Evidently, many others thought it was a non-problem also. Does this mean you'll just leave it for the next owner to discover it with disastrous results? Or your grandkids? If it is a violation of you local does, you can even get sued by the next owner even if nothing happens.
"mstrspy" wrote
Same thing happened to me ... I saw a hole and stuck a big stick down to see how deep it was. Scared me half to death when I found out how deep it was. I had no idea there was anything like it there.
I filled it with a bunch of wall stone I had lying around. There is a shallow depression over it but it's no hassle at all.
nancy
big boulders bad, as the dirt he planned putting on top filters down it migrates into the old leach field, and requires continiuos replacement.
lots of old septic tanks were reused as a leach field for downspout drains. hopefully thats not the case here.
abandoned and forgotten septic tanks and pits left over from sewer disposal are pretty common.
these were abandoned long before laws were enacted on proper disposal.
my best friend uses his old tank for downspout water disposal. I saw in the tank recently his dad filled it with garbage when it was taken out of service over 50 years ago. he dug it up to check the lid, which was still in remarkably good condition for its over 100 year age.
my buddy was concerned the lid might be rotting.
truckload of sand way cheaper than bags
Actually... the volume between rocks is based on the variety of size.... In other words, "poorly graded" - i.e. all the same size - rocks have a voids ratio of 0.4, meaning there is 40% air/water/whatever between them. The size of the rocks doesn't matter. Boulders are just as good/bad as pea gravel.
So... If you want to fill in, make sure you get "well graded" gravel, meaning a little of every size. or just throw whatever you have in, then, if your soil allows it, hose in dirt....
I appreciate what you're saying, Ed. I don't really see any difference weather the thing is in use or not, it's there. The thing would be just as prone to cave in if it were in use right? Does the fact that it's not in use make it not safer than inuse? So what's the difference? Like I said, it's not a problem for me. I'm not getting out the backhoe to go digging for problems. Yes, I will leave it for the next owner, as it was left by a previous owner for me. I will inform the next owner about it, not hiding nothing. The previous owners did not bother to tell me about it......
It's that it is older.
I think it is that these things go from being in use to being out of use, and very rarely go from out of use to in use. So things that are out of use are on average much older than the ones that are in use.
Say that septic tanks are used on average for 30 years. So assume the average age of an in-use septic tank is 15 years.
But the average starting-age of a non-used septic tank would then be
30 years, and the the average age could easily be more than 45 years. More than 3 times the average age of an in-use tank. And getting older all the time.
If the next owner were in full control of everything that happened because of it that would be fine, but he doesn't and can't control everyone who walks on his lawn. Nor can you.
What has that got to do with it?
Pressure. If the tank is empty, the outside pressure on the walls is greater than if the tank is filled. Greater pressure, greater chance of cracking and collapsing. Depending on soil conditions, the empty tank can even try to float if the ground was very wet after a long series of rainy days.
Then there is methane. Empty tansk with some rotting stuff on the bottom are prone to it. If you fell into a large tanks of crappy water, you may be dusgustingly filthy but can get to the top and get out. If the empty tank is filled with some quanity of methane, you can pass out, eventually die, before you could get help. People have died going into abandoned tanks and wells trying to help someone that has already passed out. About 10 years ago, three brothers did exactly then. First one dropped, then the other two went in to help and never came up.
For the sake of you and your family, I hope it never is a problem. There is sound reasoning behind the regulations to fill them in.
i THINK on Leno tonight it was, he gave the bare bones about a 75 year old woman who was trying to put flowers on a grave, when the grave collapsed and she fell in.
Of course that is a well-known issue, and I don't think the depth can be as much.
I think if he sods it, a good estimate is maybe 3 rains and 2 waterings ie. about 3 months and it will stabilize forever. You are way out of line on your concerns.
Your wrong:(
My home was built on farmland in 1950/ A hand dug well was in my back yard and filled with rock and boulders at that time 1950. a neighbor watched it being filled in.......
I moved here in 1972 and it was still the neighborhood dirt dump site and continued to be till the 1990s. I added many truckloads of dirt to finally stabilize it.
The water tends to carry the fill away. Note the OP tank had water in it draining no doubt to the original field.
Just dump dirt boulders in there and it will endlessely sink
The boulders will give a margin of safety compared to a big hole that you'd not be able to climb out of. Boulders piled near the top prevent you from falling very far.
mine sank from 1950 till 1990, it was a hand dug well.
So you think you have water running through the bottom washing the dirt out? See any difference between that and an abandonded septic tank?
If it is as bad as you say it is, why haven't you fixed it? Dig down a couple feet and pour a concrete cap is one quick and easy solution.
Harry K
if you fill it in with the proper material settling will be minimal.
I had a execuvation around my foundation for water control. I HAD to have that area backfilled to grade with gravel.
so the area didnt sink since a sidewalk was going on top.
someone had done this before and the sidewalk was terrible although fairly new. cracked and pitched inward on the house side.
boulders are fine if you dont mind a lifetime fill project.
every time you add dirt is a hassle resedding, and costly too. besides a uneven trip hazard cutting grass......
oulders piled near the top prevent you from
No, you are dead wrong on this. A boulder is a quick and efficient way to start this. Excellent idea. Of course you must also add a little sand and dirt all sizes of rocks to go with the boulder.
But a bolder is the best and quickest way to start filling any hole. Very lucky to have one and it will work perfectly when used with a rich mix of other sized material.
Anyone who disagrees with that is probably a complete and worthless idiot who has never filled a hole in their life (except in their imagination).
In my case the sink area was a useful place to dispose of stuff, rocks and dirt, till I tired of it , at one point it became a natural pond when it rained. family concerned about mosquitoes:(
So I finally finshed filling it in with several truckloads of topsoil.
about 10 years later I put a 16 by 20 foot shed with concrete floor on the site. it had quit sinking by then.
Seems to me, you should have waited until you actually had mosquitoes before filling it. The mosquitoes you had would have died in a couple days and no more would have bred iiuc.
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