Time to Dump

A poster new to the liquid waste industry wonders how treatment plants differ in handling the offloading of septic waste

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This feature in Pumper reports noteworthy conversations that take place in Pumper Discussion, an email-based forum for industry professionals sponsored by COLE Publishing. Pumper Discussion provides for the exchange of information and ideas on septic and drainfield installation and maintenance, trucks and equipment, portable sanitation, chemicals and additives. To find out more about Pumper Discussion, or to subscribe, visit www.pumper.com.

Information and advice in Overheard Online is offered in good faith by industry professionals. However, readers should consult in depth with appropriate industry sources before applying such advice to a specific business situation.

 

Question:

What are the procedures that most waste dumping sites have for drivers? I am new to the industry.

 

Answers:

Once you are registered with the dump station, you pull up, sign a ticket that has your information on it, then hook up to their hose, if they have that setup, or you use your own if dumping into a pit. You can either blow out when all the liquid is out, or if you have a lift on your tank you can use that. Disconnect and leave and they send you the bill at the end of the month. That’s how the municipalities have it set up around me anyway.

 

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Same around here. But they take a sample out of every load.

 

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We pull up anytime, day or night, scan a card reader, hook up our hose and open the valve. The system monitors pH and conductivity and so no testing is required ahead of time, it will just shut you down if you bring in a toxic load. They don’t like us to pressure off but we run the pump and regulate pressure with our three-way valve on the pump to maintain about 2 or 3 psi, just enough to help it flow a little faster. We get a bill at the end of the month.

Oh, and then there’s the landfill. Weigh in, go back up to the pond and pressure it off as fast as possible. We built a chute out of 4-inch pipe to keep our truck clean. We receive monthly billing there as well.

 

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We have one private dumpsite where they do all the work for us. We back in and they pump the truck off with a dual diaphragm pump. Then we sign the ticket and leave. Pretty easy. At three other sites, we hook up, punch the code in and dump. One requires us to check pH first; the other two do it during the process.

At one of the sites, it used to be the equivalent of dumping in a manhole. That was a quick offload. It had a nice slant where you parked too. With a 6-inch dump, my 3,400-gallon truck was empty by the time I got the paperwork done. I miss that setup.



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