How much does septage weigh?
Question:
Anyone have a link or documentation on the average weight of septage?
Answers:
Water weighs 8.34 pounds per gallon. I use this number and, with a little variation, it works for septage as well as grease trap waste.
***
Start with the weight of water. The weight of septage will change depending on the total solids content.
***
I’ve always assumed grit weighs a lot more than septage, and could cause a weight problem if let go for long periods. It should be the same weight as sand.
***
I just did a quick Internet hunt and found that water has a specific gravity (SG) of 1.000 @ 39 degrees. Water containing particulates can have a SG of 1.005 up to 2.500.
Basically, the higher content of solids, the heavier the liquid. That’s why the sludge is in the bottom of the septic tank. It’s heavier. The 2.500 would have to be the absolute top end and much heavier than general sand or dirt. I usually ballpark it at 9 pounds per gallon.
How do we enhance customer education?
Question:
I believe we can all benefit by listening to each other’s experiences. The latest topic is additives: good, bad, whatever. The worst additive is the trash that homeowners load into a septic system. I recently discovered a septic tank that had not been pumped for three years since installation. I know; I installed it. I had a pumper come out; it took him three hours to get all the wadded paper and whatever from the tank. A pump tank followed the septic tank, which had 2 feet of solids on the bottom and 2 feet floating. I don’t even want to talk about the disposal field. Now, mind you, this is a house that sold for $450,000.
As long as people’s ignorance prevails, guys like me will always have something to comment on.
Answers:
One of the biggest challenges here is to get a homeowner to think of an onsite system as a living and breathing system, and not a landfill. I ask people if they would buy a house next to a landfill, and when they give me a strange look, I then ask them why they would want to de-value their property with cheap service from companies that inject the waste back into the ground and ruin your system, and do it for a few bananas less than me.
The “I don’t care” mentality is popular because there will be some low-priced company willing to give service away.
***
I hand out a sheet outlining the do’s and don’t of septic systems to all of my customers. On the sheet I talk about the right and wrong toilet paper to use: Avoid any two-ply toilet paper and only use single-ply paper. A lot of my customers use Scott Tissue, but Cottonelle works very well. I’ve had those jobs where it took three hours to clean a tank due to heavy toilet paper use.
What are wages for a new driver?
Question:
How much money per hour should an inexperienced and experienced route driver make?
Answers:
I would say it depends greatly on your market or region. In the Long Island, N.Y., area, you might be looking at $9 to $13 per hour for an inexperienced/new guy, or $10-$16 for experience/knowledge. And what about benefits, insurance and retirement?
***
I wish I could get help to work for that. Here in British Columbia, Canada, it’s $21 to start, and I trained him. He was already a pretty good driver though.
***
In Alabama, rates run from $10 to $12 per hour to start.
***
Helpers start at $8 per hour. My best driver is close to $20 per hour.
***
I have one part-time driver who is paid $12 per hour with no benefits. I am in the Baltimore metro area.
One poster’s rant about cheap customers
I feel there is a difference between a customer and a loyal customer. A person who is a price shopper is a customer who usually won’t call me back once I give them a price. I’m only a little higher than Charlie Cheapo down the road, but these callers are worried about price, not service. When customers tell me they can get a tank pumped $25 cheaper, I tell them it’s a deal. Call him back; I will not drop my price. Sometimes I will get a return call a few days later and the same customer will want me to pump their tank because Charlie Cheapo has not shown up in the last three days. This happened to me twice last week. The customer then has the nerve to complain about the price on the phone, so I tell them we provide great service. We’re on time, dressed in uniforms, make phone calls a couple of days after the service to make sure our service went well, answer all the customer’s questions, etc.
Then there is a loyal customer whom I have worked for over the last 20 years and never mentions price, just asks when I can provide the service. These are the type of customers I will bend over backwards for.
To me, great service is not cheap, but it is valuable.
