Septic Tank Pumping in Tucson

Why the tank gets pumped for a transfer inspection

An inspector's job is to evaluate the condition of the tank: the walls, the inlet and outlet baffles, whether solids are carrying over into the disposal field. None of that is visible through a tank full of liquid and sludge. So in practice, a transfer inspection includes a pump-out, and if you are getting quoted an inspection price that seems remarkably low, check whether pumping is in it.

There are narrow situations where pumping can be skipped, generally where the system was recently serviced and there is documentation to prove it. Those are the exception. Budget for the pump-out.

What it involves

1. Locating and exposing the lids. On many older Tucson properties the lids are buried under several inches of soil, gravel or landscaping. If risers were installed, this step is quick. If not, there is digging, and digging costs labor.
2. Pumping the tank. Both compartments where the tank has two, because pumping only the first is a common shortcut that leaves the inspection incomplete.
3. Inspecting what is now visible. This is the point of the exercise. Baffle condition, tank integrity, evidence of past overflow.
4. Documenting and disposing. The waste goes to a permitted receiving facility, and the service is recorded on your report.

Routine pumping, outside a sale

Most households want the tank pumped every three to five years, more often with a large household or a garbage disposal, less often for a couple in a large tank. If you are not selling and cannot remember the last time it was done, it has been too long. Pumping on a schedule is dramatically cheaper than replacing a disposal field that failed because solids carried over into it.

What we do not do

We do not sell additives, and we would gently suggest you do not buy them. There is no product you pour down a drain that substitutes for removing accumulated solids, and some of them make things worse by pushing sludge into the field.