So, there I was, enjoying laying in my hammock Thursday early evening, when I notice this annoying buzzing sound...
I figured it must be a neighbor's noisy air conditioner and didn't pay it much heed.
When I went into the house some time later, I noticed that the noise seemed louder in the house than it was outside. I walked around the house and it was loudest in our bathroom. I looked around, but there was nothing that was making this sort of noise in the bathroom. I then decided to walk around the house to investigate further. Upon just a bit of investigation, I discovered that the source of the noise was our septic alarm.
Now, before I go any further, I need to provide some background information...
We have what is called a "Dozed Septic System." What this means is that instead of the "normal" system which comprises a buried septic tank (usually around 1000 gallons) and a network of leach or drain pipes which fan out from the tank, our system incorporates two tanks and some additional "stuff." The primary tank is 900 gallons, and is fully buried. However, where a normal system sits totally under the prevailing ground level, we have a large "mound" that sits about three feet above the surrounding ground level. This mound is approximately 30 x 15 feet, and under the mound is a 300 gallon dozing tank and the pipes for the drain field. Effluent is pumped from the main tank to the dozing tank, where it then leaches out into the drain field.
Fortunately, I was able to find the "silence" button, so at least I was able to stop the thoroughly annoying alarm noise. Unfortunately, I didn't have a clue what the alarm was trying to warn me of. So, off I went to Google. The gist of what I was able to find seemed to indicate that the septic pump had failed, thus causing the level of water in the main tank to rise above its normal level, thus triggering the alarm. From what I could gather from my reading, within a day or two, we would end up with the septic system backing up into the house if we didn't resolve the problem.
Even though our phone book is only half an inch thick, there are over a half-dozen septic companies in the yellow pages, so I figured getting one to come diagnose / fix the issue would be no problem. In addition, we did have the name of the company - Brewer Septic - that had performed the pre-purchase septic inspection. The system had been inspected only a month ago, and the inspection report indicated that the pump had been replaced about a year ago, so I figured that calling that company would be the best option. Well, out of all of the companies we called, all but one forced us to leave a message. The one company that actually answered the phone - Acme Septic - basically told us that they would be happy to come replace the pump - period. The Acme guy basically told Jeanie that even without looking, he knew that the problem was a bad pump. That seemed strange considering my research indicated that the pump should last anywhere between three and ten years. After numerous calls, Jeanie was finally able to get a person at Brewer on the phone who told her that they would try to get someone to our house by the end of the day.
Well, no one ever showed up from Brewer, no one called. We really wanted Brewer to come, since they had done the inspection and pump replacement, and we were hoping that the pump might still be under warranty. But, we didn't want sewage backing up into our house! On Saturday, I thought that I remembered seeing the cell phone number for the owner on the inspection letter, and after checking, we found that it was indeed there. Jeanie called the number and reached the owner, who took no time informing her that he was on the beach in Georgia fishing with his sons - "it is Father's Day Weekend, you know" he told Jeanie. "Yes, I realize that, and we'd like to be able to spend the weekend with my father too, but we have this septic tank alarm that keeps going off and no one ever showed up from your company."
Oh, did I forget to mention that the silence button apparently only works for a while, and that the alarm had starting wailing a number of times after I initially hit the silence button, the last time being at 4:00 AM the night before?
Well, long story short, the owner said he'd see what he could do, and he called back within thirty minutes to let us know he had someone on the way.
Within another thirty minutes or so, Johnny and a helper drove up in their truck. After removing the large, heaving cement tank cover, Johnny diagnosed that the problem wasn't the pump, but simply that the alarm sensor (which looks like a coffee can covered in black rubber, with an electrical cord coming out of one end) had "come lose" and was floating in the effluent, thus causing the alarm. Johnny pulled the sensor out of the water by pulling on the cord and secured the cord to some plastic piping with three plastic wire ties, suspending the sensor above the water but below the inlet pipe. Problem solved.
Strangely, none of the pages I found on the web from my searches offered any other possible cause for the alarm going off other than a failed pump. Lucky for us, it appears that there is a simpler and cheaper alternative explanation.
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Posted by David at June 20, 2005 12:55 PM | Categorized under: A day in the life