Take care of that septic tank

[Ed Pawlowski]

Woman died in the tank

?She had told her neighbor she had gotten a pump out, and whoever had pumped it recommended a lid replacement or a tank replacement,? said Martin Guffey of Martin Septic Service, Inc. ?I?m not sure what some sort of repair. She felt like maybe the guy was not telling the truth so she didn?t believe it.?

[micky]

You quoted it correctly but I think it should have been written "pump-out".

In light of her death, I somewhat hate to compare a triviality with her situation, but....

A year after my father died, I suppose my mother had had to hire someone to mow the lawn. Or maybe someone else told her that a trench should be dug around the oak tree in our front yard. She too thought maybe the guy was not telling the truth, but she did it. (I don't know how much she cost...She only had the emoney my father left her and two children to raise.) It was about 16" deep and a doughnut around the trunk, maybe

18" bigger on every side. I too wondered if it was needed, but when I was back there 50 years later, the tree was doing great. Now, I can still see it on sat view and street view and the tree is so big it covers most of the front yard and obscures the whole second floor when viewed from the street.

The trench is still there, just about the same as 50 years ago except the grass has a little bent-over lip starting about 2 inches from the trench.

I haven't seen another trench like it all these years. Did it need it, did it help? I don't know.