WayOutWest
New Member
Hi, I need to figure out the exact path of the ~125-foot transport pipe running from my septic system pump to the mound. Is there a trick for doing this?
Sadly there are no as-builts, the engineer who designed the system in 2007 is deceased, and the drawings are pretty vague about the transport pipe. The drawn path is only approximate and it appears that the pipe runs to the other end of the mound (installer may have rotated the mound 180 degrees). I dug carefully by hand around the pump chamber and found where the pipe emerges, but I can't hand-dig like this the entire length of the pipe -- it would take me days to do that. And I can't use machinery because I don't know where the pipe is.
Unfortunately I need to put a gravel driveway perpendicularly over some segment of the transport pipe. I know this isn't ideal, but otherwise I have no vehicle access to 70% of my property. I have no idea what the original owner was thinking, I guess he thought that land was just for hunting or something. He didn't even bother to replant after it was logged! The county strongly advises that I "double sleeve" the part of the transport pipe over which the gravel driveway will pass. I'm waiting for them to provide more specific requirements regarding the sleeving. Any suggestions here would be very welcome. It looks like this will require cutting the pipe in order to add the sleeve... if there's any alternative (even if it costs more) that would avoid that I would really appreciate it, because cutting the transport pipe almost certainly means re-permitting the entire system, and the inspectors are backlogged like you wouldn't believe.
Incidentally, if anybody can recommend a contractor for this job, I would be quite grateful. This is is Grays Harbor County, WA, near Humptulips. Everybody I've called so far says either (a) they don't do anything related to septic or (b) they only do large commercial stuff, no residential. Obviously I am calling the wrong people.
Many thanks,
Sadly there are no as-builts, the engineer who designed the system in 2007 is deceased, and the drawings are pretty vague about the transport pipe. The drawn path is only approximate and it appears that the pipe runs to the other end of the mound (installer may have rotated the mound 180 degrees). I dug carefully by hand around the pump chamber and found where the pipe emerges, but I can't hand-dig like this the entire length of the pipe -- it would take me days to do that. And I can't use machinery because I don't know where the pipe is.
Unfortunately I need to put a gravel driveway perpendicularly over some segment of the transport pipe. I know this isn't ideal, but otherwise I have no vehicle access to 70% of my property. I have no idea what the original owner was thinking, I guess he thought that land was just for hunting or something. He didn't even bother to replant after it was logged! The county strongly advises that I "double sleeve" the part of the transport pipe over which the gravel driveway will pass. I'm waiting for them to provide more specific requirements regarding the sleeving. Any suggestions here would be very welcome. It looks like this will require cutting the pipe in order to add the sleeve... if there's any alternative (even if it costs more) that would avoid that I would really appreciate it, because cutting the transport pipe almost certainly means re-permitting the entire system, and the inspectors are backlogged like you wouldn't believe.
Incidentally, if anybody can recommend a contractor for this job, I would be quite grateful. This is is Grays Harbor County, WA, near Humptulips. Everybody I've called so far says either (a) they don't do anything related to septic or (b) they only do large commercial stuff, no residential. Obviously I am calling the wrong people.
Many thanks,
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