Finding your septic tank

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Rnichols22

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I just bought an older house out on an acre of land. I was curious as to if anybody knows how I can locate where my septic tank and lines are?
 
If you have a septic company in your area, they have tools to find it, and pump the tank to see its condition.
Otherwise, go to your area health department and they Might have a plan on record..otherwise its just a guess.
Good luck,
 
I have searched and found a few in my day. The best way is to ask the previous owners where it is and what they did to maintain it. If the house is newer and there were building plans there might also be records that went along with the permitting applied for to put it in. Asking neighbors might give you a clue.

If none of that works start where the pipe exists the house and 9 times out of 10 the pipe will be a straight shot. Look for a low spot in the yard or where the grass might look different. If done correctly the lid or lids will only be a few inches under the soil. With a piece of rebar and a hammer you can go around driving it in the ground looking to hit something solid. Most of the time in older homes they took advantage of the natural grade of the land so look down hill from the point it exits the house.

Sometimes you have to dig down near the house to get a feel for direction and depth.

That’s all the tricks I have maybe others will suggest something more modern that I don’t know about.

Good luck.
 
I haven't had to do it, but using Bud's tricks to get a starting point, I've seen guys go around with a wooden pole thumping the ground. You can usually hear the hollow spot.
 
Back when we had one it was probably 12-18" below the ground. They will generally be a straight shot from where the pipe exits the building and probably between 15 and 20 feet of the building. Start at 10' and drive a rod into the ground until you hit the tank if you go more than 24" without hitting it pull it out and move a foot further from the building, repeat as needed until you find the tank. Usually, they won't put a bend in the pipe without a riser coming up to the surface to allow cleaning of the line. Roto-rooter type equipment won't do 45 and 90-degree elbows but can handle a sweep. As I follow my sewer line out of the house every time it takes a turn they installed a vertical pipe to allow me to look down the to see if the line is blocked and to insert a roto-rooter auger down the pipe to clear any clogs.
 
When you do find your lid and if it is more than a few inches below grade I would go buy a extension ring. And get it close to the surface. I moved mine at my old house to come flush with the ground for no digging. After you dig a deep one up a few times you will know what I mean. I found every year I got older the lid was another inch deeper or at least it seemed. 30 years had it pretty deep.
 
I know this is hard to believe, but stripping some 12 ga. wire out of romex and making divining rods may work. I was digging a drain line for a scout camp a few years ago, and asked the guy there where the line was he wanted to tap into. He used divining rods. I had to laugh thinking it was just a trick. But he gave them to me and I'll be if it didn't work. I still have them in the office and take them out to try it on our water line, Works every time. As a matter of fact once I had the line dug up and located, I tried it again, several times and the rods crossed at the exact spot of the drain line. I brought the divining rods home and both my Son and Wife tried it and it didn't work for them. But it does for me for some unexplained reason. I can even walk across the room in the house and they'll cross right where the hot water lines run for the heat registers. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't tried it myself.
Just bend the wire in an "L" shape (stripped of all insulation) loosely grab the wires in your clenched fist with the wires pointing forward and walk. Wires will cross when you cross a water source. That is unless you don't have the gift like my Son & Wife. lol.
 
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I knew an old water well driller that witched every well he drilled. Always hit water right were his witching rods crossed. People would always have him drill where he said there was water because he was so good. The funny part was after seeing him do this quite a few times I started noticing his wires always crossed at a spot that was easy to back his rig into. I mentioned it to him and he smiled and said I always hit water don’t I?
 

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