Alabama really is a cesspool

#51
#51
jimed1 said:
That must be a swamp. I can't imagine a septic system costing $25,000 unless serious site improvement is required. Where I live they run $3500 to $4500 for soil that will perk.
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I'm just curious about several things that come to mind after only reading the article and not watching the video:

-How did the dwellings get approved for occupancy without a permit from the health department for a septic system.
-If this is one of the most impoverished counties in Alabama, the residents will more than likely be renters and not owners. How does hte landlord get past this.
-Fixes are expensive. My brother had to put a new one in for $4500. Luckily, we are just over in the county line and not in Putnam. I was having trouble too. My system has been in since 50's. Those concrete tube sections over gravel. Contractor wanted like $900 just for exploratory dig. Plus fixes. Which letting them do it would have ended up requiring that I update. Friend of mine brought over his miniX. Turns out just the cast exit tube was broke off and filled with roots. Dug it back about 15 feet. I fitted a new exit pipe, and replaced about 12 feet of concrete tube and he came and covered it up. $60 materials. I've got one bathroom. and only one exit drain from tank. All I could figure is it goes into woods somewhere. Could be a long single line. Or it could terminate into a gravel pit. Who knows. But it doesn't come up to surface anywhere. Not with the Plateau rock and soil we have. It'll never quit perking where mine is located.
 
#52
#52
Rasputin_Vol said:
Dependence on govt creates no incentive to help yourself. Nor does it attract people that will want to help you because why should they bend over backwards to help someone that doesn't help themselves?

Again, this 60 Minutes story is likely biased and likely is missing A LOT of key details. They may blame the Federal govt or state of Alabama, but I would really be interested to know what part the local politicians play in this...
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One key detail is that a private residence septic field IS NOT infrastructure.
 
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#53
#53
ClearwaterVol said:
showers, baths, hand washings, dish washing, clothes washing all produces waste water and is just as illegal to dump as the turd ridden crap
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I'm sure I'm grandfathered in unless I do major upgrades, but the only thing going into my septic tank is the tub/toilet/kitchen sink. The clothes washer/bathroom sink go out the cellar gray water drain and into the woods. I also have a "mini" sediment tank on the back of the house that the sink goes into first before it goes to the main tank. When house was built it kept it from having to have a two chamber tank for food processing. Every once in a while, I just pull the lid off and spoon out the food solids.
 
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#54
#54
The standards for septic fields favors the installers and permit fees. And local govs control that. In Jackson county a septic permit is about $500-$700. Cross the line into Putnam and just the permit is over $1500. Plus the $4500 plus for the system. If not a part of a new construction loan, I would never be able to just throw down $6000 on a system. Which is why I fixed mine myself outside the counties knowledge.

It is possible to go with a plastic "temporary" tank at a savings. But, if not installed right, it will float on you.
 
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#56
#56
GVF said:
The standards for septic fields favors the installers and permit fees. And local govs control that. In Jackson county a septic permit is about $500-$700. Cross the line into Putnam and just the permit is over $1500. Plus the $4500 plus for the system. If not a part of a new construction loan, I would never be able to just throw down $6000 on a system. Which is why I fixed mine myself outside the counties knowledge.

It is possible to go with a plastic "temporary" tank at a savings. But, if not installed right, it will float on you.
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It takes about 6 hours and passing an open book test to become a licensed septic installer. Then you can buy the tank(s) for 1/2 of retail.
 
#57
#57
hog88 said:
It takes about 6 hours and passing an open book test to become a licensed septic installer. Then you can buy the tank(s) for 1/2 of retail.
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That's not a bad idea. Didn't know that tidbit. If you are good with a back hoe and can level the field lines, the leach line is a fairly easy install. My neighbor back in GA did that stuff, and grading, etc. Got a few perks from him. He even bush hogged my 3 acres twice a year cause I always cut the grass on his entries and down his side of my fences. His house was a road or two over. But, his acreage where he kept his shop and equipment entered next to my place.
 
#58
#58
GVF said:
That's not a bad idea. Didn't know that tidbit. If you are good with a back hoe and can level the field lines, the leach line is a fairly easy install. My neighbor back in GA did that stuff, and grading, etc. Got a few perks from him. He even bush hogged my 3 acres twice a year cause I always cut the grass on his entries and down his side of my fences. His house was a road or two over. But, his acreage where he kept his shop and equipment entered next to my place.
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I've installed a couple systems for friends, not much to a tank, distribution box and basic leach field.
 
#59
#59
hog88 said:
I've installed a couple systems for friends, not much to a tank, distribution box and basic leach field.
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That would be OK. I'm not of the age to want to deal with all the gravel doing a traditional field.
 
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#60
#60
hog88 said:
I've installed a couple systems for friends, not much to a tank, distribution box and basic leach field.
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I had an old dentist uncle in town here. When I was in grad school I lived there for a bit to keep the house occupied. It was close to campus. It had a open concrete trench in the basement. the toilets drained down that and into a concrete pool with a float pump. When it got up, it would pump out to the exterior system. It required a lot of attention to keep flowing and not back up. A sh***ty experience.
 
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#62
#62
hog88 said:
It takes about 6 hours and passing an open book test to become a licensed septic installer. Then you can buy the tank(s) for 1/2 of retail.
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Yep easy to become a septic tank installer . Where the money is at is getting on the county’s “ pre approved “ list of installers for new homes . Like everything , the country controls the approval and it’s a racket .
 
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#63
#63
0nelilreb said:
Yep easy to become a septic tank installer . Where the money is at is getting on the county’s “ pre approved “ list of installers for new homes . Like everything , the country controls the approval and it’s a racket .
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I don't think we have "county approved" installers, if you got the license you're good in any county. The racket here is the approved soil consultants that do the perk testing and design.
 
#64
#64
ClearwaterVol said:
showers, baths, hand washings, dish washing, clothes washing all produces waste water and is just as illegal to dump as the turd ridden crap
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Depending on the jurisdiction this may not be the case. I doubt rural alabama makes the distinction between black and brown water, but in many jurisdictions you are allowed to "down cycle" the waste water you mentioned. Can be used to flush toilets. It takes a certain plumbing design to pull that off but it's one of those big green initiatives to only put human waste in the sewer system.
 
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#65
#65
hog88 said:
I don't think we have "county approved" installers, if you got the license you're good in any county. The racket here is the approved soil consultants that do the perk testing and design.
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They handed me a list of approved installers and told me I didn’t have to chose one on the list but there was no guarantee it would pass inspection . I looked at him and he just shrugged his shoulders . Lol That was in west Tennessee .
 
#66
#66
0nelilreb said:
They handed me a list of approved installers and told me I didn’t have to chose one on the list but there was no guarantee it would pass inspection . I looked at him and he just shrugged his shoulders . Lol That was in west Tennessee .
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I can believe that.
 
#68
#68
Rasputin_Vol said:
I understand perfectly. Some of these people I'm sure were up in this same county with no running water years ago. So how did poor people back in those days solve the problem in Jim Crow Alabama but can't seem to figure it out in Joe Biden's America?
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Answer???
 
#69
#69
Rasputin_Vol said:
Answer???
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It's a good question and deserving of study. I would suggest a narrative case study with a maximum of five households, with the population bounds limited to those households with at least one member who lived in the county for at least ten years with no running water. Plenty of source material for a solid review of literature, and the size of the county will make it easier to search county records for data artifacts.
 
#70
#70
I honestly didn’t even know public dirt roads still existed until I was in Al.

Being called a Northern when I said I was from Nashville was a little shocking too.
 
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#71
#71
AshG said:
It's a good question and deserving of study. I would suggest a narrative case study with a maximum of five households, with the population bounds limited to those households with at least one member who lived in the county for at least ten years with no running water. Plenty of source material for a solid review of literature, and the size of the county will make it easier to search county records for data artifacts.
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Dude, you are way over thinking this. For most people with common sense, it wouldn't have taken long to realize that I don't want to s#!t where I eat.
 
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#73
#73
Rasputin_Vol said:
From what I hear, they have a bunch of those roads in Mississippi.
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Been through Mississippi once on the way to the sugar bowl when OSU player TX AM. That was late 90s. All I remember was an interstate elevated above swamp after swamp after marsh. It did not look inviting.
 
#74
#74
NEO said:
Been through Mississippi once on the way to the sugar bowl when OSU player TX AM. That was late 90s. All I remember was an interstate elevated above swamp after swamp after marsh. It did not look inviting.
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Sounds like southern Mississippi. I was speaking about Starkville area.
 
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