I have never had a septic before, but my new house has one. Is there anyway to tell when it needs to get pumped? In my yard I have a black pvc tube approximately 24″ wide. On top is the cement cap. If I pull the cap off I can see waste maybe 3′ down. Is this normal? I should probably just get it pumped but thought I would ask.
DT
Where I am at in Ham Lake it is mandatory to get it pumper every 2 years and recorded with the city. With 5 of us living here I wouldn’t go over 3 years.
If it is new you should try to find out who put it in and how often they recommend it should be pumped. The city may have on record who put it in.
Now is the time of the year to pump them. Never pump them in the fall before the winter season Here in Dakota Cty, there are to be pumped every 3 years. The soil make-up plays into this also.
good luck
You should never have to pump it out under normal conditions. I installed my system in 1986, it is nothing special just a 1000 gallon tank and 300 feet of lateral with 25 or 30 ton of 2″ rock. It has never been pumped, knock on wood. 
Bacteria breaks down the solids and the liquid flows out the lateral field to evaporate. That is it, like I said nothing special.
I see a lot of houses recently have been put on lagoon systems the last few years. They work on the same principal as mine, rather than the liquid evaporating from a lateral field, it evaporates from the lagoon.
But regulations are regulations, I am grandfathered in with the system I have. If I built a new house I would have to put it on a new septic system, and a county oficial would come to my property to do a perk test to determine which system and size I would need with the newer regulations.
Like what was said in a couple of earlier posts, check with your builder, the person that installed it, or the governing official for chit.
Good Luck 
In the 7 county metro area (MN), Met Council mandated that every city and/or county create a regular septic pumping ordinance sometime starting back in approximately 1996. However, these same requirements have now spread to other areas of the state as well, so you will see it beyond the metro. Most ordinances require pumping at 3 year intervals, but some are at 2 years. You should have your pumper record your your tank pump with the local government – per the ordinance. The pumpers will fill you in on the details. Spring, summer, or fall really makes no difference in terms of pumping. The required pumping is to assure that solids do not prematurely build up in the bottom of your tank – so you don’t loose tank “liquid” capacity. Tanks are supposed to work so that solids settle to the bottom of the tank and then you get a floating scum layer at the top. When they are pumped, the pumper blasts out the settled solids and removes everything inside. ….The theory is – a clean tank will work better and make the drainage field last longer. The primary goal of any “tank” is to settle out all the solids and particulates – before they get into the drainfield, bed, or mound. This can cause pre-mature failure of the system (…real bad/expensive thing). I could go on with more details, but this is getting way too deep for a fishing site.
Good luck with the tank…..
Dont forget to tip your septic guy but be careful when it comes to shaking his hand.
Aside from any regulations in your locale the frequency of pumping a septic tank is determined by how you use it. If you dump a lot of grease down the drain, have a garbage disposal or a lot of people in the house (relative to # of bedrooms) pump it out more often. My sewer installer told me to go 2 years on the new system and then have it pumped. Based on what the pumper finds he will advise you of how often you need to pump it out going forward. I also remember him saying do not pump in the fall to insure the tank is full when the frost comes to minimize damage to the tank.
You’ve got a lot of replies to your question, all but one say to pump it every 2-3 years. That is true, get the main solid tank pumped every 2-3 years depending on #people in your household and how you treat the system. By that I mean what you flush into it. My system is a 2 tank system, with the first tank split into two parts. The first part is a 1000 gallon solids tank. It has access to the top through one of those plastic risers you mentioned. The second part of the tank is a 500 gallon and also has a lid to the top. This 2nd tank is meant to capture any solids that accidentally float out of the first tank, w/o settling there. Then, from that tank the liquid runs into my 3rd tank, a 1000 gallon and from there to the drainfield.This last tank has no solids in it at all, just liquid, and it has not been pumped but has been checked by the sewer pumper guy to make sure there are no solids in it. All that runs into the drain field is liquid from this last tank.
I live in Olmsted County and rules have changed over the years, but the setup of tanks I have is pretty standard. I’ve lived in homes with septic systems for nearly 35 years and have never had issues…and the solids tank has always been pumped every 2-3 years. By the way, pumping in early Fall is fine because the tank is never pumped totally clean. A small amount of sludge/liquid is left down there which is bacteria to keep the system running. Good luck with your system.
Yes it is normal to see the waste 3 feet down. the tank empties itself when it reaches the outflow pipe and that is at about 3 feet down.
Thanks for all the replies.
DT
What I found helpful was to use ridex (i.e bacteria or microbe) can be purchased at menards. I bought a house up north and had problem with pipes plugging my sewer guy told me to used ridex and a month later checked pipes and they went from crud to almost clean, he said it will break down most of the solids in the tank and reduce the number of times pumping is needed. With it being a new place and not knowing what has been flushed I would add it to insure there is plenting of microbes to do the job. Chippman
Also with a septic be careful on the chemicals that get flushed as they can kill your bacteria.
Pump it 2 years from date of installation and three years there after. Garbage disposal (bad), pump more often. More people using water (young females, pump more often). Septic tank separates float and setting stuff out so only liquid portion goes to drain field. Bacteria does not digest everything and solids build up on bottom and you do not want them going into the drain field. 35 years as a county septic inspector, blah, blah. Maintain them, cheap insurance>
If a septic system works properly, you rarely if ever need to get it pumped. Do not flush tampons. Use Septic ready toilet paper. May need to add some bacteria packs from time to time, maybe not. Let it do it’s thing.
That post was from 2009. I sold the house 7 years ago. 
DT
Well, when did you pump it? 
Do not flush tampons.
I’ll stop immediately.
That post was from 2009. I sold the house 7 years ago.
DT
The guy who resurrected the post is obviously advertising.
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