Sunday morning began like many other Sunday mornings, but all is not well. Dancer and the Mom were taking showers before church but the water was not running briskly down the drain as it might with a normally functioning septic system. The water instead was "starting to pile up". An unfortunate start to a busy day.
No time to investigate at the time, we needed to continue on to church to help set up a potluck. After returning home we looked closer for the cause. A quick check of various drains showed the septic system was to blame.
The Mom called around and a septic pumping outfit right near our place could come out. Miraculously, the owner said he didn't charge extra for a Sunday call. "If my toilet quit working I'd want help--weekend or not" he said. He was surprised the septic level alarm didn't go off. I checked and the alarm light was flashing but unfortunately the the "silent" function was on.
The lift pump is broken and we'll get that replaced later this week, for $400-$500:( But we had the holding tank pumped out so we can use everything in the mean time. As the gentleman was pumping it out I thought it was taking a long time so I asked why. "You've got a really thick crust on your sludge, really really thick."
Wow. What does one say in reply? Should I be proud of my really, really thick septic sludge crust, or should I hang my head in shame? Thick or thin, like a pizza? What does it mean? Too much fibre, too little fat? Some sort of vitamin deficiency? In the end I went with the neutral response, "Well there ya go", I replied.
The waste water system of our homestead is functioning, the audible septic level alarm is on and we are off to enjoy a sunny Sunday afternoon.
How thick is your crust?
That's sort of an "Oh, wow" moment, isn't it?
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