that is, we basically built a straight thoroughfare to the surface. It's the classic chicken and egg story. We wouldn't have known that it failed if we didn't go looking for it and therefore created the very problem we had hoped to avoid.
So here we are 18 months out from getting sewer in our neighborhood, one week away from hosting a Wake for my father and 2 day's away from hosting my lovely sister and family, while we are on the old 2 minute showers and "yellow mellow, brown flush it down" diet.
That's life. Needless to say, the expansion is a no go.
The 2 sticks in the ground are the main culprits, I left them in so that I can check the progression of the.. uh.. effluent, so far it has not been bad at all.
At any other time in my life I would be really down about this, angry and lets face it a little self pitying, but I have 2 friends whose children have each been diagnosed with cancer, one is a beautiful energetic strong 9yr old who has had a recurrence of her leukemia, the other a shy adorable 10 yr old boy who has a cancerous mass that has lodged in his lymph node on his neck (hopefully benign).
Some how poop in the yard seems like a blessing.

So here we are trying to figure out if we can do a "short system" to tide us over until sewer comes through. It's all up to the county health department now.
On a happier note, The devil Ann (from the aforementioned post "nah you don't need a permit for that") has been fired. There were so many complaints against her, and her knowledge of septic systems was non existent. Yeah for mortals!
So off I go on another homeowner adventure.
But wait there is more.
We had to get rid of our tenants at the Arbor Heights house, and man was that fun.
I will post about it next on "That's it get out and take your keg with you"
Give me a shout and let me know how your home improvement projects are going.