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This is a super rare photo of me during a septic pumpout. The machine I’m running is called the crust buster and stirs up the tank so we can guarantee
This is me running the crust buster during a septic pumpout
we clean the tank well.
This picture was taken by my customer. He was a pleasure to work for and it’s rare to see someone want to take a picture and then share it.
This picture was taken in the camas, washougal area just outside of vancouver.
Be cautious about plumbers attempting septic repairs. Always check qualifications. Your local health department will have a list of those trained to diagnose and repair septic systems. This plumber in this testimonial was not certified. And wrote up an estimate of nearly $5,000.00 for repairs.
Proof of this can be found on my facebook page. www.facebook.com/firstcallseptic The homeowner lives in Colorado, and the distance is daunting to when it comes up to these types of problems.
To read the entire testimonial by the homeowner click here. https://www.facebook.com/firstcallseptic/posts/343687882369817
Wow, Yesterday. I don’t even know where to begin. Wow. You’ll see.
I got a distress call from a homeowner in Colorado. A Tenant had called up a plumber. This plumber came into the house and verified that the septic system was backing up in the house. From this walk through, five minutes, was able to tell the septic tanks need pumped, wastewater was under the house, and was going to charge $800 to inspect the septic system. Their total estimate for repairs, for which they aren’t certified to diagnose or repair, was $4,300.00 $2,500.00 of which was for septic cleanup under the house.
Homeowner was very stressed. She is in Colorado and is so limited by distance. I told her I would be there in the morning to find out what’s wrong.
Truth-be-told, I was expecting a long day of swimming in sewage. I showed up in really old, throw-away clothes. I was sure I was going to have a bad day.
When I arrived I had to run some tests on an effluent pump. I determined that this was the cause of the backup.
I replaced the pump and the system is running normally. There is no wastewater in the crawlspace.
Their total bill was about $582.00. A Far cry from the $4,300.00 estimate. Always call for a second opinion. Even if it’s me. There are crooked companies attempting to work on septic systems that aren’t certified, and costing homeowner’s thousands of dollars.
There is more stories to this house, but that’s another incident, and another post.
Dear Ronnie,
You were awsome today. Your willingness to respond on a holiday weekend was a life saver. We really appreciate your patience, politeness and understanding. The fact that you took the time to explain in detail to multiple people the workings of septic systems was cool. Your knowledge of not only your job but state and federal regulations shows your dedication to your work. I especially liked how you looked up county records and knew more about this system than I.
The care you took bringing in your equipment to not damage trees and only digging up what you needed to preserve the property and not hurt our mother earth. Your over the phone quote was spot on and options to lower the bill is appreciated. I can’t tell you the last business I dealt with,with great customer service like yours. Your positive attitude, care, concern, patience, and honesty speak volumes of you as a person. You surely saved our weekend gathering and I’m sure my aunt Maja (home owner) will be pleased when she finds out. Thanks to you I now know more about poo, enzymes and bacteria than I ever did before. Many blessings and many thanks.
Darren Penland
Darren,
It was really no problem at all. I enjoyed your family’s company and
kindness. Also know this. In the eight years I have been driving a septic
truck, I have never had anyone Ever walk my truck all the way out to the
road as you did. I really appreciated that, and it made second job, truck
driver, so much easier.
Thanks a million,
Ronnie
Dog rescued from a sinkhole caused by an old septic tank, cesspool, or cistern.
Here is just another example of getting these aging systems checked out from time-to-time. And this was done by the weight of a dog. It’s not even worth thinking about if the grandkids came over for a visit.
Thank God no one got hurt,
Thanks for reading,
Ronnie
This homeowner decided that he wanted to install an RV dump. Now you have to be careful with RV wastewater. There are two things wrong with RV wastewater.
RV dump added to septic system
1. The septic system was designed to take wastewater at small doses. Not 250 gallons at a time. It really stirs up the tank and causes the sludge layer to become stirred up and carried out to the drainfield.
2. The little packets that you have to put in the toilet to control the odors are not septic approved. Now they may say “all natural” and “biodegradable” and that usually gives one a warm squishy feeling that it must be septic safe. But all of those packets are really low on the PH scale. Meaning acidic. You have to kill bacteria to control odor. So in effect, you are dumping 250 gallons of sanitized wastewater into your septic tank, effectively killing the bacteria. Let alone what’s happening in #1.
But in this case, the pictures show that the RV dump was placed incorrectly. He completely plugged up his drainfield. Drainfields can handle water only. No solids at all. So as it is set up at his house. Household wastewater flows from the house, to the septic tank, and exits to the drainfield. A correctly installed RV dump would be placed in-between the house and the septic tank. That way the RV waste would have some septic tank treatment, and solids separation before heading out the drainfield. You can see in the pictures attached that the RV Dump was placed between the septic tank and the drainfield.
Modifications to your septic system should be done by someone qualified. Or at least call us for a consult over the phone before an expensive mistake happens.
RV Dump added to Septic System 2
Repair pictures to follow.
Thanks for reading,
Ronnie
Facebook First Call Septic Service
Have a look at our facebook page. Please click like if you like what you see. One of our customer’s posted a testimonial on the page.
They were responding to a blog post that I put on there about their own home. They were in a very bad situation about a competitor who caused them to nearly lose a house sale. Please goto the facebook page and read about it. It’s a real eye opener.
Yesterday, Christopher Gross and I spent 6 hours on one job. Yikes. Now the good news. My competitor wrote it up as a complete system failure. BTW, my competitor installs septic systems. Slight conflict of interest. I was called for a second opinion. Now the system was busted up, hence 6 hour repair. 1 hour was me spent inside the septic tank patching it. Good times, btw, but at least I was out of the rain. ha ha. So back to the good news. My competitor quoted $20,000.00 to replace the system. That’s no joke, and I wish I could prove it. Homeowner called us, and we ran a plethora of tests. I determined that the system was not failed, that I, in fact, could fix it. I put in an estimate of $1,400.00 to repair the system. A couple of things came up during the repair, and the final bill was $1550.00. Those items came up during the excavation of the tank, and we cannot see under the ground. ha ha. Anyhow, needless to say. Homeowner is really happy that the repairs were done, and at a fair price. And he should get another 5 to 10 years out of it. Now he just needs to keep it clean. 
Thanks for reading,
Ronnie
Sewage backing up on drainfield
Here is a couple of pictures of sewage backing up out of the drainfield. It is full of bacteria and pathogens. That is what is making that black tar color. This has been going on for some time. It kinda dries up in the summer but it’s still smelly and gross. And is contaminating surface to ground water. This drainfield needs dug up and find out what’s going on. Chances are this drainfield has reached the end of it’s life.
Close up Sewage backing up on the drainfield
Today is going to be a bit of a logistical nightmare. I get to jet out and vacuum out a drainfield. Okay, I know what you’re thinking. How hard can that be? Well, it’s under a house. This is going to be tight, and the first time it’s ever been attempted. I will try to capture pics, but honestly. I don’t want to ruin my camera. But I will try.
And after that, I get to help an old friend with their septic on their house. I think my competitor may have scared them a bit. We’ll get er fixed.
And after that, the only thing you’ll see is the taillights of my motorcycle as I head to my friends place. It’s saturday. Thank God for work, Beer, and friends.
This happened in Portland, Or.
Please get your livestock off your septic tank. This horse was lucky. I let homeowner know that they shouldn’t have livestock on their septic systems. And I always get back that it’s never broke in yet. But it’ only breaks once. You don’t simply fix this.
And this horse was lucky. Happy ending to this situation.
If you love horses, and you have a septic system, then this video is a must see.
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