Septic Tank Emptying Service

As a side note to our building project we had the septic tank emptying service call at our rental house this morning.

Rotamould style plastic septic tank

My Thai is improving modestly but I confess that at first I didn’t quite understand what the man at the front gate was saying, I recognised the word Hong Nam (???????) the Thai word for toilet or bathroom – like many Thai words this is a compound litteral word consisting of Hong (????) means room and Nam (???) means water. Together it is the water room, the toilet or the bathroom so at first I thought he was saying that we wanted to use our toilet which I thought was strange and then it clicked he was asking if our septic tank needed emptying – duh !

This is a task that is generally considered an annual requirement, we had quick look and although we have only been in the house for six months the tank definitely needed to be emptied, its a relatively new house in a housing development does not really have a leech field as far as I can see.

So the service was booked and completed a few hours later when the pump truck turned up, cost 1000 Baht ( approx $30 USD )

What is a Septic System ?

A “septic system” is basically a private, on-site waste disposal system. It takes in solid waste and grey waste water  from a building’s plumbing facilities (bathrooms, kitchens, shower, laundry) and treats, and then disposes of the effluent from this waste, by permitting it to absorb or leech into soils at the property.

Septic effluent treatment occurs due to the bacteria inside the “septic” or “treatment” tank and  the soil around and below the effluent absorption system, or “leech field.” The bacterial action breaks down and reduces the level of pathogens in the effluent that is discharged from the waste system into the soil.

If your looking for more information on how septic tanks work check out some of this excellent resource.

The Septic System Owner’s Manual

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