Poop Tank covers

[Poopyface]

Got a septic tank with concrete covers that are just placed over the holes. Not very well sealed at all. We have a huge issue with gnats and those tiny annoying flies. I noticed they are breeding in my shit.

Are septic tanks supposed to be sealed? I am assuming they are since I visited quite a few houses with septic tanks when house shopping and most of them had plastic caps. Others were buried under the yard. Only one I recall had a similar lid as mine.

I was planning to throw down some landscape plastic and soil on top to maybe seal it up a little better. Any better solutions? My tank is pumped every 5-6 years.

 

[subybaja]

Well, you picked the right screen name!

 

[BUCKLAND]

You can see the lid of your septic system without digging it up?

 

[FJC11]

You've got to be shitting us.

 

[smurfblue40]

You can see the lid of your septic system without digging it up?

Our tank was buried right after inspection. When it was time to have it pumped I had a heck of a time finding the lids. The septic guy suggested risers and lids off Amazon (he said it would be cheaper than buying through his company

 

[Poopyface]

You can see the lid of your septic system without digging it up?

Yes.

 

[smurfblue40]

Our tank is about 18in below grade, I’m going to be doing this soon

 

[Poopyface]

Our tank is about 18in below grade, I’m going to be doing this soon

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The lids of mine are actually level with the yard. I'd have to make a mound of some sort to cover them. Maybe make use of it with a shallow root veggie bed.

 

[Clb]

They make a neoprene or duck shit, type gasket.
at least cover with 3" of dirt. ..

 

[Wheelerfreak]

You can see the lid of your septic system without digging it up?

Mine is set up,like the pic smurfblue posted. Tank is 16-18” underground and the risers stick up about 4” above ground level with a green plastic lid screwed onto the riser

 

[Lilyota]

Some plastic sheeting and some dirt



Get a couple of rocks to indicate where they are when they need to be dug up.

 

[Toreadorranger]

I have a concrete cover but is covered with 18" of dirt, so I dont have any problems.

 

[CJ503]

We used a semi-soft sort of seal that they referred to as "mastic"

Point is, that it was semi-soft and you put it around the concrete top of the tank and sealed the riser to it. The risers were made by Orenco out of Eugene OR. Not that it really matters. Point is, make sure the seal-off is good and then the lids are screwed down tight. 6 screws, SS, pretty obvious where to seal it down. On a transfer, I have seen 36" risers, and they were sealed off fine.

By 36". I mean above ground. There were some pretty deep chambers.

If everything is sealed, then it would seem there is not a problem.

The seal-off stuff (mastic) would most likely be at the big box stores. It is in a roll with paper around each layer. If you cannot find it try a company that specializes in septic systems. They will have it, but plan on getting raped on the price.

I have put in a shit ton of these and they seal up if you do it right.

 

[billybob_81067]

I have a concrete lid that is pretty much right under the surface of the dirt. It has a rebar hoop on top to grab hold of to pull it off. It is right in the middle of a little rock garden in the back yard to keep people from driving on top of it. I took a large sandstone rock and hollowed out a recess in the bottom of it to fit over that rebar hoop, so now I know where the lid is without having to look too hard for it and it also keeps it from looking ugly.

 

[Stuck]

Our tank was buried right after inspection. When it was time to have it pumped I had a heck of a time finding the lids. The septic guy suggested risers and lids off Amazon (he said it would be cheaper than buying through his company

Thats why you wait and let the septic guy find the lids. They use a probe to find the edges of the tank, from there its just a matter of knowing where on the tanks the lids are. When we bought our house years ago we had the shit sucker come out. I wasnt even positive where the tank was. He had the lids open within five minutes of being there.

 

[poncho62]

My septic is about 12" down...I built a frame of 4x4 PT up to the surface and cover it with a 24x24 patio stone. No smell.

 

[ROCKTACO]

Our tank is about 18in below grade, I’m going to be doing this soon

This is perfect, It can double as a storm shelter!

 

[ExWrench]

You can see the lid of your septic system without digging it up?

Yes.

Remove lid & replace with outhouse - nobody will ask where the smell is coming from.

 

[billybob_81067]

Remove lid & replace with outhouse - nobody will ask where the smell is coming from.

Bonus points for creativity and being able to take yard shits on hot days!

 

[Poopyface]

Pix of poop tank. When i first moved in it was covered by a tarp with mulch and had a 40 ft tree next to it. You can see the remains of the stump a little north.

 

[det107]

From experience, try not to bury the septic tank too much because we had to roti drill from that pipe in tank. Just a small normal dirt garden to keep down the stink with rock surrounding. 2 square lids w/rebar-

 

[Santa]

The ones here at the chico house are the green ones like several have shown. They are just below the grass level and visible. Only place I've ever owned with septic. All the other ones I've known about where covered and would have to be found to get pumped.

 

[grumpy356]

The lids of mine are actually level with the yard. I'd have to make a mound of some sort to cover them. Maybe make use of it with a shallow root veggie bed.

You can’t cover them

One of those should contain a tube where you have to dump chlorine tablets every few months. They also need to be able to open them up to check the depth of the sediment in the bottom of the tanks.

 

[Wheelerfreak]

You can’t cover them

One of those should contain a tube where you have to dump chlorine tablets every few months. They also need to be able to open them up to check the depth of the sediment in the bottom of the tanks.

I've never heard of using Chlorine tablets. Calcium hypochlorite yes, but no chlorine?

 

[grumpy356]

I've never heard of using Chlorine tablets. Calcium hypochlorite yes, but no chlorine?

Yeah,....... those.


Regardless of the chemistry, don’t cover up the lids because you have to open up the tank to put the tablets in the tube.

 

[ExWrench]

Calcium hypochlorite + water = "chlorine" as found in chlorine bleach. Same-same.

 

[Poopyface]

You can’t cover them

One of those should contain a tube where you have to dump chlorine tablets every few months. They also need to be able to open them up to check the depth of the sediment in the bottom of the tanks.

No tube in these. I had it pumped the first week I was there and asked the guy a bunch of questions about maintaining the tank. He never mentioned anything about chlorine tablets when I asked if anything needed to be added. He said tank looked great and didn't really need pumped.

 

[grumpy356]

Calcium hypochlorite + water = "chlorine" as found in chlorine bleach. Same-same.

I thought so, but I flunked out of chemistry, so I wasn’t the one to debate the point.

 

[70 tp]

Doesn’t chlorine kill all the microbes that make a septic system work?

 

[grumpy356]

Is your system an aerobic system?

Here is how mine ( an aerobic system) looks. you can see the place to add the tablets.


Yeah I got my finger in the picture and I need to spray weed killer. It’s hot and fuck you.