Septic tank - pump problem

TheBazman

Hi all

I have a septic tank (bio - percolation type) where the pump has stopped working. The alarm warning light by the house has also started flashing. Is is likely that the pump is completely banjaxed or could it have anything to do with the power being out for a day during this week?

Are there any controls on the actual pump itself eg a switch that may have tripped?

(the tank itself was emptied recently and pump was working fine at that stage)

Cheers

Igotadose

Similar here; damn alarm went off at 2a.m. this morning. We had the power turned off for about a half hour about a week ago for some wiring work elsewhere in the yard. Biocycle is running , can here it humming. Had the tank pumped last year. Could the deluge of rain overnight make a difference? If it is the rain, does that indicate a problem with the pump or the field?

Pump was replaced in 2014 when we bought the house.

my3cents

Some pumping installations are fitted with two float valves. One is attached to the pump and turns the pump on and off with the effluent level and the second is set much higher and its connected to an alarm and it either indicates the pump is not working or isn't working fast enough.

If you don't have a manual or installation information then only way to tell is to look.

Depending on the set up its possible for the field to be swamped with water which will fed back through the pump and keep triggering it or the alarm. Again you have to go and look and work out how its set up.

youtheman

There is a Kingspan bio cycle sewage system in my mothers house. The pump stopped working a few months ago. I removed the pump and found a 'baby wipe' had gotten through the strainer on the outside of the pump, and wound itself around the pump impeller. Once I remove it it started working again.

The pump has a simple float switch connected to the pump body via a short cable. When the level drops the switch goes horizontal and turns the pump off. When the level rises the switch goes vertical and turns the pump on. I use a pole with a hook on the end to regularly lift the switch up to confirm the pump is working (I watch the level drop).

Also, there is a MCB in an enclosure beside the tank. Make sure this hasn't tripped.

Igotadose

youtheman wrote: »

There is a Kingspan bio cycle sewage system in my mothers house. The pump stopped working a few months ago. I removed the pump and found a 'baby wipe' had gotten through the strainer on the outside of the pump, and wound itself around the pump impeller. Once I remove it it started working again.

The pump has a simple float switch connected to the pump body via a short cable. When the level drops the switch goes horizontal and turns the pump off. When the level rises the switch goes vertical and turns the pump on. I use a pole with a hook on the end to regularly lift the switch up to confirm the pump is working (I watch the level drop).

Also, there is a MCB in an enclosure beside the tank. Make sure this hasn't tripped.

Thank you both for the replies. It turns out, what had happened is exactly what youtheman stated; a wipe had gotten into the pump and blocked it.

I called the team that had done the work to rebuild the system 2 years ago. Got lucky in that they were in the next town over that day - we're on the Dingle Peninsula, the company that did the work is in Killarney, but fortunately were close by. They disassembled and cleaned everything out, and it's all working fine again.

I'm getting the tank pumped today to ensure all the wipes are gone and they're now banned from the household.

The team also pointed out that there is some groundwater intrusion into the tank. It looks like one area is around where the fill pipe comes in, and the other near where the pump goes out to the field. Does anyone have a recommendation for a product that can be used to patch cracks in a tank? Is this feasible? I don't believe the groundwater infusion is that 'big'; the alarm hadn't tripped except once before when we had the power turned off for 6 months while away for the winter (October->February) and that being the rainiest time of year, I imagine the groundwater had been coming in fairly steadily.

A neighbor thought Tec-7 might work but also had heard of another product from the UK called 'shugo' or 'sure-go' or something that's supposed to be the best at patching cracks in plastic. Tank is plastic, kind of boat shaped and green.

Thanks again for the replies.

youtheman

I managed to repair my Mother's tank with a glass fibre kit purchased from the local motor factors (had a crack in it).

On the subject of baby wipes, these have proven to be the biggest problem to the on-going running of the system. For some reason they are still appearing in the tank months (or even years) after anyone with kids was staying. The good thing is that they float, so I just use a hook on the end of a long pole to take them out of the inlet side of the tank. Then sometimes they can get through the air blower pipe and get stuck in the top where the water is blown over the mesh device. When I open the tank, if I don't see the water being blown over the mesh then I know the cause. On the very rare occasion then get through to the other side of the tank and get stuck in the pump. In summary, the baby wipes regularly get stuck in the air blower pipe, and only once in the pump.

Igotadose

youtheman wrote: »

I managed to repair my Mother's tank with a glass fibre kit purchased from the local motor factors (had a crack in it).

On the subject of baby wipes, these have proven to be the biggest problem to the on-going running of the system. For some reason they are still appearing in the tank months (or even years) after anyone with kids was staying. The good thing is that they float, so I just use a hook on the end of a long pole to take them out of the inlet side of the tank. Then sometimes they can get through the air blower pipe and get stuck in the top where the water is blown over the mesh device. When I open the tank, if I don't see the water being blown over the mesh then I know the cause. On the very rare occasion then get through to the other side of the tank and get stuck in the pump. In summary, the baby wipes regularly get stuck in the air blower pipe, and only once in the pump.

Took a good look at the cracking again today - looks like it's actually mostly a drip from where the pump goes out to the field; there's 'encrustations' due to the soil being high in lime, kind of like stalactite formation. The guy doing the pumping was around for the initial tank install 10+ years ago and said it was done correctly then. He pumps all the tanks in the area and said ours didn't need repairs, so we're going to take a pass on replacing the tank. Good thing as it'd cost thousands of euro for the work involved.

As for the blower, same exact thing happened here - the air pipe was clogged with wipe material at a joint; it, too, got cleaned out and is working well today, although the 'lid' that goes over the output of that pipe - where it protrudes over the mesh, had broken off and the repair crew are back tomorrow with a new part to fix that as well.

Thanks again for all he replies, seems like mine is a very common experience. Hopefully after tomorrow's repair this is the end of it once and for all.

Big Wex fan

my3cents wrote: »

Some pumping installations are fitted with two float valves. One is attached to the pump and turns the pump on and off with the effluent level and the second is set much higher and its connected to an alarm and it either indicates the pump is not working or isn't working fast enough.

If you don't have a manual or installation information then only way to tell is to look.

Depending on the set up its possible for the field to be swamped with water which will fed back through the pump and keep triggering it or the alarm. Again you have to go and look and work out how its set up.

My system has 2 floats. I was wondering what the higher level one was for.
The lower level sensor has stopped working. I wired the pump up manually until I get a replacement. So going by what's above. I could swap out the high level float to the low level and be back up & running automatic and swap in the new float to the high level then?

my3cents

Big Wex fan wrote: »

My system has 2 floats. I was wondering what the higher level one was for.
The lower level sensor has stopped working. I wired the pump up manually until I get a replacement. So going by what's above. I could swap out the high level float to the low level and be back up & running automatic and swap in the new float to the high level then?

Don't see any reason you can't swap them over. But just check if there is any switch rating on them to see if they are the same. If the lower one switched the pump directly then it might have quite a high current (amps) rating and the higher one might have a low rating if its only switching an alarm.

Just get hold of the higher one and lift it up and see what switches on (or off) if you want o know what it does.

If there are any electronics below ground or even just plugs and sockets the alarm also give you a chance to pump out manually before they are flooded.

Big Wex fan

Thanks, would never of thought of checking the amp rating. Fortunately they are both 10A. So swapped out and hopefully up and running for another while.