Septic tank settled

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MitchO

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Joined
Oct 9, 2022
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Location
Thailand
Hi all,
I'm living in thailand and renting a property. We've had some issues with the septic tank and the plumbing. we've had an overflowing event twice in the downstairs toilet. Drain unblock guys have indicated that the tank has settled and the inlet pipe in completely submerged meaning it gets blocked easily. Being in thailand they say we should throw any toilet paper in down the toilet. They refuse to get it fixed and say it's a thailand thing. Our bathrooms smell, I think this is because the waste is in the inlet pipe and the gases have no where to escape other than back through the drains on the floor in bathrooms. I think the vent pipe is about 6ft or so back from the septic tank T'd off the inlet pipe.
Because there is no way the landlord will fix it, is there a way i can jerry-rig a sump-pump into the septic tank? (it's a one tank system). there is a small access port to the leach feild distribution box 10ft away. I think getting the water level at least below the inlet pipe will solve so many of the issues im experiencing. Here's a pic of the septic system. This is well flooded, correct?

septic-tank-flooded.jpeg
 
I've done something similar...I dropped a sump pump into the second (overflow) tank when it was over full (the leach field was somehow blocked) and pumped the liquid into an old outhouse bottomless tank. I made a mesh screen basket to go around the sump pump and lowered the pump a foot or two into the liquid, and kept lowering it as necessary. I had a 1 1/2" or 1 1/4" corrugated hose attached to the sump pump. It was very easy and worked well. In your case, with a single tank, you should make some kind of small mesh screen for the pump so you don't pull any solids...and keep the pump just under the surface of the liquid.

At a different house, I dug a 3' x 6'(deep) hole up on a hillside behind my house (about 8 feet above ground level). I made a wood lid for the hole and pumped up to the hole. At both locations the ground was sandy and/or rocky and drained well.
 
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