Septic Riser to Grade

[weee123]

So I just dug out the lid to my 1000 gallon concrete septic tank and was curious about putting a riser in it to get it up to grade, so the next time I get it pumped I don’t have to dig.

It’s only 10” down, but I was curious if installing a riser to grade was a good idea so next time I wouldn’t have to dig. It’s also a plastic lid already so would I be able to just bolt the riser to that?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I’d keep it below grade personally. It doesn’t have to be 10” down though. Hitting it with a lawnmower or tripping over it doesn’t seem like fun.


A campsite we belong to used tuf tite brand risers, but I’m sure any would do. They have a number of different heights available to sneak up on the depth or elevation you want.

 

[weee123]

I was thinking along the lines of keeping it flush with grade so it wouldn’t protrude and cause a tripping hazard or get in the way mowing.

I did read some people suggested keeping it below grade because of freezing concerns, but I doubt it’ll ever get cold enough here for that to be an issue.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I don’t think an active system would freeze. Between the heat from bacteria, and ground heat from below the frost line, I think you’re safe.

 

[stoveliker]

Just take a hot shower...
When it snows here I have a round gap in the snow cover of the walkway to the front door. I never had to search for the sceptic system...

 

[weee123]

Those are both fair points and what I was thinking. I did map out where my lid is, so if I decide not to get the riser I won’t have to search for it next time which is honestly what took the most time. Having to dig it up every 3-5 years really isn’t that much of a hassle knowing exactly where it is now.

 

[stoveliker]

A friend put a 8" (boulder) rock right where his lid is in the lawn, with the top just at the surface. Visible, no sharp edges, no tripping hazard. Easy to find.

 

[zrock]

tank will never freeze with the riser above grade.. When i installed tanks i would keep the lid 1 inch below the surface so it would have grass over top and have a clean look.. THen you can just go around the edge with the shovel and pull the whole setting of grass up and pump easily.. Personally i hate seeing tank lids in a yard

 

[begreen]

So I just dug out the lid to my 1000 gallon concrete septic tank and was curious about putting a riser in it to get it up to grade, so the next time I get it pumped I don’t have to dig.

It’s only 10” down, but I was curious if installing a riser to grade was a good idea so next time I wouldn’t have to dig. It’s also a plastic lid already so would I be able to just bolt the riser to that?

I did this a few years ago. It was a straight-forward process of cementing the riser to the tank. Let it sit and set up, then secure the lid. I wanted a heavy duty one so I got ours from a septic vault supplier that specializes in these parts. Ours is finished flush with the ground. There's been no problem with mowing and I appreciated not having to dig for the last pumpout.

 

[johneh]

When we installed the new system many years ago we installed a pressure-treated riser
on both tank covers. One reason is the filter which I like to clean once a year the other
It is a whole lot easier to lift a cover than dig 18 inches of dirt off them every 4 years
They look good and are not a trip hazard and the lawn tractor clears them without a problem
Even here in eastern Ontario, the tank has never frozen but then a properly working system should not freeze

 

[peakbagger]

Pretty rare for a tank to freeze if it has got some cover on it. Drain fields do freeze on occasion. The usual location is that the laterals have settled or enough debris have built up so that there can be standing water. One thing to keep in mind in areas that can be extremely cold is to avoid snow removal or packing the snow down over the field. Some folks like to build ice rinks on top of leach fields as they are nice and flat but it is a dumb idea. I knew someone with horses and she decided to pen up the horses on top of the field one winter in northern vermont. The horses kept the snow packed down and the field froze up.

Systems where the leach field is above the low point of the house with dosing pumps also can have freezing issues. The dose pumps have check valve on the force main to the field, if the force main is not buried deeply enough or top insulated it too can freeze.

 

[zrock]

Systems where the leach field is above the low point of the house with dosing pumps also can have freezing issues. The dose pumps have check valve on the force main to the field, if the force main is not buried deeply enough or top insulated it too can freeze.

Anything with a pump on it is suppose to have a drain hole in it so when the pump shuts off the water can drain back and not leave anything in the lines..

 

[EatenByLimestone]

It never occurred to me a leach field could freeze up., what does one do then? A 1000 gallon tank would fill with water pretty fast. It’d get expensive pumping it out. Do you rent a portolet, apologize to the wife and join a gym for showers until thaw?

 

[peakbagger]

Yes I agree that a force main should have a drain back. I was aware of brand new system in VT a few years back where that was not enough or solids had blocked the field. The new homeowner was naive and wouldnt admit it, she got conned into a pumped system with the field 1100 feet away, installed by contractors that could care less. The line froze a few months after the house got built during the first cold stretch. My guess is the terrain was rolling and they just installed it with a low spot and so drainback did not empty the line. She called the firm that installed it to come fix it and the response was she had to pay to have the pump pit cleaned and sanitized before they would even show up.

The solution was simple if not very sanitary, the pump pit just overflowed into a field for the rest of the winter. It wasnt the only issue with the house but she was too proud to admit that she didnt know what she was doing but got conned by contractors that may be good drinking buddies but lousy contractors. It happens all the time in rural VT, there really are no building inspectors and if a contractor gets in trouble they just go out of business and start up a new company. The good ones are always busy, but there are always plenty of folks moving into the area who are ripe for the picking.

In the case of the horses, it was the same thing, raw sewerage running into a field into a ditch and eventually a stream for the rest of the winter until the field thawed out.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Spring thaw would stink pretty bad for a month. I’d spread lime.

 

[peakbagger]

Spring rains usually flush it right out into the downhill neighbors lot

Of course, the amount of crap going into the environment from dairy farm management (or lack thereof) practices in rural vermont is several orders of magnitude worse. https://vtdigger.org/2024/05/24/ver...upreme Court has,land and into Lake Champlain.

Lots of rural farm areas where the nitrate loading in the groundwater is unsafe. Lake Champlain has several areas with toxic blooms from non point diary runoff.

 

[weee123]

Decided to just rebury the lid especially now that I have the exact location mapped out for next time.

When you guys get your septic pumped does it smell inside for a few days until the tank fills back up? The last time it was pumped was 4 years ago when the previous owner had it inspected before I moved in so I don’t know if it smelled then as well.

 

[stoveliker]

That (smell) didn't happen here the one time I had it pumped.
I guess the level of liquids in your system was higher than the pipe that enters it and it may have sucked some of the p-traps dry.

Next time flush all toilets, run all sinks and baths/shower as soon as possible after pumping to fill them up again. That should prevent any smell just as they do normally.

 

[johneh]

If your traps are full of water you should not get any smell.
We have our tank pumped every 3 years so at bare min
15 pumps and no smell ever. Been here 45 years and
replaced the system once

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The traps stop the sewer gas. There shouldn’t be any smell. Some older style traps could empty via suction. If this is an issue, new, vented traps will solve this.

 

[weee123]

I think it was the trap on my washer that got drained because the smell only came in my mechanical room. The a/c then blew the smell around the house. After I did my laundry sunday the smell stopped.

 

[peakbagger]

There is also a device called a trap vent that works like a check valve to skip the need to tie the vent into the house vent. Not sure if they are code compliant but was a shortcut for plumbing installs in difficult locations like islands. When they fail, they can be source of sewer odor and many were installed with no access to check them.

 

[semipro]

I'm late to the thread here but I did install a riser some years ago when I also installed a drainfield filter.
The easy access via the riser was planned to allow filter cleaning about once a year. We've also found it useful for disposing of dog waste. With 4 dogs the yard can be a minefield.

Septic Tank Outlet Filter Installation

I've mentioned several times in other threads that I installed a filter between my septic tank and drain field. I thought I'd follow up with more info. I initially installed a strainer on the outlet of our clothes washer after reading that the synthetic fibers from clothes could clog a septic...

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