Charles Hunt wrote:For information, a cess pit is simply a storage chamber with no allowance for discharge. Once it's full you have to pump everything out.
A septic tank generally has two compartments. In the first a degree of natural biodegradation of the waste occurs (and this is why you shouldn't use bleach etc with a septic tank as you can kill off the biological activity) in the second any solids are intended to settle out, so hopefully a somewhat cleaner effluent flows out than flowed in.
The sludgy solids will need to pumped/sucked out periodically.
This was my understanding, but has always led to confusion here. Our system - certainly predates 1984, and probably
much older than that consists of one tank (circular, brick lined, diameter ~5', depth ~8') with a "T" pipe coming in, and another "T" pipe going out ... with a 4" perforated pipe going off out in to the wilderness. Would this therefore be a single tank septic tank?
PS Before the tree huggers (are we allowed to use those words any more?) start leaping around, the system benefits from Grandfather Rights AFAIAC ...