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+--- Thread: How could we find our cesspool? (/showthread.php?tid=17319)
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How could we find our cesspool? - freespirit - 06-18-2016
Aloha,
We bought our house in 2009 and have no idea where the cesspool in whatsoever. Our home was built in !971.
Does the county keep records of where placed or anything on properties?
Not really familiar with cesspools only septics. Do cesspools have covers and how do you access them to check and see if they are still working properly?
We have been having plumbing issues last couple weeks so just wondering if I should check the cess or not but I have no clue on how to do this as I do not even know where to look.
Thanks much.
RE: How could we find our cesspool? - Tink - 06-19-2016
Aloha free spirit.
Yes County Building department will have records of the location. It should be on the "plot plan", showing distances from property line, house, etc.
If you are adventurous though, most cesspools/septic tanks are in line perpendicular with the bathroom window, as the largest pipe size is found there, all others, such as kitchen sink, laundry, are on smaller pipes. You can verify by looking under house looking for a three or four inch black pipe sloping hopefully slightly downhill until it disappears into the ground. If on a slab, see if you can find loose fill under the bathroom window, or in line with the toilet. You may find a large sewer pipe clean out there.
Now, lava is hard, nobody likes trenching, and pipe has to be a minimum of quarter inch per foot, so pit should be approximately six to ten feet from house. Look for a cover marker. If you can't seem to locate one, look for a small dip in the terrain, check there. If needed, take a sledgehammer or large rock and drop it on the ground. Tone will change when you drop over the cover.
Good luck on your adventure if you choose, and be sure to make notes on distances from X and Y markers, etc. for next time!
Community begins with Aloha
RE: How could we find our cesspool? - freespirit - 06-19-2016
Aloha "Tink"
Much Mahalo for the information for us to start with, very appreciated.
RE: How could we find our cesspool? - Carey - 06-19-2016
Freespirit... Our house was built about the same time as yours & the county building dept does NOT have any of the plans (they didn't keep them at that time & I have heard various renditions as to whether they keep them now...I only know that they also did not have any copies of a fully permitted & finaled studio addition that was put on our house in 2000...) Also be aware that the building dept may have quite a while to even find you records (when we were buying we requested a copy of the county report (this only has dates & county memos & stuff) to make sure everything that was done was permitted & finaled...they assured us it was & our real estate agent got us a "quick" report 4 weeks later, but we got the county copy 11 months later...in which they found the addition that was permitted & finaled never had an electrical inspection, according to their records...(boy, was that a fun day for me at the building dept!)
HOWEVER you are not totally out of luck if the county does not have your house plans... the Dept of Health, 1582 Kamehameha (near to Couquis Bar) may have the cesspool plans on file & they also have it while you wait... the card copy we got is a rough estimate with a simplified drawing, but got us close... TTo pinpoint you may need a more professional service (some will go through your drain with a detector for absolute finding...)
ADD: Looking for a slight dip could work, but for us, with 40 years of landscaping & an addition....no such luck...same with banging a sledge around...too many years had gone by & soil had built up in the intervening years...
RE: How could we find our cesspool? - kalakoa - 06-19-2016
County lost many property records in the 1996 floods.
There is at least one "lava tube cesspool" connected to a fully finaled house, apparently during a rush to clear up old permits, probably for tax purposes. (Before my time ... but I've seen the plumbing.)
A pressure washer might be the best tool for locating the concrete cap, and for clearing it once it's found.
RE: How could we find our cesspool? - nanasohana - 06-19-2016
Dowse? I found our sewer line here in oklahoma through the yard this way.
https://cynthiasuelarson.wordpress.com/2014/05/06/learn-how-to-dowse-with-wire-coat-hangers/
RE: How could we find our cesspool? - terracore - 06-24-2016
The engineer we hired to inspect our house (he came HIGHLY recommended) couldn't find the cesspool and then pulled out some divining rods and used them to pinpoint the cesspool location.
He was way off. If your engineer uses witchcraft... I'm not making any judgments here... If your engineer uses witchcraft, use an engineer who's witchcraft works.
Months later I found the cesspool when doing yard work and hit something concrete with a shovel. Using skills I learned while watching Indiana Jones as a child, I quickly found the cesspool edges.
Here's another trick that works in the early morning or evening, or whenever your neighborhood's "quiet time" is. Turn a faucet in your house on and walk around your house listening for the sound of the drain water falling from the pipe into the cesspool. It will sound like a tiny underground waterfall. It will be very quiet through the ground, but if its quiet enough outside you just MIGHT hear it. On our lot I can only hear it if I'm directly on top of the cesspool, but my hearing isn't very good. You can also look for the cesspool opening (the pump out hatch) hidden in landscaping.
RE: How could we find our cesspool? - HereOnThePrimalEdge - 06-24-2016
Turn a faucet in your house on and walk around your house listening for the sound of the drain water falling from the pipe into ...
In conjunction with this technique, you could buy an inexpensive stethoscope from Amazon to amplify the sound. Start from your house and work your way to the tank.
“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”
-Joseph Brodsky
RE: How could we find our cesspool? - terracore - 06-25-2016
FWIW, your plumbing problems are probably not related to your cesspool. Here's some old threads:
http://www.punaweb.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17071
http://www.punaweb.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=20220
http://www.punaweb.org/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=20011
RE: How could we find our cesspool? - HI_Someday - 06-26-2016
Terracore: "He was way off. If your engineer uses witchcraft... I'm not making any judgments here... If your engineer uses witchcraft, use an engineer who's witchcraft works.
Months later I found the cesspool when doing yard work and hit something concrete with a shovel. Using skills I learned while watching Indiana Jones as a child, I quickly found the cesspool edges."
So much Win in this post! Got a good belly laugh - thanks Terracore.