Shaft style septic aereator

[JRLesan]

Had the tank pumped out yesterday and noticed the shaft style aereator, original to the Jet system and 30 years old was a little noisy. Started looking for a replacement and most aftermarket clones have a 'notice' that their unit is designed to only run continuously. Mine is on a Jet timer and runs intermittently. Even though I installed this system in 1990 myself I can't remember WHY I set it to run 'on and off' but no doubt I followed factory instructions. Does anyone know???

[Winger Ed.]

Just a guess, but it might not be as easy for it to clog up if it runs all the time.

[FredBuddy]

Same thing here. Helps the motor resist
moisture. However now the tech tells me
they have to add sensors and other garbage
to detect high water levels. I call BS.

Wouldn't ya know my replacement motor
just quit after 12 years continuous running!

[Bmi48219]

Is an aerator a code requirement?

[elmacgyver0]

I don't have a septic tank system but using "common sense", if the aerator is off, how can it aerate?
I would think you would want it on to infuse oxygen into the, well you know to aid in the bacteria to break down the sludge.

[Johnch]

I used to have to service the septic tank aerators
Sorry to say ... NO .....glad to say a nasty fall 12 years ago stopped me doing that


So I don't have any of the manuals anymore

But I do remember the constant and intermittent motors were not the same
I think the capacitors were different even if everything else was the same

Hat to say this but sometimes you need to use the right tool for the job

John

[rancher1913]

been around septic systems all my life, both professionally and personally and never heard of this hog wash. septic's dont need an aerator, it does nothing but stir the crap and send a mix of solids and liquid into your leach field which eventually plugs it. get your tank pumped every 5 years or so and your good to go. even utube has videos calling out the "septic aerator scam". city systems do use something similar but they use them in open lagoons to keep things mixed, you dont want your septic tank mixed, its job is to separate the solids so they dont plug your leach field.

[JRLesan]

This would be true if one were talking about a non-compartmentalized tank... My tank was designed with compartments specifically for aereation. On paper and (no doubt) in a closely controlled test situation the aeration of effluent after the solids have settled in the first compartment is superior to just letting the bacteria 'do its job.' My question, however, had to do with the mechanics of 'on and off' operation of a split phase motor (no capacitor for start or run) vs continuous run; why would after market 'clones' of the original JET SYSTEM HAVE THE DISCLAIMER: designed for continuous operation only. Even a call to JET (by myself) did not yield a satisfactory explanation of why their pre 1993 systems were designed to run intermittently. (Apparently after 1992 some government agency required new residential waste water systems to not only be areted but to also run 24/7 in order to be certified.
Common sense would indicate that ones electric bill would be less if the motor ran intermittently rather than full time...

[Bmi48219]

…. (Apparently after 1992 some government agency required new residential waste water systems to not only be areted but to also run 24/7 in order to be certified....

Hmm. must be some local government agency. I built a new home in 1995. Nothing in building code required an aerator. We had a walk-out basement with straight gravity flow from basement bowl flange to tank to field. There was some confusion when the inspector wanted to know where my lift pump was. I told him it wasn’t required as I had sufficient pitch per code. His response, that ‘everyone put in pumps now’, was an indication of his knowledge on the subject.

We’ve owned eight homes on septic systems over the past 40 years. A couple were new systems but most were 20+ years old. Had to have one 20 year old system pumped out one time because tank overfilled. Problem wound up being tree roots clogging the header. It cost me $100 to rent a snake, find the blockage at a clay tile joint and repair it. Meanwhile the neighbor behind us was spending $5,000 replacing his field for the same problem.

To me, adding any additional equipment (that will require future maintenance) to a sewage system is a red herring.

[Rapier]

A question for rancher, you said pump ever 5 years. My 1k tank with three chamber system is acting up, at 5 years.
My prior system single tank in sand worked well for 20. But this system in hard clay, even with a 700 square feet field, is not doing right. I hate the idea of digging the field up.

[JRLesan]

Clarification: soil where I live will not percolate (absorb water) so an evaporation pond was the most practical system. Treated water discharged into that pond needed to be clean and the aerated system was the answer. Supposedly the water discharged from that JET system is sufficiently clean...

[Bmi48219]

JR, I don’t know a lot about septic systems (and don’t mean to sound insulting) but it sounds like a high-tech cess-pool. I would have guessed a sufficiently size engineered field would have been less expensive and / or maintenance intensive.
Rapier,
As I said, not an expert but if you have backup at a low drain in your house you’ll want to see if the line to the tank is clear by opening the tank cover and having someone dump water in the toilet. If water enters tank rapidly the line to the tank is probably clear. If your tank is overflowing I’d explore if there is blockage in the line downstream of the tank. Dig to expose the exit line and get the tank drained below the exit. You can then cut a window in the exit line (without getting wet. Run a snake into the line to look for blockage.
A tree root the diameter of a hair will rapidly become a mass of dense fibers as hard a a log in the nutrient rich liquid. That’s what happened to mine and the nearest tree was 30 feet from the line.
We’ve had a lot of rain lately. Added accessories like water softeners and mineral filters, even washing machines, all discharge a lot of regeneration water. If it all goes into your system combined with lots of rain, the field, especially in clay, could be saturated.
Good Luck.

[rancher1913]

Clarification: soil where I live will not percolate (absorb water) so an evaporation pond was the most practical system. Treated water discharged into that pond needed to be clean and the aerated system was the answer. Supposedly the water discharged from that JET system is sufficiently clean...

now this makes sense, by aerating you get rid of the smells that would make a lagoon a really bad thing to have around your house. thats a lot of the reason the cities aerate, to keep smells down.

[rancher1913]

A question for rancher, you said pump ever 5 years. My 1k tank with three chamber system is acting up, at 5 years.
My prior system single tank in sand worked well for 20. But this system in hard clay, even with a 700 square feet field, is not doing right. I hate the idea of digging the field up.

the sludge that goes into your tank does not magically turn into water, it keeps filling the tank until it flows out into your leach field. the times between pumping vary by tank size and use, a large tank with only one bathroom may go 30 years wear as a small tank and 3 baths and lots of mud washed off of vegies wile prepping dinner will make the tank need pumping every year. best practice is to check the new tank once a year and when it gets to 80 percent solids, its time to pump. if your in the country and have large fields you can drop a grinder pump in the tank and pump it onto the field, make sure you plow it under asap so you dont get run off.

[rancher1913]

jrlean, sorry to sidetrack your thread, i just thought somebody was selling you a bill of goods.

[.429&H110]

I know of a dozen (at least) aerated septic tanks.
They have compartments to make a miniature sewerage treatment plant.
The installs I have seen were aerated by a very small aircompressor
running constantly to push air to a flowstone in the bottom of the middle vee section.
The effluent is pretty much clean water.

These setups are on golden pond, the effluent is pumped a long way away.
Just the engineering plans cost more than a conventional system.
If everybody around the lake had chipped in for town sewer, it would have been cheaper.

An anaerobic tank catches the soapy grease on top, and digesting sludge on the bottom.
The effluent will have a huge biological oxygen demand
and the fine suspended goop will plug up the leach field eventually.

Sewer pumps and agitators and little compressors are all fine
but what do you do when the lights go out
and stay out? The town sewer pumps stop, too.