Another Septic Question

[MomOfToo]

If the leach fields are going to be placed on a higher ground than the tank, a pump needs to be used, correct? Do these pumps have a high failure rate? How long do these pumps cost? Do you know if the septic company that installs the system, do they offer any kind of warranty??

[LazyPup]

The Plumbing codes demand that whenever sewage must be pumped it must be pumped by means of an approved "Sewage Ejection Pump" and the pump must be contained in an approved "air tight"sewage ejection pump vessel".

The containment vessel must be equipped with an air tight cover. The cover must have an air tight removable access panel to permit servicing the pump, and the vessel must have a separate vent to atmosphere.

The size of the pump will be determined by your local code and in some jurisdictions the pump must be equipped with a visual or audible alarm in the event that the pump fails.

Basically a sewage ejection pump is a submersible pump very similar to a sump pump however the pumps used for sewage ejection are generally an industrial quality pump that has a much longer service life than what might be expected of a typical sump pump.

There are two types of sewage ejection pumps, those with or without a "macerator". A macerator is a grinder that basically works the same way as a garbage disposal. For a normal sewage ejection system where raw sewage containing solid particulates is received in the containment vessel from toilets I would highly recommend the macerator type, but in this instance the pump will be receiving pure liquid waste from the discharge side of the septic tank so a macerator should not be required.

You could run a search online for "Sewage Ejectors" to get a rough idea of the current prices. Off the top of my head I would expect that a complete sewage ejection system, including the pump, receiver vessel and necessary control system will run about $3k + installation.

[MomOfToo]

Thank you LazyPup

Do you know the general lifespan of these pumps though? Are they known to fail? You say industrial quality so I am assuming that they don't burn out every year or so like an indoor pump would ie sump pump?

[LazyPup]

i would expect them to last 10 to 15 years or perhaps more

[MomOfToo]

Thank you soooo much-that is what I wanted to hear! Yippee!