New washer and dryer. Wow on the energy savings!

[semipro]

What is that and hows it work?

Its a filter system that is installed in place of the outlet tee in a septic tank. It filters the liquid that goes to your septic field. You pull out the filter cartridge periodically and wash it off with a hose. On the model we installed, a ball in the bottom acts as a floating valve that prevents flow to the field when the filter cartridge is removed.

When we last had our tank pumped the guy doing the work sawed off the old tee and I was able to install the filter without getting into the tank. I installed a riser and removable lid for easy access.

http://polylok.com/?q=catalog/product/PL-122 Effluent Filter

 

[Highbeam]

Called a septic tank effluent filter. They’re now required in my area. I have one but it’s not as advanced as the one semipro describes. For instance, no ball to seal the outlet when I pulll the filter for cleaning.

I would like to upgrade this but my 55 year old tank only has the small access port over the outlet.

 

[begreen]

We're in the same situation. I don't know the age of our tank, but it is old. SemiPro, how often does the effluent filter need cleaning?

 

[semipro]

We're in the same situation. I don't know the age of our tank, but it is old. SemiPro, how often does the effluent filter need cleaning?

It depends of course.
Based on what I've seen so far, yearly at most. The filter has quite a bit of surface area.
I do wish I had some sort of alarm that would let me know if it clogs and the tank backs up before the backup reaches the house.
Below is the view of the access hatch to our tank outlet. It sounds like those on other tanks must be much smaller.

 

[Highbeam]

Common septic tanks in my area from the 60s were 1000 gallons, no divider, one manhole in the middle, and two 6” round access lids. One over the inlet and one over the outlet.

 

[Brian26]

Turns out the electric savings is nowhere near as impressive as the water savings. My water bill has been almost dead on the same amount the last 5 years we have been in this house. It was about $50 less than previous bills. I am looking to save around $150 a year on water alone.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

That sounds like a win!

 

[begreen]

Common septic tanks in my area from the 60s were 1000 gallons, no divider, one manhole in the middle, and two 6” round access lids. One over the inlet and one over the outlet.

That sounds like what we have. Not sure if it is 1000 or 750 gallon.

 

[Highbeam]

That sounds like what we have. Not sure if it is 1000 or 750 gallon.

Bigger is better on these.

 

[begreen]

Bigger is better on these.

For sure, our system is old. I have thought of putting in a 750 gal second tank before the distribution box.

 

[Highbeam]

For sure, our system is old. I have thought of putting in a 750 gal second tank before the distribution box.

Since a septic tank works on residence time with settling (and floating) velocity of the particles being the determining factors of efficiency, two 750 gallon tanks would be no better than one 750 gallon tank. This is because if there wasn’t time for the stuff to settle out in the first tank then it won’t happen in tank #2. One 1500 gallon tank would double the residence time and allow significantly more settling to occur.

 

[begreen]

Interesting. I was just talking with a friend today about this. They have a two tank system. About a year after they had moved into their current home I asked if they had pumped the system. They had not and found out from the prior owners that they had never pumped the system since new, 20 yrs prior! The first tank was almost 90% full of sediments. The pumper fully expected the second tank to be the same, but there was hardly any sediments in it. Go figure. Maybe this is because it was designed for 4 person occupancy and only 2 person have lived in this house?

 

[Highbeam]

Interesting. I was just talking with a friend today about this. They have a two tank system. About a year after they had moved into their current home I asked if they had pumped the system. They had not and found out from the prior owners that they had never pumped the system since new, 20 yrs prior! The first tank was almost 90% full of sediments. The pumper fully expected the second tank to be the same, but there was hardly any sediments in it. Go figure. Maybe this is because it was designed for 4 person occupancy and only 2 person have lived in this house?

So if the first tank was a 750 or 1000 then it makes sense it would have done 90% of the job. After all, that is the size of tank most single tanks have because it offers enough residence time for sufficient settling to occur all by itself.

That’s why the second tank wasn’t doing anything and why I wouldn’t recommend you add a second 750.

If you were really good you could plumb the two tanks in parallel and gain efficiency.

 

[begreen]

Good to know. So far we are on a 5yr pump out schedule and each time we've been told the tank is healthy and to keep doing what we're doing.

 

[Highbeam]

Some people swear that you never need it done! You do, some things don’t decompose. Our county requires pumping every three years but 5 years plus a history of good reports after several 5 year cycles seems like plenty.

We’re on 7 years right now. We’ll do it by 10.

 

[venator260]

This is an interesting read. My wife and I had to redo our septic system last summer (so current pa code) and we have a 1000 gallon tank, but with two chambers. Wouldn't this effectively make it 2 500 gallon tanks, and therefore make it less useful than without a baffle?

 

[Highbeam]

This is an interesting read. My wife and I had to redo our septic system last summer (so current pa code) and we have a 1000 gallon tank, but with two chambers. Wouldn't this effectively make it 2 500 gallon tanks, and therefore make it less useful than without a baffle?

Yes! Baffles are stupid! I had university professors that were extremely upset that the divider was being required. It demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of septic tank function.

I’m a civil engineer and sewage is our bread and butter. I took some specialty classes in onsite sewage disposal. It’s pretty cool stuff.

 

[venator260]

Yes! Baffles are stupid! I had university professors that were extremely upset that the divider was being required. It demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of septic tank function.

I’m a civil engineer and sewage is our bread and butter. I took some specialty classes in onsite sewage disposal. It’s pretty cool stuff.

I thought that would be the case. I would say that it would do better than the old 250 gallon tank from the 50's, but since it was an all new system and all up to code, all the sewage goes to the tank now, not just from the bathrooms. So I have a larger tank with at least twice the flow.

 

[blades]

We have that same pasture paddy rules on grey water here as well. Wish I knew what .015625 watt brain power engineer came up with that. We also have the pump every 3 years rule , good/ bad/ indifferent I do not know. Ain't no expert but some of the rules are way out in left field.

 

[maple1]

Some people swear that you never need it done! You do, some things don’t decompose. Our county requires pumping every three years but 5 years plus a history of good reports after several 5 year cycles seems like plenty.

We’re on 7 years right now. We’ll do it by 10.

I finally had ours pumped a couple years ago, after procrastinating severely since we built the place - and I know better, since I also have to dabble with septic things now & again for work. I think it had been a year away from 20 years. And it was pretty full, the pumper earned his way that day. Field still doing OK, but suspect either we got lucky, or it is about ready to bung up.

The thing that really grabbed me was all the baby wipes in the bottom. After raising 3 kids - that was a lot of wipes. Those things don't degrade at all, despite what the package might claim - they looked like the day they got flushed. Very ugly.

 

[Highbeam]

I finally had ours pumped a couple years ago, after procrastinating severely since we built the place - and I know better, since I also have to dabble with septic things now & again for work. I think it had been a year away from 20 years. And it was pretty full, the pumper earned his way that day. Field still doing OK, but suspect either we got lucky, or it is about ready to bung up.

The thing that really grabbed me was all the baby wipes in the bottom. After raising 3 kids - that was a lot of wipes. Those things don't degrade at all, despite what the package might claim - they looked like the day they got flushed. Very ugly.

Wipes! The packaging now says “flushable” which they are but those dang things are horrible for sewer utilities and septic systems. In sewers they wrap around pump shafts and cause maintenance or spills.

Don’t flush wipes, woman things, etc.

 

[maple1]

Wipes! The packaging now says “flushable” which they are but those dang things are horrible for sewer utilities and septic systems. In sewers they wrap around pump shafts and cause maintenance or spills.

Don’t flush wipes, woman things, etc.

Yup.

One of those 'there otta be a law' things.

 

[JRHAWK9]

We just bought a new washer/drier set. Went for commercial quality and superior cleaning ability over -everything- else. All the service people I have talked to during my search told me to stay away from Samsung, LG, etc. Before the local mom & pop appliance store (where I bought mine from) started carrying Speed Queen they were receiving a call a day from angry customers because their new washer developed issues. At first they were a hard sell for him as they cost more and don't look the part. Over time though people have been coming in asking for them. Just as I did. The owner of this store gave his wife two choices when it came time to buy their new washer, both were Speed Queens. One was the manual controlled one and the other had an electric control panel. He didn't care which one she picked, but it wasn't going to be anything but a Speed Queen. Currently, you can't beat their quality and ability to clean clothes. Almost all washer's today are designed for a 5-7 year life. Speed Queen's are designed for 8 loads a laundry a week for 25 YEARS.

Here's what we bought, the AWN432 model. We have the manual control one with the rotary knobs. It's nothing to look at, but I buy things for a purpose, not to sit and look pretty. I'll leave that up to those selling in the big box stores, where you are paying for aesthetics more-so than quality. Another plus is I can fill the tub up to the top with water if I choose to do so and with a simple "tweak" can also open the lid without the washer stopping.

http://time.com/money/4688676/speed-queen-best-washing-machine-american-made/

http://mikestrejcek.com/best-non-high-efficiency-he-washing-machine-speed-queen

You can all have your HE washers, I have ZERO use for those things.

 

[WiscWoody]

We just bought a new washer/drier set. Went for commercial quality and superior cleaning ability over -everything- else. All the service people I have talked to during my search told me to stay away from Samsung, LG, etc. Before the local mom & pop appliance store (where I bought mine from) started carrying Speed Queen they were receiving a call a day from angry customers because their new washer developed issues. At first they were a hard sell for him as they cost more and don't look the part. Over time though people have been coming in asking for them. Just as I did. The owner of this store gave his wife two choices when it came time to buy their new washer, both were Speed Queens. One was the manual controlled one and the other had an electric control panel. He didn't care which one she picked, but it wasn't going to be anything but a Speed Queen. Currently, you can't beat their quality and ability to clean clothes. Almost all washer's today are designed for a 5-7 year life. Speed Queen's are designed for 8 loads a laundry a week for 25 YEARS.

Here's what we bought, the AWN432 model. We have the manual control one with the rotary knobs. It's nothing to look at, but I buy things for a purpose, not to sit and look pretty. I'll leave that up to those selling in the big box stores, where you are paying for aesthetics more-so than quality. Another plus is I can fill the tub up to the top with water if I choose to do so and with a simple "tweak" can also open the lid without the washer stopping.

http://time.com/money/4688676/speed-queen-best-washing-machine-american-made/

http://mikestrejcek.com/best-non-high-efficiency-he-washing-machine-speed-queen

You can all have your HE washers, I have ZERO use for those things.

Huh... that’s interesting. I’ve been thinking about getting a washer and dryer set sometime in the next 6 months or so. I’ve been going to the laundromat up here for 8myears now but it’s not so bad since it’s small town laundromat and it’s pretty nice actually. The problem I have is that I, like many up in this clay laden land have a 3,000 gallon septic holding tank that needs to be pumped out when it’s full so water efficiency is a must. I use dual flush water saving toilets and I don’t flush them every time they are used for example. But I could run a grey water pipe out the side of the house from the laundry room too. Another consideration is if I had a set that I could stack then I’d have room to put a nice laundry base cabinet in the mud room with a deep sink. Decisions decisions.....

Edit: from what I see the AWN432 is no longer available and the reviews I’ve seen on YouTube say the 2018 Speed Queen models have been drastically changed for the worse and some say not to buy them...?

 

[sloeffle]

If you are wanting a machine that is going to last a long time I'd check these machines out. They built about an hour away from my house.

http://www.staber.com/