Oh dear the septic tank has gone bang for xmas!

[possum]

here I am sat waiting for the repair guy. It is xmas eve (In NZ) and we live 20 miles from the nearest town. It is going to cost......
Apparently you are meant to get them emptied out every 3 years. We have been here three years and not had it emptied and talking to the previous owner it was done three years before that. But worse than that the pump has broken, blew the fuses in the house and stopped the water supply (private well with electric pump)
We have a small B&B and of course booked out over xmas.

hmmm
How many trees can we "fertilise" in the next few days?"

Any ideas for a quick and easy composting toilet?

[Milims]

Oh dear - looks like you've well and truly been wished a Smelly Christmas! Hope it's fixed soon!

[gdb]

Possum,

That's bad news. And just before Xmas.

Hope it's repaired soon - and that it doesnt cost too much.

All I can suggest in the meantime is a spade and a nice bit of woodland.....

[Millymollymandy]

the downside - it's smellier when it happens in summer
the upside - at least you won't freeze your butt off when going 'behind a bush' like we would at Xmas!

Hope it gets fixed soon!

We got ours emptied soon after buying the house so that we'd know for sure when it was last done.

[Annpan]

We had a similar situation in June this year.... It had been about 7 years since the tank had been emptied.

We used an old nappy pail (tight fitting lid ) to go in the house then dug a hole under a tree and buried it.

Building a compost toilet is on my 'to-do' list now, in case it happens again.

[Green Aura]

What a shitty thing to happen (I'll get my coat.....)

We have a village septic tank, which thankfully the Council comes and empties. Imagine if that burst

Hope you get it sorted in a timely fashion.

[possum]

tank is now working again (the pump, pumps the grey water into the soakaway so that the tank doesn't flood)
a guy came and emptied the tank and said our pump was broken and that it would take a few days especially over xmas to get a new one (erm, hang on we got you out here to fix the pump, not to empty the tank).
Anyway not being chuffed I rang the company and complained, if they couldn't fix the pump they should have said and we could have rung around and found someone else). Well the owner of the company decided to come out with a new pump (good on him) . Of course he got lost, but we saw him driving past the house and OH chased after him in the ute.
So pump gets changed and all is well.
Well, until the truck goes to leave. We are on shingle with a very small layer of soil on top. So very soon we have a sewage fill truck burried up to its axels, going no where. Several attempts with carpet, buts of wood under the wheels and it is still there. It is now about 8pm xmas eve. A frantic call to the neighbours asking to borrow their tractor(ours is only 20bhp and never going to move a truck). The neighbour comes and promptly digs the tractors wheels in trying to pull the truck out.
So..... the sewage gets emptied back into the tank in order to reduce the weight. Truck then successfully pulled out by the tractor. Long hose connected to the truck, tank emptied out for the second time that day snd truck pulled off completely by the tractor. So 9.30pm on xmas eve everyone gets to go home.
talk about a drama!

Now seriously considering a composting toilet solution.

[Annpan]

Goodness, what a day.

Hope you have a glass of something strong now, and your feet up.

[possum]

well we are laughing now. i just feel sorry for the guy who was sent originally as it would be another hour for him to get home. I just hope he gets paid overtime.
Also the holes that the truck dug with its wheels happened to be in the perfect place - we were going to put a couple of posts in, so it saved a lot of work - well waste not want not, including holes I say.

[homegrown]

OH dear Possum hwat a crap christmas eve, I have heard a pusshing shit up hill before but not pulling it with a tractor, oh well as they say in New zealand "Shit happens"

[Millymollymandy]

You won't forget this Xmas in a hurry! Really glad it all got sorted in the end but that's quite a story!