On the second day before Christmas, my sewer gave to me ...

[Tom]

... a handful of tampons, several "flushable" baby wipes, an estimated 7 pounds of toilet paper and a condom. All lower level guest bathrooms backed up into the shower pan. 100% blocked. Fortunately not occupied at the time.
In the dark, in the rain, had to find the clean out (hereafter nicknamed "old faithful") which had become overgrown with turf. Guy with a big snake got it fixed around 8 pm. All clean and disinfected.
So, fellow innkeepers, do you know where your clean out is located?
Now DW wants to put up signs in the bathrooms saying "don't flush that stuff". I said that the kind of people who flush that stuff don't read signs. (I am very opposed to a proliferation of signs.)

 

[JimBoone]

Oh yes, I know where to look, most recent adventure was in the spring, fought with a toilet that should have been okay, replaced it with new as guests arrived, seemed to work, but still a problem the next day, spend the day or wasted it, eventually determined that the lift pump on septic had failed along with the alarm to tell me of the pump failure, problem just hit the one room first as it was the lowest point on the line.
Two prior failures of the years, at least those times the alarm worked, of course both of them occurred after bedtime in the pouring rain, fun business at times isn't it

 

[gillumhouse]

Sooooo thankful to have city water and city sewer. Having grown up with having neither, I truly APPRECIATE those services. It is one bill each month I do not mind paying.

 

[Morticia]

Yes! I know where old faithful is! And thank goodness, too!

 

[Jcam]

Its why I would say to any newbie who is looking at buying - do you really think you can manage a septic system? I personally would never buy a property which is not on mains water/gas and electric - just can't trust guests not to do things they shouldn't. plus system always fails when you are choca block!

 

[JimBoone]

Its why I would say to any newbie who is looking at buying - do you really think you can manage a septic system? I personally would never buy a property which is not on mains water/gas and electric - just can't trust guests not to do things they shouldn't. plus system always fails when you are choca block!.

Its why I would say to any newbie who is looking at buying - do you really think you can manage a septic system? I personally would never buy a property which is not on mains water/gas and electric - just can't trust guests not to do things they shouldn't. plus system always fails when you are choca block!

Not really that big of a deal, I've spent most of my life in small towns or rural areas where sewerage was not available, even for this business 3 septic issues in 25 years doesn't make a major problem, on 2 of those the only real issue was going out in the rain to turn off the alarm and calling the pumper, just another system that you need to keep an eye on during the years.

 

[user 26]

I'm a city girl. Had no idea I couldn't just flush it all away. Not everything, I wasn't/am not that obnoxious. But ... I Really took for granted the city system. If something was flushed that caused a clog, it was just the toilet that had to be worked on ...
Running a b&b on septic, I HAD to post those little signs right next to the tp dispenser because a lot (many? most?) of my guests flushed more than they should have including yes, some of the most ridiculous things without thinking. I had to be educated very quickly about the rules because I just didn't know. If you don't post a sign, don't assume your guests know the rules of use and how a septic system works.
The whole system had to be replaced by the new owner as it was failing. I don't know where she expanded it to ... maybe bought some of the adjoining property. We had a couple emergencies a year.
https://www.innspiring.com/node/1705

 

[EmptyNest]

Its why I would say to any newbie who is looking at buying - do you really think you can manage a septic system? I personally would never buy a property which is not on mains water/gas and electric - just can't trust guests not to do things they shouldn't. plus system always fails when you are choca block!.

We had no issues with our septic it just needed its regular maintenance and thankfully never had a toilet clogging issue. I don't think this should prevent someone from buying a B&B with a septic system.

 

[gillumhouse]

I'm a city girl. Had no idea I couldn't just flush it all away. Not everything, I wasn't/am not that obnoxious. But ... I Really took for granted the city system. If something was flushed that caused a clog, it was just the toilet that had to be worked on ...
Running a b&b on septic, I HAD to post those little signs right next to the tp dispenser because a lot (many? most?) of my guests flushed more than they should have including yes, some of the most ridiculous things without thinking. I had to be educated very quickly about the rules because I just didn't know. If you don't post a sign, don't assume your guests know the rules of use and how a septic system works.
The whole system had to be replaced by the new owner as it was failing. I don't know where she expanded it to ... maybe bought some of the adjoining property. We had a couple emergencies a year.
https://www.innspiring.com/node/1705.

I have never lived with a septic system. Daddy put one in AFTER we moved to town - for the renters - and of course a cistern so it would have water. While I lived on the farm (we left my freshman year) we hauled water 5 miles in 5, 8, & 10 gallon milk cans and had a well-worn path to the deluxe 2-seater. My poor Mother grew up in Chicago - she was transported to the dark ages.

 

[Morticia]

For everyone commenting on buying a property with town sewer - we are on town water & sewer. The sewer has backed up twice in 12 years. We now have the entire line reamed out every 2 years. At our expense. The town takes over once the line hits the street, between the house and the street it's the property owner's problem.
So, yeah, I know where the clean out is. However, when we asked the PO's about the pipe in the lawn, they had no idea what that pipe was for.
It's good to know because you can relieve the pressure that is pushing the sewage back into the house where it causes the most damage - $10k in the first 3 months we were here. Some of it covered by insurance, but not the Sunday overtime for the plumber with the reaming equipment. Not the downtime on the room where the sewage backed up. Not the lost income refunding the guests in that room and paying their hotel bill to stay elsewhere.
BTW, no matter where I have lived, or on what kind of system, I've always flushed a lot of stuff that you're not supposed to without a bit of trouble. So, your guests are not going to know.

 

[Jcam]

Its why I would say to any newbie who is looking at buying - do you really think you can manage a septic system? I personally would never buy a property which is not on mains water/gas and electric - just can't trust guests not to do things they shouldn't. plus system always fails when you are choca block!.

We had no issues with our septic it just needed its regular maintenance and thankfully never had a toilet clogging issue. I don't think this should prevent someone from buying a B&B with a septic system.
.

its more about
(1) think very carefully and make sure you know about it - septic in the UK is very rare and making sure you are fully educated in how it works, where things are and so on - and even more importantly who to call!
(2) We had 1 saniflow toilet where toilet contents are liquidised then fed into the main system - we spent £2500 in 4 years just keeping it running basically all the profits of that room went into keeping it functioning - despite signs all over the bathroom and telling every guest on check in - therefore running an 11 bedroom B&B on a septic system which also cannot absorb the same things a saniflow can't feels like my worst nightmare.X 11

 

[Tom]

As usual, good comments. Mort is right: doesn't matter city or septic, the lines still can clog. I may adopt the every few years prophylactic clean out idea. And maybe the signs are a good idea. It can cause a lot of damage.

 

[JBloggs]

Its why I would say to any newbie who is looking at buying - do you really think you can manage a septic system? I personally would never buy a property which is not on mains water/gas and electric - just can't trust guests not to do things they shouldn't. plus system always fails when you are choca block!.

We had no issues with our septic it just needed its regular maintenance and thankfully never had a toilet clogging issue. I don't think this should prevent someone from buying a B&B with a septic system.
.

We had no issues with our septic it just needed its regular maintenance and thankfully never had a toilet clogging issue. I don't think this should prevent someone from buying a B&B with a septic system.

Worst than that are the newer lo flo toilets that clog all the time.
I also remember an incident wherein I went from one B&B to another the next night and one B&B had the septic friendly thin fingers run through it TP and the next one had some luxurious 10,000 ply TP that clogged the toilet just by thinking about using it.

 

[Morticia]

As usual, good comments. Mort is right: doesn't matter city or septic, the lines still can clog. I may adopt the every few years prophylactic clean out idea. And maybe the signs are a good idea. It can cause a lot of damage..

As usual, good comments. Mort is right: doesn't matter city or septic, the lines still can clog. I may adopt the every few years prophylactic clean out idea. And maybe the signs are a good idea. It can cause a lot of damage.

Good punning...
We've found scheduling the clean out to suit us, rather than waiting for disaster, is the way to go.

 

[Lee2014]

Its why I would say to any newbie who is looking at buying - do you really think you can manage a septic system? I personally would never buy a property which is not on mains water/gas and electric - just can't trust guests not to do things they shouldn't. plus system always fails when you are choca block!.

We had no issues with our septic it just needed its regular maintenance and thankfully never had a toilet clogging issue. I don't think this should prevent someone from buying a B&B with a septic system.
.

We had no issues with our septic it just needed its regular maintenance and thankfully never had a toilet clogging issue. I don't think this should prevent someone from buying a B&B with a septic system.

Worst than that are the newer lo flo toilets that clog all the time.
I also remember an incident wherein I went from one B&B to another the next night and one B&B had the septic friendly thin fingers run through it TP and the next one had some luxurious 10,000 ply TP that clogged the toilet just by thinking about using it.
.

We had no issues with our septic it just needed its regular maintenance and thankfully never had a toilet clogging issue. I don't think this should prevent someone from buying a B&B with a septic system.

Worst than that are the newer lo flo toilets that clog all the time.

Amen! We have a sign next to the only guest one. Hold down handle for more water if needed, etc. After we had a problem with two guests that were in there the same week…. We think the first set was flushing stuff down to hide from other in their party.
For a plug in a sink or tub/shower we found that a shop vac does a wonderful job without a mess. Just a heavy piece of equipment to haul away…plug hole in cord with towels so no spilling out.