Replies

1. 
   BossHog | Jul 26, 2002 11:26pm | #1

   I'd be more concerned about where the water is coming from than whether or not the tank is waterproof.

   Are you in a very high water table? Did you have a perc test? Is the water maybe coming in backwards through your leach field?

   Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

2. 
   Mooney | Jul 27, 2002 01:27am | #2

   I wouldnt want a septic water proof . Think about what you are asking. Sewer comes from the house and dumps in tank, sewer revolves in tank going to liquid waste , sewer water leaves tank and starts leeching out in the soil about 10 ft away from the tank . What difference does it make ???? If water is comming into tank , thats ok too, its going to leave out the leech field. But usually that is not the case because the tank is full to start with , hence back pressure. How would it come in ? How do you know it does ? I will tell you one thing , when we set a tank here we fill it with a garden hose, other wise the tank would float up in a hard rain. Ive seen that happen . Thats probably your case , and yes it will hold water , it will for always .

   Tim Mooney

1. 
   junkhound | Jul 27, 2002 04:03am | #3

   Last time I poured a septic tank in place, the local codes required the insides to be tarred.

1. 
   Mooney | Jul 27, 2002 04:24am | #4

   First Iwould be interrested in why. Second , what you thinnk about it ? Third we dont pour them and Im wondering. I buy them delivered. They are finished the same day . Of course I live in Arkansas , and if you live in California , well , lol, that would explain it.

   But beside that point , as I said before , What difference would it make if your leaching the stuff 10 feet away ?We have perc tests here and the top two feet is tested . It doesnt matter below that which is proably in the range of this water hes talking about in the tank.

   Please comment on this as Im doing all the talking !!!!! lol

   Tim Mooney

1. 
   Piffin | Jul 27, 2002 04:56am | #5

   A large part of the way any septic system works is by filtering water through a 'mat'. This is a black, slimy, nasty, layer of goop that is the home nest for the bacteria that works to eat the bad guys in that used water. It will form within a couple of months in the area surronding any properly designed, built, and used system. If tank were to leak minute amounts of waste, the same 'mat' would form there to work on that wastewater.

   A precast tank, being formed and tested in ideal conditions, may be somewhat porus and let tiny amts of wastewater pass through. The alkalii of the concrete would do it's own work on the fluid and the mat would take care of the rest. A brand new tank would probably be more porus than an old cured slimy one. I wouldn't worry about it.

   The reasoning behind requireing a poured in place tank to be seal coated is that it is more common for that type, being formed in less than ideal situations, to have honeycombing in the concrete walls that can allow greater amounts of water to flow through. Too much flow in one place, into soils that are not part of the designed field, can percolate to the surface and cause all the nasty situations that waste water systems are intended to avoid.

   I don't engineer theese things but as a member of our local Planning Board, I attended a couple of workshop seminars on the issues and that's where my understanding of this comes from - maybe it's wrong but it fits into my head.Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   Mooney | Jul 27, 2002 03:28pm | #6

   I think that cleared that up . Thanks PFN.

   Tim Mooney

2. 
   Piffin | Jul 27, 2002 03:34pm | #7

   Oops! I guess that bit of info "leaked" out and is now percolating to the surface!

   ;>)Excellence is its own reward!