Septic Surprise

I posted this initial picture and mega caption/story on the 14th of February on our February round-up, but decided to make it its own post since the story (and photo documentation of it) grew by leaps and bounds on Thursday, February 21st.  So, here I back up a bit with the original photo and (expanded) explanation, but then jump into the resolution and excitement that came a week later.  Hold on to your hats!

2/14/19: Oh we've got trouble right here in {Eden} City (right here!). Below is a photo of our septic tank cover.  When I took this picture I thought our septic troubles were almost over.  

(Backstory: A week or so ago we heard some disturbing gurgling noises in our drains when the toilets flushed or the shower was running.  The gurgling intensified as the days went on and by Tuesday the 12th, we realized that the drains and toilets were not draining as they should.  We'd flush a toilet and the water would rise almost to the top before slowly, slowly, slowly going down again, but it never fully flushed what was in the bowl.  So we put in a maintenance request and a drain guy came to check things out the next day.  He snaked the drain and couldn't find a clog so then he climbed on the roof to send a camera down the vent to find out where the tank was located in our yard.  We figured that it was past overdue for pumping and was starting to back up into our house.  By this time our pantry closet in the kitchen was beginning to smell really bad (there are no drains or vents or anything in there, but it smelled like an outhouse), and we had stopped flushing solids (instead resorting to our camping toilet/bucket set up in the garage for when we needed to go "number two" and tossing any used toilet paper in the garbage cans).  Thursday morning, a couple workers came to dig out our septic tank in the backyard and that afternoon the septic pumping truck showed up.  I left for Callie's Valentine's party full of hope that all would be fresh and flushing when I got home.)

Instead, we learned that the tank was full of tree roots and was impossible to pump out.  Instead it needed to be replaced.  "Early next week."  Yikes!  (Cue desperate pleas to our parents to borrow their showers and washing machines and to friends to get us out of our stinky house for a few hours each day until things got fixed.)

The septic tank cover is unveiled!  (And to think that I thought
that was a lot of dirt/mud . . . ha!)

Just had to document our posh pooping place.
(It definitely got your blood going in the morning
to head out into the teen temps to do your business!)

2/21/19: A week later, we came home from hanging out with some friends for the morning (and dropping Callie off at school after lunch) to find a truck and flatbed trailer and giant front loader parked in front of our house.  This was great news!  Sam and I headed straight for the living room window for a front row seat to all the action.  He was in heaven!  And I didn't have the heart to make him take a nap and miss all the fun.  He didn't leave the window till we had head out to get Cal two and a half hours later.  In that time we got to see the excavator finish digging out the hole for the new tank (we missed the old one coming out), the front loader dump a couple loads of gravel in the bottom, the workers level things out and measure the depth, the crane truck back in and get stabilized, the tank swing into position, the pipes get fitted into place to hook it all up, and the excavator start burying everything up again.  Jackpot!  Sam ended up getting a late nap anyway since he fell asleep in the burley on the walk to get Callie, and lucky for her she got to see some of the excavating action when she got home, too.  Best. Day. Ever!  Seriously.  I was in such a great mood.  Callie started dancing around and said, "I'm going to go potty and I'm going to flush!!"  Haha.  The next day I cleaned the bathrooms (they needed it SO badly), washed sheets and towels, washed dishes and even made celebratory chocolate chocolate chip cookies!

Guess what this means?

Hey there, big fella.

He was glued to this spot for the rest of the
afternoon.

In heaven!

That big white pole was a huge ruler that they
kept sticking down in the hole to make sure
they got the right depth.

It's deep!

Getting a better view.

Hard to tell unless you know our yard, but behind that V tree used
to be an old gnarly apple tree - they had to remove that, and
part of the fence into the neighbor's driveway to get the trucks and
 machinery back there. (I'm SO glad they could use the driveway,
because otherwise it would probably be impossible to access the back
yard until all the snow melted!)

Here comes the front loader!

There's a guy in that hole spreading out the gravel
in the bottom but you can't even see him!

See all that snow?  This is the other side of our
house with access to the back yard - can't imagine
the big trucks getting through here very easily.

Yep.  He was happy.

bonus videos!

"Sam explains"

Excavator parked up on the dirt pile (which
was so big!).

Peeking out the front window to see the new
tank on the crane truck.

Crane in place.

bonus video!

"this was my favorite part"

"mom, this is very cool!"

Happy girl didn't miss all the action.

And they're done.  And we have some dirt!
But we also have a new manhole cover for the
tank, so it won't have to be dug out again
the next time it needs to be pumped.  And we
can FLUSH!

So, what did we learn from a week of pooping in a pail?  We learned that we can do it.  Yes, it's a lot nicer to not have to put on boots and tromp to the garage every morning in the cold, but hello!  What about our pioneer ancestors?  They had to do it every day . . .  forever!  And they didn't have running water in their homes or washing machines or dishwashers.  All those modern conveniences are just that . . . convenient, yes, but we can still survive without them.  (I must say, though, that the every-other-day hot showers at our parents' homes were so much appreciated!)  We are pretty lucky.