I have a cottage in Northern Michigan built circa 1945. When we had to move the cottage back from the bluff it was placed directly over the septic system.
When we had it pumped the guy said they were "Schimpke tanks". I'm not sure of the spelling. They are two round, concrete tanks about four feet across and four to five feet deep, connected by about a 4" opening at the top. The second tank had become so full of fine roots he wouldn't try pumping it as he was afraid it would clog his unit. The small opening between the two tanks had become plugged, hence the need for pumping I guess.As I recall the second tank had a similar 4" opening toward the top that headed out to the drainfield. Haven't had any trouble since but we are VERY careful about overusing the system. We had one toilet and two sinks emptying into it and that's it. We don't flush on every use and we have our shower drain into a hand dug rock pit in the sand.
Has anyone ever heard of this type of system?
When we had it pumped the guy said they were "Schimpke tanks". I'm not sure of the spelling. They are two round, concrete tanks about four feet across and four to five feet deep, connected by about a 4" opening at the top. The second tank had become so full of fine roots he wouldn't try pumping it as he was afraid it would clog his unit. The small opening between the two tanks had become plugged, hence the need for pumping I guess.As I recall the second tank had a similar 4" opening toward the top that headed out to the drainfield. Haven't had any trouble since but we are VERY careful about overusing the system. We had one toilet and two sinks emptying into it and that's it. We don't flush on every use and we have our shower drain into a hand dug rock pit in the sand.
Has anyone ever heard of this type of system?