I received a call yesterday from a shaken homeowner. He was walking across his driveway and a hole opened up beneath him, and he went straight down. He knew right away that he was not swimming in water. Now this is
where it get crazy. And until you go inside a septic tank, you’ll never understand. He grew super powers and flew out of that hole. I’ve done it myself, I was pumping an old tank once when the ground gave way beneath me and I was swallowed up by this tank, and I was chest deep in sewage. Now, I kid you not. I pulled myself up out of there, and day-lighted my feet coming out. That’s right. I flew out of there.
Anyhow, he got out safely. He’s okay. This doesn’t happen to often, but an 84 year old Portland, Or man was not as lucky. His tank collapsed beneath him and he lacked the strength to pull himself out. Hypothermia set in and he drowned.
This is just another reason why we perform these inspections on septic tanks. We are dealing acids here. When human waste is breaking down it creates a gas called Hydrogen Sulfide Gas. Then a bacteria moves in that feeds on this gas, and it’s byproduct is Sulfuric Acid. This is what eats away at these tanks, and causes parts to break inside of them, and eventually causes tank failure.
Now, I can already hear some of the comments. My tank is fine, I don’t need to have it looked at. But you only fall in once, and this guy was lucky. If you’re on septic, get an inspection. You don’t want to wonder where little Timmy just went. He was just in the backyard a few minutes ago.
