I just had my septic tank pumped and when they took the lid off it cracked in three pieces. They put two of the pieces back on and told me I would have to take care of it. The lid is 23" square on top and tapered. I can not find one and have two choices. Either make a form and pour a new one, or make a cover out of wolmanized wood larger than the the hold and wrap it in 6 mill poly. Just wondering what the opinions are of making one out of wood and setting it on top. I would make it out of tong & grove 2 x 6 treated wood and wrap it in plastic. Will this work and be OK?
Here is what I did in a similar situation: I made min in position on the tank. cut a piece of 3/4 plywood the the size / shape of the tank, used the dirt smoothed for the form, made a rebar frame so it would be 2 times as strong as necessary & left loops to protrude to lift it by, set a round washtub in the middle with a T handle of rebar sticking up. I poured the lid, & also filled the washtub. The result was just professional, The wash tub was pulled out to leave a clean looking cleanout hole, the contents made the perfect plug. I had it pumped a couple of years later, they just took a bar and broke out the plywood under the cleanout hole.
I'd call around, maybe to septic people, and find where to buy one. The people that pumped your septic should have helped you in either getting a new cover or fixing the old. I would not use them again. I did some work on repairing a box past my septic tank where the second field was switched and there was a local concrete caster that made tanks and all concrete stuff connected with it. Also, many years ago, when septic was first pumped, I had a concrete ring and cap put in for easy access rather than have to dig it up each time. It's in an area not visible when you pass the house but if need be there are ways to disguise.
Usually the tanks are locally made because of their weight. I would bet you could get a replacement if you called the couple places in your area that make tanks.
------------------------------------- JimmyDahGeek@D> I just had my septic tank pumped and when they took the lid off it
When thinking about a new lid, give consideration to, checking how full the tank is and when it will next require emptying and how easy it is to find and move. Being able to check the height of the solids within the tank and therefore if it needs emptying this year or in ten years time is always handy and it saves money and trouble. (You only pay to empty it -when it really needs to be emptied and before it backs up and causes trouble.) Have a ten foot pole handy that you can poke through the crust and down through the water and feel the top of the solids, it feels spongy. When the solids are within 12 inches of the bottom of the outlet "T" only then does the tank need to be emptied. If you check the tank twice a year, once in the spring and again in late summer, you will see that the tank fills during the winter and during the summer when the microbes are more active with the summer heat, it goes down. The anaerobic process works best at 97f, so a tank that is in the full summer sun, fills slower than one that's in the shade. Placing a green house over the septic tank to help keep it as warm as possible all year round is a good idea.
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The contractor found our long-untouched septic tank by probing around with a thin rigid rod. With a back-hoe he slickly dug down and found the cover in place, but cracked. He suggested we install a short vertical collar of plastic culvert with a plastic cap screwed on the top at ground level. The pumping people supplied the 20"-long culvert (my measurement), the plastic cap, and the stainless screws for $40. Forty-five minutes later I had glued the culvert/collar over the opening of the concrete tank, screwed the cap on top to keep curious folks out, packed soil around it, and sprinkled some grass seed. Fast, durable, inexpensive, just slightly visible after a year, and accessible for maintenance. My neighbor put a ring of flat rocks and some shrubs around his.
he SAID it was 20" underground . AND treated lumber takes 20+ years to rot anyway. Not to mention it could be inspected every three years when the tank is pumped.
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