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#1783644
No idea on the chemicals.

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.
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1783668
We’ve never treated ours. We have it emptied every 2 or 3 years. It’s unusual in that the effluent flows into a tank and is then pumped up into drainage network under the lawn.

I shall be very interested to learn more about treatments if any experience turns up.
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#1783669
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 ...
#1783671
Don’t put cooking fat down the kitchen waste as a fatberg will bung up the system. As for emptying - I do mine every 2 years on contract with the local council (cheaper than a one off irregular clear out). Avoid putting wet wipes down the tubes too as they do not degrade.
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By seanxair
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1783683
We have ours emptied every two years when it is just about 85% full. That rotation works well and is inexpensive in the scheme of things.

When I was a child we used to flush a dead rat or two down the khazi which would then rot and encourage the biological breakdown of the other contents of the tank. That is what we believed anyway.
#1783768
Possibly.

Although 20+ years ago getting a new waste water treatment plant for 250,000 up and running for Puerto Vallarta in Mexico we did buy some stuff that was said to get the biological systems up and running more quickly.

Everything worked fine, but of course there was no control experiment for with/without comparison.
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