My cesspool
I have lived in my house for 27 years. Prior to that an elderly couple lived her for about 25 years. Here in the Town of Brookhaven we have cesspools, no sewer systems. Cesspools have to be cleaned out periodically and sometimes even replaced at a cost of thousands of dollars. To my knowledge my cesspool has never been serviced in 52 years. The issue of installing sewer systems by the township has been discussed all the years I have lived out here - but it never gets anywhere. Each homeowner would have to pay around $5000-6000 to hook their homes up to the sewer system - if the town ever builds one - and then pay an annual tax for sewer service. To my thinking it would be worth the investment. But the majority of Brookhaven homeowners disagree. Consequently we will never see sewers here in Crookhaven.
Last year I noticed my washing machine, located in my basement, was not draining properly. Water remained in the machine well. So I called Rotor-Rooter - a well known cesspool and septic tank service. They inspected my plumbing lines in the basement, opened them up, ran a few tests and concluded that my cesspool was only half full and my lines were not clogged. The repairman charged me for the call, but he said at the time it was not possible for a single person, living alone, to ever fill the cesspool unless I was throwing parties night and day - which I do not. The problem with my now 20 year old washing machine went away.
This past Thursday morning I went down to my laundry room early in the morning to iron a shirt. There was the distinct smell of rotten eggs in the laundry room. I opened up my top-loader washing machine and it was 1/4 full of dirty foul smelling water. Had the cesspool backed up? I was able to run the washing machine and drain all the dirty water. I ran it a second time (empty of course) just to make sure it was clean. No problem with it this morning but I decided to call a cesspool service to check it out. There is nothing worse than a cesspool accident that could have been prevented. I chose another company this time. Two men from Joe's Sewer Service showed up in the late afternoon. Their inspection of my plumbing lines was more thorough than the Rotor-Rooter guy several months ago. They had me run my washing machine and dishwasher at the same time while flushing the toilet repeatedly. They concluded that everything drained well and dropped into the cesspool. I have no clogs. And they also stated, as did the Rotor-Rooter guy, that it was not possible for a single person living alone to fill a cesspool. You need a full house of people, and maybe a horse, constantly running appliances, taking showers and flushing toilets to do that. I was relieved to hear that. I think I will consider investing in one of the new low-water use high-efficiency washers.
Last year I noticed my washing machine, located in my basement, was not draining properly. Water remained in the machine well. So I called Rotor-Rooter - a well known cesspool and septic tank service. They inspected my plumbing lines in the basement, opened them up, ran a few tests and concluded that my cesspool was only half full and my lines were not clogged. The repairman charged me for the call, but he said at the time it was not possible for a single person, living alone, to ever fill the cesspool unless I was throwing parties night and day - which I do not. The problem with my now 20 year old washing machine went away.
This past Thursday morning I went down to my laundry room early in the morning to iron a shirt. There was the distinct smell of rotten eggs in the laundry room. I opened up my top-loader washing machine and it was 1/4 full of dirty foul smelling water. Had the cesspool backed up? I was able to run the washing machine and drain all the dirty water. I ran it a second time (empty of course) just to make sure it was clean. No problem with it this morning but I decided to call a cesspool service to check it out. There is nothing worse than a cesspool accident that could have been prevented. I chose another company this time. Two men from Joe's Sewer Service showed up in the late afternoon. Their inspection of my plumbing lines was more thorough than the Rotor-Rooter guy several months ago. They had me run my washing machine and dishwasher at the same time while flushing the toilet repeatedly. They concluded that everything drained well and dropped into the cesspool. I have no clogs. And they also stated, as did the Rotor-Rooter guy, that it was not possible for a single person living alone to fill a cesspool. You need a full house of people, and maybe a horse, constantly running appliances, taking showers and flushing toilets to do that. I was relieved to hear that. I think I will consider investing in one of the new low-water use high-efficiency washers.
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