Thinking further and talking of compost heaps, I wonder if one could dig out the solids and store for the compost bin in a years or so’s time. That’s all the sewage collector does, pile it in a field and cover it in lime then use it for fertiliser. Could we do that? I don’t know. It’s no different than a garden toilet.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
As an owner of a very old and unemptied septic tank I have at least a good idea If you research cesspit and septic you'll see the differences. One leaks liquid out of the bottom and the other one is sealed. The latter needs emptying regularly. It's good practice to be careful of what you flush down there, but I have to say we she put all sorts of stuff down and it hasn't stopped it working.
A bit anecdotal, but hopefully it'll make you smile and give you some understanding (as it did me!). I live in a farmhouse, (but officially a smallholding now due to acreage) and down below us is a 'proper' farm where Mick and his wife live looking after cows and sheep. They've been there for decades. We meet up now and again when I deliver veg or social events etc. So were having a drink at such an event and I say to him 'Mick you know those things in your yard?' He rolls his eyes and bites his lip. He knows i'm going to ask pertinent questions about farming as i'm curious and love to learn, but he's patient. In his yard he has some long shafts with propellers on the end. Now i'm guessing they're for stirring up sh*t, but why would someone want to do that?
So yeah I pop the question and he says well 'Sh*t floats dunnit?' I'm perplexed. 'Well, think of your septic tank, water runs out of the bottom and the turds are on top getting eaten away by bacteria' (in the presence of oxygen). 'Ah'. These propellers on shafts get attached to a tractor, they dip them into the slurry tank and whisk it up (like Angel Delight!). Then it goes into some machine which spreads it on the land in Winter.
Well that answers the question Bee Witched. All 3 of my 'septic' tanks haven't been septic tanks at all, they are cess pits. To put it crudely, as Mike says, solids float and water goes to the bottom of the pit to drain away slowly so they couldn't be dug out Lyn.
You wouldn’t take it straight from the tank to the compost bin, leave it laying, and cover with lime, which is what the company do that empty them. Ours is a two tank job, we did take the solids out as at one point my dad didn’t think it was draining into the 2nd chamber, so the holes were unblocked and it went on fine from there on.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
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I think you may well be right.
Bee x
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
That’s all the sewage collector does, pile it in a field and cover it in lime then use it for fertiliser.
Could we do that? I don’t know. It’s no different than a garden toilet.
It's good practice to be careful of what you flush down there, but I have to say we she put all sorts of stuff down and it hasn't stopped it working.
A bit anecdotal, but hopefully it'll make you smile and give you some understanding (as it did me!).
I live in a farmhouse, (but officially a smallholding now due to acreage) and down below us is a 'proper' farm where Mick and his wife live looking after cows and sheep. They've been there for decades.
We meet up now and again when I deliver veg or social events etc.
So were having a drink at such an event and I say to him 'Mick you know those things in your yard?'
He rolls his eyes and bites his lip. He knows i'm going to ask pertinent questions about farming as i'm curious and love to learn, but he's patient.
In his yard he has some long shafts with propellers on the end. Now i'm guessing they're for stirring up sh*t, but why would someone want to do that?
So yeah I pop the question and he says well 'Sh*t floats dunnit?'
I'm perplexed.
'Well, think of your septic tank, water runs out of the bottom and the turds are on top getting eaten away by bacteria' (in the presence of oxygen).
'Ah'.
These propellers on shafts get attached to a tractor, they dip them into the slurry tank and whisk it up (like Angel Delight!). Then it goes into some machine which spreads it on the land in Winter.
So there you go
Ours is definitely a septic tank, with an outflow for the "sweet"water.
I think we'll pass about using it in the compost bins. We have access to plenty of alpaca poo which is good stuff and not smelly or sticky.
I do think Scottish Water have been ripping us off.
We will continue to use them but far less frequently.
Thanks for the responses all.
Bee x
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime