Septic Tank Looks like crap.

[Jonathon]

You don't have a septic tank, you have a cesspit, but that is normal here. I don't think anyone here would understand about septic tanks and I've never seen the prefabricated ones common in Europe. But when in Thailand......(not always a great idea). Hopefully you are on mains water with a decent settlement tank and proper filters to avoid cross pollution.

[ResandePohm]

That's great,

how high does the pipe have to be from the hieght of the

lid of the septic tank.

Deleted - Duplicate post

Edited July 12, 2015 by ResandePohm

[ResandePohm]

That's great,

how high does the pipe have to be from the hieght of the

lid of the septic tank.

The higher the better to allow any smells to disperse or blow away. If the pipe runs up the side of your house then the general rule is that it protrude at least 5 ft above where it comes through the roof.

[ResandePohm]

I think the pipe is to let the methane gas out but I don't think it has to be vertical. You can probably put a 90 degree bend on it, then run pipe just below some earth, and then up a wall or post in a more discreet location, so long as it won't get blocked.

This a sensible and practical solution to your problem

[hawksway]

That's totally normal but don't conceal the lid because if the blue pipe gets block Operatives may need to get access. Having the lid exposed for your regular inspection enables you to know when the tank is full as leakage will then appear around the lid.

If you feel it unsightly just grow a ring of flowers around it.

[hawksway]

The blue pipe acts to permit methane to escape. Height above ground leave 1.5 metres. I saw a TV documentary in Nepal where a Farmer connects the pipe to his cooking stove.

Ours needs to be drained every 2 years but my Thai Wife seems to have an over active bowel!

[Crossy]

If you feel it unsightly just grow a ring of flowers around it.

Best roses in Thailand

[slipperylobster]

Yes....that makes SCENTS.

[canuckamuck]

Just thought I would mention that I have never noticed a bad smell from our tank and I walk past it ten times a day; and it is not more tan 6 meters from our bedroom window either.

I have no pipe but there is a hole in the concrete lid which is partially covered with a brick.

I flush a litre of EM down the toilet from time to time, so that must be working out for me.

[nithisa78]

Me, I wouldn't touch a thing. Ring some potted plants or whatever if it is an eye sore. It is a privilege having a place to toilet. functional

[Grusa]

When I lived in Africa, we had a not dissimilar system. The balck water flowed into a square concrete tank, half way up the side with a Tee on the end of the pipe. At the other end was another tee, which allowed the water to drain out to a leech tank.

The principle was, waste water entering the tee divided: floaters to,the top, sinkers to the bottom. Biological action broke down the residues, the water on top was foul, the water on the bottom was foul, but in between the water was relatively pure, and that was drained off to the leach tank, thence to to drainage field. It never had to be pumped, drained or otherwise treated - unless you used strong detergents etc. These killed the bacteria and stopped it working. Solution:hand a piece of raw liver out until full of maggots, then chuck it in. Bingo, biological action restored!

My friend who served in the Portuguese Foreign Legion ( yes they had one!) was taught that when in need of safe drinking water in a crisis, draw it from the middle third of the tank, perfectly safe to drink! He's still alive, so far as I know!

[adammike]

And don't clean your toilet with bleach or caustic products,to reactivate your septic tank

get a whole dead chicken feathers guts let it rot and toss it in,soi dog may work just as well might be the only thing they are good for.

[ICECOOL]

There is no way that this tank will be cleaned out by a "Rot Kee',those trucks that come

and suck the contents out.

The site is too rural and on a slope.

God only knows how they would clean it out if it was needed.

I lived in Oz with septic tanks on our farm and if you live on a downhill slope I recommend you add and concrete exit pipe near the top of the tank and dig a seepage pit about 20 metres away. The pit should be about a metre deep and 4 metres long and run across the hill/slope so the excess runs into the pit and then dissipates. Put in blue metal to the height where the pipe hits the trench (soakaway) so the waste water exits into the blue metal layer which you just cover with dirt. You never or would rarely have to pump the tank. Google it

[Dumbastheycome]

The obvious answer is to dispense with the pipe and see whether you get a smell or not. My house was built with 4 cesspits like you describe - one for each of the two toilets and one for each bathroom's shower/basin water (one of those two also handling the kitchen sink and washing machine waste). None of the 4 smell and we have only had to empty the tanks once in six years. Maybe it's a question of waste volumes going into a cesspit. The concrete tops have holes for pumping out. The holes are bevelled and a semi-bevelled concrete plug with a much smaller air hole in it's top fits neatly into the top.

Actually, I don't know what is the difference between a cesspit and a septic tank - anyone? If I take the top off the liquid down below is hugely active, churning over with presumably bacterial munching going on.

If your tank is active you are in luck and it is operating as a septic tank.... digesting content. In that process gas is generated so it must exit somewhere and the liquid content soaked away. Eventually sediment from the process will require removal (6 years? Great system!)

A cess pit is just a collection tank which requires emptying as it fills. Often usually. And what most are in Thailand. Which means that covering the top in soil only annoys the operator of the perfume wagon !

[kamalabob2]

I do not understand why the OP did not go to any Builders Merchant store in Thailand and spend 3100 baht to 5000 baht for one or two proper DOS septic tanks. They need not be expensive. Black Septic Tanks are commonly available, delivered free by some family owned house builder supply stores, only cost of few hundred baht for the delivery by Global House or Thaiwatsadu in Thailand. I had three 1000 liter DOS septic tanks installed in a house I own in 2007. Each 1000 liter DOS septic tank is fed by one Toto Urinal and two toilets. In over 7 years I have never once had to pump out a septic tank. The venting pipes are PAINTED PVC, are attached to a veranda exterior wall, have a T at the top of each vent and we never smell the septic tank. Each septic tank drains off to a leach field pipe or to a sewer connection. Even if the OP is in a remote location the septic tank companies including Safe Tank, and DOS have instructions with drawings in Thai and English so any village builders can install and connect a proper black or grey colored plastic septic tank. Any good builders merchants store owner in any province in Thailand, should be willing to meet with your house builder and give them advise on proper installation of a septic tank. In many Thailand Hardware stores they have an employee of various water tank and septic tank companies who will go to a house building site and give technical advise in Thai to men and women who build a house. There should be no charge for such a service. I see septic tanks delivered to housing estates and individual homes in Buriram by busy stores on a normal basis. Perhaps the OP can consider an after the fact installation of a black septic tank and proper venting pipe that can be painted an attractive color.

[Naam]

If your tank is active you are in luck and it is operating as a septic tank.... digesting content. In that process gas is generated so it must exit somewhere and the liquid content soaked away. Eventually sediment from the process will require removal (6 years? Great system!)

A cess pit is just a collection tank which requires emptying as it fills. Often usually. And what most are in Thailand. Which means that covering the top in soil only annoys the operator of the perfume wagon !

eventually a properly designed septic system will never during a one generation life period require emptying any solid sediment built-up.

my first home in the U.S. (Florida) was built in 1989 (26 years ago), the second one in 1993 (22 years ago). both are three-chamber septic systems with big drainfields and until today the tanks were never pumped.

my home in Thailand is occupied since 9 years, equipped with two systems (each for two bathrooms and guest toilets). the usual 2-chamber black PVC tank from where the liquid flows from where it is pumped to a drainfield.

there is also no need to add any dead soi dog / cat / starter kit bacteria as human shit contains all necessary "ingredients" to get a septic system going and lets mother nature do a perfect job

p.s. cesspits or "elCheapo Thai septic systems" belong to the worst environmental polluters of groundwater and their owners are pennywise, pound foolish!

Edited July 12, 2015 by Naam

[carlyai]

What you should have had installed is a septic tank and a soak away. A septic tank is about three foot high, oval in shape and black in colour, it also has an outlet pipe. This should be completely sunk in the ground, next to the soak away. The soak away normally consists of three concrete rings (which is unsealed at the bottom) also sunk completely in the ground, with a breather pipe. The waste from the toilets, sinks and showers should first flow into the septic tank, which should have microbes in the tank to liquidize feces. Once the fluid level in the septic tank reaches the outlet pipe of the septic tank, it will then overflow via a connecting pipe to the soak away, which will then......yup you've guessed, soak away. It is important that you do not allow toilet tissues, sanitary wear or food to be flushed down your toilets because these will not liquidize (hence you see notices in many pubs, restaurants etc saying, "no tissues in toilet") and can block the outlet from the septic tank, which will then need to be sucked out. Advice - start again and have it done properly and it will last you for years. We have eight houses and in ten years have never had to have them sucked out. Good luck.

This is what we installed, but the water from the showers, bath and kitchen (after going thru a kitchen waste trap), go straight to the soak tanks.

The soak tanks has been sealed and I have a submersible pumps to pump the grey water away.

We thought the smell was coming from the septic tanks/cess pits pipes, so we raised them above the roof lining, but the smell continued.

When I checked not all the p-traps on house water outlets had been installed, and the flanges on the toilets had not been installed.

When we fixed these problem the smells disappeared.

From another thread on this, you can get degradable toilet paper. If I remember you test by putting the toilet paper in water and see if it breaks up. You then only use the toilet paper that breaks up.

[jacko45k]

Not sure why you need the blue plastic pipe, non of my tanks at the house have that.

In my ignorance I am unsure to say what follows.... but here goes

Cover the top of the tank with soil and trim the pipe back to the soil level and fit a removable cap to it.

Mine have these white plastic (brass is common too) screw in covers that are cemented to the concrete top of the tank, (Thai way, I am sure a few screws and plugs and a rubber seal would be better) and that is how you get into them for pumping out.

[Keesters]

FYI: that's not a septic tank. It's a cesspit. You will need to have it pumped out periodically. If it functions normally, after a while you really won't need the pipe but do try to prevent rain water seeping in as that will make the pump-outs even more frequent. And don't cover the lid or cement it in as that will need to come off for the pumping.

I have two tanks similar to what the OP describes. They are 30 years old and have NEVER been emptied.

I use:

once every 2 months. Great stuff. Sorry about pic quality.

[louse1953]

That's great,

how high does the pipe have to be from the hieght of the

lid of the septic tank.

Above your nose.

[F4UCorsair]

Maybe some kind of a filter on the end of the pipe wouldn't go amis.

What do they do in Farangland.

I've never seen a pipe coming out of a septic tank at home.

The 'breather/vent' doesn't usually come from the tank. It's generally tapped into the waste pipe put at the furtherest, and highest, point from the tank. Any build up of methane along the line finds its way to the highest point (the waste pipe has a fall along its length) and goes up the pipe. The vent is usually above the roof.

The bacteria will generate naturally, no need to kill a soi dog and throw it in.

Edited July 13, 2015 by F4UCorsair

[Jonathon]

If anyone still has (and I expect many do) the usual Thai style cesspit constucted of unjointed, poor quality concrete rings then you would be well advised to get rid of it. Cesspits should be selated to prevent their contents leaching directly into the ground and possibly polluting nearby water supplies. I have often seen them far too close to a well or borehole. Any high level overflow should be piped to a discharge point where it will not pose such risk and in most village situations that will difficult.

The plastic tanks might be OK, but be sure to check the capacity of them as my experience with one elsewhere suggests that a single one of the size pictured above is not sufficient for a family. The manufacturer should have data, but I would cross check with a European or US manufacturers data.

Of course there are no regulations enforced upcountry and, much as I dislike government interference in my life, public health matters need to be enforced. In all aspects of construction don't rely on the advice of the local 'tradesman', he might have been doing the job for 40 years but here that does not mean that he has been doing it right.

Never mind the usual excuse of TIT, proper construction and public health matters should apply the world over.

[slick1]

There is no way that this tank will be cleaned out by a "Rot Kee',those trucks that come

and suck the contents out.

The site is too rural and on a slope.

God only knows how they would clean it out if it was needed.

get a hose and suck on it...siphon....