macerator pump and septic system usage question

[SMR]

We will spending around 3 months at my inlaws and will be living in our camper at their house. Lots of projects......
Thinking I will need to dump the black tank every 7 plus days, it's around 20 gallons or so into the septic system. We will use the house as much as possible.
Grey water goes into the grass.
My question is will it do any damage to the septic system if I dump it every 7 days?
Thanks

 

[Utclmjmpr]

This will depend partly on the condition and size of the septic system,, mine is 1500 gallon tank and 95 foot leach line and handles an occasional dump with eze..>>>Dan

 

[SMR]

Unfortunately they don't know the size, they are going to get it pumped as it is long overdue.

 

[jymbee]

We will spending around 3 months at my inlaws and will be living in our camper at their house. Lots of projects......
Thinking I will need to dump the black tank every 7 plus days, it's around 20 gallons or so into the septic system. We will use the house as much as possible.
Grey water goes into the grass.
My question is will it do any damage to the septic system if I dump it every 7 days?
Thanks

Don't see how it could damage anything. The only issue being the capacity.

Do you know the last time it was pumped out? That might give you some idea as to the capacity. Also, how many family members use it?

I don't see how using the house wouldn't make any difference given "it" all will end up in the same place!

Do you plan on using a macerator type system or... ?

 

[SMR]

It's been awhile since it was last pumped, they will get it done before we get there, might have them wait until we get there and I can talk with the septic guy.
Just 2 people using it.
Looking at a macerator pump and running the waste to a clean out in the yard.

 

[Edd505]

the septic tank will be sized for the number bedrooms kind of tells how many people would be using it. Your RV tanks can't be so large it would affect a good system, they have an unused bedroom?

 

[John From Detroit]

One sugestion if on a septic system dump more frequently.
Residential septic systems may not have the capacity to handle a full dump every seven days

 

[NY_Dutch]

Depending on the age and model, a typical residential top load clothes washer uses anywhere from 20 to 45 gallons per load. The septic tank will be fine with your black tank dump. As for dumping the grey water on the grass, be aware that grey water can smell as bad as or even worse than black water.

 

[whiteva]

During the 8 months of S&B rebuild we used a pump every Friday, black tank only. 100 ft Garden hose to the septic tank with no problems except my nephew said no more drinking from any hose at my house.

 

[DutchmenSport]

I use a 32 gallon Barker Blue Tote to transport my tank waste to my septic tank at home. My tanks hold about 35-40 gallons each, but my blue tote holds only 32. So I make sure I dump often to not overflow the Tote.

I've been dumping at home since 2010 when we moved into this house. We had a "pump out" shaft connected to our septic tank so it does not have to be dug out every time it needs cleaning out. We've never had an issue with our septic tank (except with it rains excessively hard in the Spring time of the year and back yard floods. Then the ground water raises and the toilets won't flush right. That happens about once a year and lasts for a few hours until the ground water dissipates. But, that has no impact with dumping from the camper.

And yes, absolutely .... the grey tank (kitchen) smells more awful than the black tank. I do occasionally dump on the ground, and every time I do, I regret it!

And ... we live in the camper year round, even when parked in our own drive way. When "home" we use the camper for everything, very little time is spent in the house.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

20 gallons once a week? Trivial for even a small septic except for one thing: 20 gallons all at once is still a fairly big hit, like flushing a toilet in the house 45 times as quickly as you can (1.6 liters/flush). I suggest dumping into the septic as slowly as possible, preferably over a 15-20 minute period so the tank isn't stirred up so much and has a chance to let the excess drain into the leach field. Maybe not crucial, but it's wise to be kind to a septic system, especially an older one.

Homes built in the 1950s often have small septics (unless upgraded later). 500-750 gallons used to be common back then. Newer ones will be 1000-500 for a 3 BR house.

 

[SMR]

The house was built in 1965, 3 bedrooms. It's in North Little Rock.
They are having it pumped tomorrow and I asked if they could ask the pump out guy how many gallons he took out.
I might call the county when we get there on the off chance they might have septic records.

 

[John From Detroit]

The house was built in 1965, 3 bedrooms. It's in North Little Rock.
They are having it pumped tomorrow and I asked if they could ask the pump out guy how many gallons he took out.
I might call the county when we get there on the off chance they might have septic records.

Good plan. But again more frequent dumps.. will be easier on the septic

Of course this can cause issues LONG TERM with the black tank or so it is believed.

Short term I (3 months) I don't think it will be a problem but once you pull out Dump a full tank at a proper Camp ground type dump station... Even if it's mostly water. Then do the Calgon/Dawn and water thing and dump again many miles down the road.

 

[jymbee]

They are having it pumped tomorrow and I asked if they could ask the pump out guy how many gallons he took out.

Doubt he'll be able measure in gallons but have some idea as to "fullness". As I recall you don't know he capacity of he tank?

If the access is an opening such as a concrete cover, he'll be able to see how full it is but, if it's working properly the liquids will be up to the level of the outlets running to the leach field so in essence, it's always "full".

The main concern is the level of the solids. If/when that gets high enough to block the outlets, that obviously is... not good.

 

[John From Detroit]

The house was built in 1965, 3 bedrooms. It's in North Little Rock.
They are having it pumped tomorrow and I asked if they could ask the pump out guy how many gallons he took out.
I might call the county when we get there on the off chance they might have septic records.

Good plan. But again more frequent dumps.. will be easier on the septic

Of course this can cause issues LONG TERM with the black tank or so it is believed.

Short term I (3 months) I don't think it will be a problem but once you pull out Dump a full tank at a proper Camp ground type dump station... Even if it's mostly water. Then do the Calgon/Dawn and water thing and dump again many miles down the road.

If the access is an opening such as a concrete cover, he'll be able to see how full it is but, if it's working properly the liquids will be up to the level of the outlets running to the leach field so in essence, it's always "full".

When my parents had a new house (With a new system) built the leach field was about half what the size it needed to be and as a result problems developed..


Though I can't remember faces and names to save my life my GEO memory is .. rather good. (usually) I only have one or two things (large field of identical stuff) where I use GPS to track.

My dad and I disagreed as to where the pipes were but he was having no luck.

So I took the shovel .. He was only off by a foot or two.. Dug straight to the pipe.

And thus the problem was dealt with (Doubled the leach field size).

I told him where to dig. Ah. Geo Memory can be good.

Now days those things are "Not my problem" (One of the joys of living in an apartment is all the home owner issues that are very simply NOT MY PROBLEM.. Snow removal, Mowing, Roof, Appliances (major) including water heater, Plumbing.. NOT MY PROBLEM. Roof. Walls. Electrical.

 

[SMR]

The septic pumper will be there Monday and so will I (down wind) which is better so I can see what is going on.

 

[RayIN]

Somehow this seems appropriate,

 

[RayIN]

Somehow this seems appropriate,

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The general dimensions of the tank will pretty well define the gallonage. A rough calculation is done by multiplying the cubic feet of tank space by 7.5. You can usually find the length & width by simply sticking a rod into the ground (the septic truck driver carries one for this purpose) but the height is a bit of guesswork. Most are in the 5-7 ft range but the liquid doesn't come all the way to the top. It's not rocket science, so all you need is a reasonable guess.

 

[SMR]

Where my inlaws live no one gets their septic tanks pumped, they called several neighbors and none of them have had theirs pumped out...I asked a friend who lived in the greater Little Rock area and he never had his pumped out.
They said it's been 20 years since the last pump out.
When we lived in Elkhart ours was pumped every 3 years.