Snoqvalley2013
New Member
Hello All - The picture above is from my septic tank outlet. I was recently trying to retrofit a riser on there and found it wasn't flush (pun unintended) on the septic tank lid area. Long and the short of it - after some "archaeology" I found that this area of the lid has suffered some abuse from repeated dropping of the concrete lid over the last 40 years. I suspect those two chunks of concrete (area circled in red) could be pulled out quite easily. Making matters more difficult the area parallel to and below the outlet pipe has suffered over the years from what I suspect is hydrogen sulfide corrosion being above water level. Its pretty corroded to the point where the area where the drain pipe comes through is basically open to the dirt. I suspect that area was patched in during installation with concrete to make the pipe fit in there snuggly.
Believe it or not, the tank was just pumped and inspected, but I guess dirt was covering up the extent of this issue. I was told to excavate back behind (see other pick) and patch in with layers of concrete (in orange circled area). That may help with the deterioration near the outlet, but not the structure of those chunks as they may still be "floating". I was considering pouring reinforced concrete back in that orange circled area, but wanted to get more educated input before something so permanent.
1. Is this something one could expect a septic tank servicing company would even try to fix? I mean its gonna be difficult to get a good "purchase" with the concrete/cement since so much of it has been compromised in that area.
2. Would pouring a sufficient amount of concrete back in that orange circled area be adequate, what more could be done?
3. My hope is that since this deterioration is above the water line and thus the tank is not leaking it may be workable?
4. Since that tank is 40 years old it may be time to replace it, but in my area and given the location of the tank and the fact its gravity fed, it will be devastatingly expensive (probably 10-50K) - if I can get our beloved county to work with me for permitting, etc.
