Filling The Hole

After all that I've been through with this septic tank (poor little me), the story continues. I mentioned that it was a complete nightmare trying to find the septic hatch while digging up the backyard, and that I had decided to take the septic guy's advice and modify the access hatch by installing chimney blocks that elevate the opening, which for the record scared me. I had no clue what I was doing. I went and purchased the chimney blocks, which were surprisingly cheap ($5/each), and cleaned up the area around the opening in anticipation of the septic guy's arrival. The plan was for him to pump the tank and then help me put the blocks over the opening.

Well, in typical fashion as to how my life seems to transpire, it turns out that I ended up digging to the wrong opening. How can that possibly be? The septic guy, who was the same guy who came last time (6 years ago), said that there were three openings on the tank and that I need to put the blocks over the first opening. I ended up accessing the second, or middle, opening, though I couldn't quite understand why we couldn't just use that one. Not feeling like I was in any sort of position to argue, I begrudgingly went in search of the proper door. At that point I felt that if it was too hard to find I was going to give up on the whole endeavor and simply fill in the hole like I did last time. I figured it would be another 5 years before I had to deal with it again, and by then, the bad memories would have dissolved.

As it turns out it wasn't that hard to find, and it was easy to open, to boot. In fact, I realized that when the septic guy came last time we had in fact used the first opening. This time around I dug up the second opening, not realizing what was going on. I think this time I'll keep some notes. Either way, I opened the hatch, placed the blocks over it, and then positioned the lid on top. Then, with the assistance of N, we proceeded to fill the hole back in. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy. There was a lot of dirt and a lot of rocks, and by the end of it both he and I were pretty much over all that shoveling. You realize how much machines have changed how hard labor gets done.

Now the hole is filled, much to the delight of mom, and after I clear out all the rocks, I'm hoping (really hoping) that I won't have to deal with it for another 5 years. One thing I will say about all this is that when you have a septic system, you put a lot more thought into what you flush down your toilet, not to mention how often you do it.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.