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Today
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"WE
DO IT RIGHT THE
FIRST TIME !" |
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You got questions,
We got answers.....
If you open your mind to reason you will learn and grow,
If you live with a closed mind you wither and die.
1. Why do I have to have a particular system when my neighbor has something else?
2. It's just my wife and I living here, our kids are gone. Why do we have to have such a large system?
3. Why should we pay more to use you when the system is to be inspected, and have to pass inspection before it is done?
4. What is the best system?
5. When should I have my tank pumped out?
6. What about additives like the ones they sell in stores or mail order?
7. What about these filters, do they work?
8. Why should I worry about getting a good system?
Q. Why do I have to have a particular system when my neighbor has something else?A. Systems are designated first by soil type, your neighbor may have better soil, and it doesn't take a lot of distance to get into a different soil. Then you look at topography; your neighbor may have a better general location and shape of site. The size of your home will also determine what type and size of system you have; they are sized by how many bedrooms you have. They do not care how many bathrooms you have but if you have a tub that holds 125 gallons or more it will be considered another bedroom for sizing. Most states figure 2 people per bedroom and each of them to use 75 gallons of water a day.
A. Your home is Real Estate the next family that lives there may have 2 kids in each room. The system will be sized to the home not the family.
A. Sadly enough most inspections are very quick and very inefficient if they actually get inspected at all. The worst part is that only in Spencer County will you have to get your layout approved at the site, none of the other counties look at the site prior to installation. This leaves the door wide open for poor and even improper design. If you are in Spencer county you have the best chance at a good system Rita Stallings is not one to cross with shoddy work. Vanderburgh is pretty thorough but does tend to allow wet installs which is very bad. It is pretty much "buyer beware" in Warrick county as local "Good Ole Boy" politics have made it like something from the Dukes of Hazard (don't believe me, just pick up a Boonville Standard and read the Circus going on with the building inspector and the board of commissioners). I have worked in Posey County and had the inspector watch us install the system, as it was our first in his county and he didn't know us, this impressed me. I think Gibson county has an EXCELLENT inspector, Ben Dye has proven to be quite knowledgeable. We haven't done enough work in Perry, Pike, and Dubois to form any opinions yet. Septic systems are almost a science in themselves. They are very particular to design and installation; for the most part you just hope your installer is good at what he does. There are more that don't know what they are doing than there are ones that do. There are even some that know just what they can get by with to make the job easy and still pass inspection, these are the worst.
We inform you of all your options and encourage you to look around at the other installers and even encourage you to be there and watch the installation so you understand it and may be more apt to take care of it. We feel once you speak with them and ask enough questions with wrong answers or no answers at all you will feel you have no other choice but to have us install your system. Think about this, just who is getting the short end of the stick when corners are cut and rules are bent by a cheap installation. If you don't mind spending thousands of dollars for a smelly oozing black pool of a lawn then I guess it doesn't matter.
Currently I am heading up a mission to stop these inadequacies in design inspections and installation inspections. I am working at the State level to come up with a program to license and require continuing education for inspectors and possibly put it in more competent hands than county politics. I think maybe putting it into the private sector with the burden of accountability may be the best answer, it would be another small cost to the homeowner but sure beats "buyer beware".
Did you know some Indiana counties report up to 70% failures.....
would you want me to tell you that your $8000 system has a 3 in 10 chance of survival???
I could sure use homeowner input to get this done, please write if you have any.
I also challenge the local counties to work with me to resolve these problems.
A. Well this is a big question but going back to the first Q & A your soil test and site will narrow this choice down. There are many ways to look at it beyond that too, my opinion says RMF/Drip is the best but it is expensive for smaller homes. If we look at cost and say we want something more affordable and we can use trenches then I would say EZflow is the best. In the past we used Graveless pipe (sock pipe) which is a 10" pipe with holes at 8 and 4 O'clock positions and a geotextile fabric wrapped around it. Time has shown this is probably the WORST system you can get and should be avoided at all cost. The bad thing is we didn't know any better nor did anyone else, some still don't, we quit using it around 1997 and strongly urge anyone not to use it. I have been told it was banned in some states but can not confirm this. We have also stopped using Chambers due to problems developing in earlier installations.
Q. When should I have my tank pumped out?
A. Well I will say this at least before your toilet won't flush,,,,,,,,, I always get calls saying, "My system has been woking great for 25 yrs and I never had to pump the tank till now" and they sound very proud till they get to this part,,,, "but now I have had it pumped 3 times in the last 2 months" ,,,,,,,,,,, Yes that part is sad and if they would have used those 3 pumpings over the 25 years they may not have had to call me.
Folks please hear this,,, YOU HAVE TO PUMP YOUR TANK NOW & THEN,,,,,, just like changing the oil in your car you have to clean the tank. There is a tool that tells when you want to do this, it is called a "sludge judge" it takes a sample from your tank and will tell you just how much sludge you have. Any time sludge is within 12" of the baffle it is time to pump it, I might even feel better at 18". Every home will get there at a different time too, one home may need to be pumped annually and the next may go 10 years between pumps.
We can check this for you, if you are wondering about it.
Q. What about additives like the ones they sell in stores or mail order?
A. There are numerous university studies that have shown you can actually do harm to your system with these additives, so DO NOT USE THEM !!! I think the Purdue link on my site may have an article somewhere on this, we have it published in our free Brochure as well.
There are some very few additives that CAN work on your system but the cause of problem has to carefully be diagnosed and then the proper additive chosen to fix it,,,,,,,,, this is called MICROBIOLOGY it is VERY complicated and you will find NOBODY qualified to do it that actually does it, they are making big money doing something better or engineering chemical warfare some place. These additives would be administered through the trenches not the tank and you would never know of them unless you attend trade shows,,,,, so basically if you have seen it; it don't work,, if someone says they are qualified; they are not.
Q. What about these filters, do they work?
A. Basic common sense will tell you that answer and come 2004 Septic Tank Filters will be required in Indiana on ALL new systems and repairs,,,, so YES they do work.
Q. Why should I worry about getting a good system?
A. Well if your system has failed or fails in the future you can't sell your home until it is repaired. Why would you want to pay for something that wasn't put in right? Even if you are not concerned about a good system, what makes you think your neighbor wants your crap running through his yard or ditch? Did you know your neighbor could file a complaint and make you fix it? I personally don't care if you have a failed system but I do care about installers dropping crappy installations in the ground and poor inspectors passing them you should get what you paid for. Why would anyone pay 5 to 10 thousand dollars for a crappy installation when they could get a great one for maybe 10% more?
This page will be added to now & then so check back often
Answers come from wisdom and I want take a moment to thank better minds for some of my wisdom,
Matt Byers from Zoeller Pump Co. has taught me more than anyone about my business and I want to Thank You Matt,,,,, THANKS MATT !!
David Ralston from Soil Tech Inc. has taught me that I know nothing about soils in comparison to him, I'm just glad enough rubbed off,,,, THANKS DAVE !!
Chris Bourke from ISDH, thank you for reasoning with me on numerous occasions and helping me get more involved, I feel we both have grown from working together,,, THANKS CHRIS !!
Donna Wirthwein, my wife,,, Thanks Honey for puttin up with it all !!!!!!!!
