In this article, Clarke Watson explains what can happen if you abandon a septic tank. He is uniquely qualified to explain this since he is a septic system specialist and the owner of Advanced Septic Solutions in Scottsdale, Arizona. In addition, he has installed, repaired, inspected, and designed hundreds of septic systems during the course of his career.
Abandoned septic tanks are a scary thing for a lot of reasons, but one of the biggest issues is the concern over someone or something falling in. If the cavity of a septic tank is not properly filled after its years in use are over, then there is a real risk that you or someone else could fall in.
Even worse than that is what can happen to the leeching area. Historically, these leeching areas used to turn into cesspools and things like that. That happened because homeowners in those times didn’t know any better, so the water would just go into empty holes in the ground, as opposed to a hole filled with rock like we do now.
In my career, we have actually run across a few of those types of old systems where the septic tank got covered over with wood and dirt. What happens is the wood decays over the years, and the next thing you know, a hole is in your backyard that is 30 or 40 feet deep with nothing in it. That is a scary thing for a homeowner to discover one day.
But again, those are usually issues that are concerns for people with older styles of homes. For people who have homes that are slightly newer, there is a different concern. The owners of new homes should watch out for fiberglass tanks. And if they have one, then they should look into what is going on with that tank.
Depending on when people bought their homes, there was a time when fiberglass tanks were a common septic-tank style. And those fiberglass tanks are still out there. The problem is that these tanks can collapse on you even if they are brand new. So whether you have a fiberglass tank that is brand new or old, full or empty, they are not structurally sound and they could collapse at any time.
I have only run into one tank like this in my experience, so they are not common. Still, this was a tank that I was afraid to stand on. But definitely if you put a vehicle, a motorcycle, or a bicycle on of these tanks they would easily collapse and cause major harm. That is why it is so important that homeowners take proper care of their septic systems and do not let them fall into a state of disrepair.
