How to find a septic tank? 

Septic Tank Cleanout Pipe Location

This document provides suggestions and procedures for locating a septic tank. 

This highly detailed series of articles explains how to locate septic tanks or other landfill components such as distribution boxes. , treatment field, settling tank or dry well when the location is unknown or when the location of the septic tank is not obvious to the naked eye. 

This guide explains the septic tank search process and lists resources for septic tank location information. We describe who can find the location of buried elements on the website, how to check the website and what errors to look for when assuming that the information you see, read or receive is completely genuine. corpse. 

We also provide a TABLE OF CONTENTS for this topic, or you can try the SEARCH BOX at the top or bottom of the page to quickly find the information you need. How to Find Septic Tanks, Septic Tanks, Dry Wells, D-Boxes or Disposal Yard 

Starting here and in a series of step-by-step guides, we explain different methods for locating buried components of an on-site wastewater treatment system: sewer lines or mains, tanks septic tank, drain cleaner, septic tank, distribution box, Drainfield septic tank and related site components. 

If you'd like to see a video of how we determine where a septic tank may or may not be located, 

When a septic tank pump is needed, a routine maintenance job, the cost of this service would be less if the homeowner had figured out the location of the septic tank and could even have discovered the sump pump manifold cap. 

Other reasons to look for a septic tank include inspecting and testing the septic system when buying a home or to be on the safe side, to make sure the septic tank cover is in good condition.

If you're not sure if your property has a septic tank, your building may be connected to the city's sewer system. To understand this, 

Safety warning for people who go to septic tank 

Watch out for old, deflated septic tanks 

Falling into a septic tank or septic tank is potentially fatal. Watch out for signs of subsidence or subsidence in the ground, rusty steel septic tank covers, wooden or flimsy homemade tank covers, or homemade manure pits and dry wells that are in danger of collapsing. 

Dig or probe very carefully and do not work alone. Further safety tips for working on or around septic tanks can be read 

at SEPTIC & CESSPOOL SECURITY. [Thanks to Donica Ben for reminding us that there are other potential hazards, such as bumping into buried electrical wires.] 

Some main sewers? 

In a large home, or a home with plumbing in widely isolated parts of the building, the builder may have built more than one septic tank or drainage lines that can escape buildings from multiple septic tanks. share a septic tank.

That would be rare in a modern home. But in a property that has been extended, such as to add an apartment far away from where all the other plumbing in the building is located, this is a possibility to keep in mind.  

Consider the age of the building, the complexity of the layout, and the history of bathroom or kitchen additions in widely segregated areas as clues to suggest that there may be multiple natural pools. drains or sewer pipes. 

Split dry well? 

For properties with a septic filter field (absorption system) with limited wastewater absorption capacity or for the simple convenience of operating drain lines, gray water builds up from laundry or even The sink and shower can be connected to a separate dry well that is not part of the main septic tank.

In the photo above showing a washing machine in the front and the main drain of the house in the left corner of the basement in the back, you might wonder if the washing machine is connected to a separate dry well. separate or not.

The washing machine in the photo is clearly below the level where the main drain leaves the house in the distance. What simplifies the search for the septic tank in the case of this photo is that there is only one large-diameter drain pipe exiting the house. 

Larger main drain 

The house's main drainage pipes will be relatively large in diameter, with a minimum diameter of 4" (obsolete) and possibly 6". The sink or shower drain can be 1.5" or 2" in diameter. So if you can see open plumbing, just find the area under the building's toilet and follow that drain. 

The toilet should be connected to a septic tank, even if other permanent fixtures in the building are connected to a separate dry well. At this point we are looking for septic tanks, not dry wells.