Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Country Living 101: Country Plumbing

What the hell is a septic tank and aren't there city officials that take care of the underground plumbing when there is a problem? 
Oh, riiight
We aren't in the city and we have a septic system. ::sigh::
Over the holiday weekend the bathroom saw a little too much action. The septic tank clogged. For my friends in the city that don't know what a septic tank is, it is an underground holding tank for waste which is broken down by naturally occurring bacteria, destroying the pathogens aka 'crap'. Literally. 

J and our brother-in-law went out to try and "un-clog" the clog. I asked the stupid question, "Do you need any help?" What the heck was I thinking?! Out I go, to hold the flashlight as they stick a long hose up the pipe. Did I mention it's cold, dark and snowing? I walk out to the tank and not knowing what I was looking at, I thought...how is that mud not covered by snow? Well, it wasn't mud and I was looking at the inside of the septic tank. My brother-in-law opened the tank and was stepping over the opening of the tank jamming hose up the pipe. I just kept thinking to myself "please don't fall in, please don't fall in and if you do please do it when I'm back inside." Then I was thinking of a clever way to help get out of helping. I just couldn't stand to look. 

After about thirty minutes of 'helping' I went inside and kept envisioning one of the guys falling into the 'mud'. Three hours later it was decided that they will call a septic tank professional in the morning. 


$100 dollars later, turns out it was hair and toilet paper that clogged the system. 
So, what have I learned from this experience? Many things, but one is NEVER ask to help when the situation is an unfamiliar one or involves a toilet. 


By the way the septic tank "professional" says he clears $100,000 a year. After I thought about what he did all day, every day I had no problem believing it. He deserves every penny.

4 comments:

Debbie Candelaria said...

OMGoodness! That's no fun. That guy definitely does have a "crappy" job. Do you think it's worth $100,000 a year? YIKES!!

Darryl Iorio said...

Experts just really deserve every penny they get from doing the job. Actually, there are times that their work is even worse than this. They are one of those hardworking men that we really need to look up to. Well, you saw what the plumber did to fix the problem on your toilet. You can say that it wasn't an easy work.

Darryl Iorio@Milani.ca

Unknown said...

I agree that they are really worth the penny that you paid for the job. Handling the septic system is not an easy task. You would definitely need an experienced plumber to get the job done properly. And it looks like he did just that.

Lavern Knight @ Midland Mechanical Inc.

Unknown said...

It must've been frustrating that hair strands and toilet paper clogs had cost you a hundred dollar. Oh well, working on septic tanks isn’t easy. To avoid such expense, perhaps you could learn the basic plumbing yourself, such as unclogging drains and some underground plumbing. Anyway, I hope that’s the last plumbing-related fiasco you’ve got to deal with.

Lovella Cushman @ Perfection Plumbing