Septic tank cleaning

My septic tank was meant to be emptied today as I noticed that the drains were backing up. I wasn't here when they came but I do know that they were here as a friend drove past and saw the truck in the drive plus there are are wheel marks on the lawn.
It doesn't appear that they did much as there is still a lot of water sitting in the mushroom and they haven't dug to uncover the trap. When the neighbours tank was done (which happens to be in my front lawn, lol) the company that did that dug and uncovered the trap. Buggers didn't refill the hole though.
Should this company have dug down to uncover the trap and emptied it that way or do they just put the hose down the mushroom? The company didn't ring to say they couldn't do it for any reason.

they simply suck it out from the mushroom, and cycle the water through a trap, and put the water back in minus all solids

if they sucked it dry and drove away you'd be livid by tomorrow, the stench would be unbearable, and the neighbours would be protesting by next week

Hmm, are you sure? Because everything I read says that tanks cannot be emptied through the mushroom as this only sucks up the water and not the solid.

Normally its your job uncover the trap, they charge extra for doing this. They are supposed to move the hose all around inside the tank to get the muck out of the corners, you can't do this througth the mushroom (square concrete tank).The suction hose does not normally fit down the mushroom. They used to charge me $700.00 for a pump out. Check with you local council or rural supply agent on what thier protocols are.

Yup, this is about right. I remember when I was a kid we had our septic tank in Alaska emptied via the vent pipes but it had 5-6 of them scattered around the entire yard. So, probably a different set up. Asked the guy last time we had ours here done, said the same thing can't empty through the mushroom. Our first empty was about $200 7-8 years ago, recent one was $500. Ouch. But I guess people charge if you're going to give them a lot of shit.

The reality is different companies do it in different ways for different prices, so unless you specify the exact service you want them most companies will assume you want the quickest job for the lowest price.

The lowest cost is to remove the mushroom, suck, rinse, re-suck, put the mushroom back, job done.

For a higher price you can ask them to uncover the septic tank. remove the lid.manipulate the hose around the tank to suck out as much water and solids as practical. Then cycle the water back through the tank to remove other sludge.

AND for the best companies BUT at a higher price, they will then use poles and a high pressure wash to dislodge any remaining sediment, then replace the lid, then back fill as required.

It is a sh*tty job, (pun intended) so if practical I'd also suggest being there when the job is done because unless it is an owner operator with a good reputation, then you may just get a lacky turn up who despite being told to do a good job, may just decide no one is looking so kick a bit of dirt around, pop off the mushroom and then do a quick suck n run. who would know. ?

Thanks for the replies. I rang the company this morning saying it was still full and to ask what the problem was. They were going to contact the driver and ask if there was an issue and ring me back. Will see what they have to say.

]Chances are they may just try to fob you off, there's no money in going back to a job unless you have proof it was not done in accordance with the low or high price you paid.

Likewise if you didn't specify a standard of cleaning required then it is an open argument about whether they did a good enough job.

I doubt there is a council septic tank cleaning standard, other than to say tanks shall be cleaned as and when required, but not to any particular quality. There would be tight rules around disposal of the waste, but the quality and extent of the cleaning would be up to the owner to dictate and the operator to comply.

Depending on the tank setup you could stick a long pole down the mushroom to see how far it goes before meeting resistance from sludge.

I have seen an expert clean a septic tank, to the point of taking the lid off and using a ladder to climb inside with a pick to get the last bits of hard crusty bits in the corners out. phew. .smelly as job. Then the tank was 70% filled with water to reduce the pong.

So depending on when the tank was last cleaned, and how it was cleaned, and how long the thick heavy sludge has been sitting in the bottom and corners of the tank, then it would be safe to assume that if they only sucked out from the mushroom then it is probably less than 50% clean.

But if a tank needs cleaning every 5-7 years then it could be at least 2-3 years before you notice anything wrong.

It should have the lid opened and sucked out. Most tanks have two chambers separated by a half height wall inside. The first chamber will be very sludgy. Wise to at least half fill with water after cleaning to stop the tank "floating" out of the ground if the water table is high.

just had ours done, dug up the lawn to find the trap,$380 and needs doing every 3 to 4 years. When we got the lim it had all the specs for the tank so that is handy, with an excellent plan of where everything is.