Septic Tank Pump Question

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Ok Frodo, I see where you're going with that & it makes sense. When a system gets pumped for standard periodic maintenance, do you think it needs to get filled immediately or just by normal usage? Because I'm also on my own own well, and I don't really want to run 1500 gallons just for that.
 
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when we pump a customers out, we dont fill, if its new set. we fill
 
Ok here's the wrap up.

My primary tank does indeed have a small leak, which means when it rains hard water gets in. The pump is triggered by a float, so when the secondary tank (or whatever the gray water tank is called) fills up, it pumps the water UPHILL to the mound. According to the guy who pumped out the tank today, the pump has a timer because if it runs a lot I could blow out the mound. So, the choices are:

Live with it as I have. Expect an occasional full tank when it rains
Fix the problem with the tank filling with ground water. The guy stated that the location of the tank (near the bottom of a slope) was part of the problem, and he'd seen people dig ditches to divert water. Apparently pretty common.

So mystery solved, to avoid overwhelming the mound, the pump timer limits how much it runs.

Hope that helps somebody.

Oh, and he never talked about filling it after it was pumped.
 
the reason i said to fill it with water was to check for leaks. evidently, he determined it was leaking with out filling.

the 2 reasons you want to keep tanks full of water
..if its a concrete tank, has been leaking, the bottom can be washed out beneath it, the concrete will crack when the tank is not supported, in one of its corners
a tank that has a lot of ground water surrounding it, is more of a risk of moving/floating than a tank with out saturated ground

I am glad the OP has found their problem. but in reality, their problem has just started
the tank needs replacing, the more it leaks, the more the foundation gets washed out from under it.
especially if they dig a trench to let the water AND FOUNDATION SAND drain away from tank.
this is just my opinion, of things i have seen, i have no engineering degree.
 
Looks like I was unclear in my problem description. Nothing is leaking OUT of the tanks, water is leaking IN from the outside, at the top, when there's a great deal of groundwater as in a heavy rain.
 
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