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    redskins3013's Avatar
    redskins3013 Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
    New Member
     
    #1

    Dec 6, 2010, 06:30 PM
    Elusive septic tank
    Is there A high tech option to find a septic tank that no person or septic company can seem to find?
    ma0641's Avatar
    ma0641 Posts: 15,675, Reputation: 1012
    Uber Member
     
    #2

    Dec 6, 2010, 06:38 PM
    Ground penetrating radar. That's hi tech. Low tech is "the grass is always greener over the septic tank"-at least at my neighbors! If you can find where the soil pipe exits the house, look for an angle change and start that way. If you can find the pipe in 2 places, try straight line determination. Look for an outside cleanout and run a snake till it stops, That's possibly where it enters the tank. Walk an arc near that measurement.
    ballengerb1's Avatar
    ballengerb1 Posts: 27,378, Reputation: 2280
    Home Repair & Remodeling Expert
     
    #3

    Dec 6, 2010, 07:05 PM

    Depending on where you live your county building department may have the survey and plans. My guys run an electric rod down the clean out, they can fell when the snake runs into the tank and that noise can be heard when walking around the yard. When they pull the snake they know exactly how far they ran. Our septic contractor could not find the tank to pump it, dug 10 test holes all over the place. My plumber found it in 30 minutes with only one hole. Many plumber have equipment that can generate a radio signal and they flush it down the toilet and use a scanner to find the tank, they recover the sending unit as they poump the tank, not a fun part of the job.
    speedball1's Avatar
    speedball1 Posts: 29,301, Reputation: 1939
    Eternal Plumber
     
    #4

    Dec 7, 2010, 07:10 AM

    Both posts excellent solutions.
    In Florida we don't run our septic lines as deep as you Yankees up North so we're low tech about locating the septic tank.
    We take a probe rod, ( a 4 foot rod with a pointy end) and after locating the house clean out probe down to the pipe and follow it out to the tank. Good luck, Tom

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