Ideas for overcoming odors?

[Stephen]

I have a customer that has a RV park that feeds a 15,000 gal septic tank. The smell from this system is terrible. Over the last two years they've been adding urea to it to mask the smell. When we pumped it, the ammonia smell was almost to much to handle. The treatment plant where we dump would only allow 2 loads a day because the ammonia levels were so high from the urea, and they said they would not allow it again. The RV park stopped adding urea since we last pumped it a few months ago and the smell is back.

I'm sure the system smells so bad because it dead from all the chemicals that RVers put down their tanks. The owner tries to communicate this to his customers but I don't think it stops all of it. Most RVs come in with stuff in the tanks that they then drain into the septic.

They've been trying a daily enzyme additive and it's not working.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I was wandering about aeration. Maybe increasing the oxogen in the system would help. Or maybe some sort of venting system that pulls all the foul air through a carbon filter. I don't like this idea though because in my opinion it doesn't address the real problem (the system is dead) it just hides it.

Thanks,

[COLE_Jeff]

Is the odor coming from the vent pipes? If so, consider charcoal filters. I know lots of Pumpers who have installed them and the odor is gone. Here are links to two long-time Pumper advertisers of filters.

www.stopsepticodor.com
www.sweetair.com

Good Luck,
Jeff

[bearmtnmartin]

I have two customers with RV parks. In both cases I suggested they charge a fee to discourage RV's from dumping their holding tanks. That way they can build a cash reserve for future repairs, and people tend to use the campground facilities more and their own tanks less. It put a big dent in the number of people showing up with full holding tanks.

[Stephen]

Thanks, I'll suggest that too.

[Pete Morici]

There are generally only 4 common sources of smell:

1. Loose cleanout caps
2. A main vent is too short and needs to be extended higher.
3. In times of low barometric pressure, the air coming out of an adjacent vent falls down low to the ground instead of swirling upward and away. A filter helps to “sweeten” the air.
4. Air is escaping the system (underground) and coming up through the soil - Leakage around the lids for example. These leaks are found by smoke testing. The escaping smoke will literally come up through the ground. It’s a good idea to have a camera ready to photograph all areas where smoke comes up through the ground. If you see smoke coming up, you have an infiltration problem as well any time it rains.

A vent filter may be the solution but a smoke test is a thorough test because it also tests the leach field and it'sa great add-on sale. Smoke testing will find repair work for you. You don't need any specialized equipment. Just a wet-vac and a smoke bomb.

[Doug T]

Pete,
How high should the vent pipe be above the roof line?

Just curious because I moved into a newer house in August and on occasion I get the "smell". This is the first home in 30+ years that has beeen hooked to a septic instead of muni sewer.

[Stephen]

Pete, thanks

I've done a little smoke testing awhile back. We bought a cheep fan driven blower that came with smoke bombs. Worked great for that job, just never needed it again. I'll definitely try it here.

Do you know of a good company in the industry to get smoke Bombs from?
I've got a shop vac.

[COLE_Jeff]

You can try http://www.usabluebook.com for bombs, otherwise Hurco and Cherne both make a liquid smoke machine with a built in blower. I am sure others do as well. http://www.gethurco.com or http://www.cherneind.com

[Pete Morici]

Pete, thanks

I've done a little smoke testing awhile back. We bought a cheep fan driven blower that came with smoke bombs. Worked great for that job, just never needed it again. I'll definitely try it here.

Do you know of a good company in the industry to get smoke Bombs from?
I've got a shop vac.

You can buy smoke bombs at http://www.superiorsignal.com/.

I always used a small wet-vac to push the smoke - just plug the hose into the blower-end.

[Stephen]

Thanks again!

[dawzie]

On the septic tank oder problem, I would give Rick at Cape Cod Bio Chemical company a call. They have helped me out with what additive to use, how much and best way to introduce it to the waste stream.

[Kellyseptic]

There are pine deodorizers to hang in vent pipe and on aerobic systems I have seen people cover vent with cedar chips giving it a nice cedar smell but still have enough airflow.

[yspring]

Pine deodorizers??!!!! You need to address why the system smells, not try to mask the smell.

[Kellyseptic]

We know why there is a smell it is caused by another tank dosing into this tank that has grease in it. This causes a smell when tank doses.When you haves a system with grease you will have some smell when adding new waste to tank.