Since I am an engineer and obsessed with science, when we first bought our home in 2001 (the previous owner pumped the septic tank at the time of sale), I got a call from Wind River Environmental two years later reminding us that it was time to pump (more or less like the 3,000 mile oil changes, or whatever other random number they pick to sweep chimneys or to change batteries in smoke alarms). Since I investigate these matters before falling into their trap, I held off till 2005 to pump the septic tank (afraid that despite my research showing that in a household with 2 members for a tank of our size we need to pump every 9 or so years). The Wind River Environmental technician who came said that there was excess sludge and we should buy their bacteria which will make the septic tank run smoothly.
I did even more research when the phone started to ring in 2007 and this time, believe it or not, waited till 2015, nearly 10 years. We still did not see any signs of trouble with our system, but we were afraid and decided to get it done. Still,, the Wind River Environmental technician wrote exactly the same report (I am assuming that some smart guy in their sales department coaches them to use scary language in the report). Now, I must add that we are just two of us in a four bedroom house. We both do work from home so that changes things somewhat but we are extremely careful in how we live. Obviously, toilet paper goes there but every crumb of food from dirty dishes, well, we make an effort to pick it up from the sink and not let it go to the septic tank. In addition, we use very mild toilet, laundry and dish-washing detergents. Since we never deep fry our food, there is really no reason for us to dump oil into the septic tank (a complete no no). The lesson here is that if you live carefully and take good care of your septic tank, there is no need to get it pumped every year or two as these septic tank pump companies would have you believe.
I did even more research when the phone started to ring in 2007 and this time, believe it or not, waited till 2015, nearly 10 years. We still did not see any signs of trouble with our system, but we were afraid and decided to get it done. Still,, the Wind River Environmental technician wrote exactly the same report (I am assuming that some smart guy in their sales department coaches them to use scary language in the report). Now, I must add that we are just two of us in a four bedroom house. We both do work from home so that changes things somewhat but we are extremely careful in how we live. Obviously, toilet paper goes there but every crumb of food from dirty dishes, well, we make an effort to pick it up from the sink and not let it go to the septic tank. In addition, we use very mild toilet, laundry and dish-washing detergents. Since we never deep fry our food, there is really no reason for us to dump oil into the septic tank (a complete no no). The lesson here is that if you live carefully and take good care of your septic tank, there is no need to get it pumped every year or two as these septic tank pump companies would have you believe.