Septic Tank Locating Services

Can't find that buried septic tank cover? JR's can provide septic tank locating and digging services. 

Most septic tank covers are a round, concrete cover, about 27 inches in diameter. Some older systems may have a square or rectangular cover and some have a steel septic tank with a steel cover. We use a variety of methods to locate a buried septic tank manhole cover. Sometimes we can see a slight low or high spot in the yard indicating where the cover had been dug up in the past. If we find a likely spot, we will then probe the ground with a steel probe in that area looking for the cover. Steel tanks can easily be located with a metal detector. 

Many times we'll go into the basement to see where the sewer pipe exits through the wall. We'll then scan the yard about 10 to 20 feet directly out from where the sewer pipe exits the basement looking for signs of the buried cover. The most difficult ones are full gravity systems where the sewer line exits underneath the foundation of the house giving no clues as to which side of the house the tank is. Winter conditions create many more difficulties as the area will likely be covered with snow leaving no visual clues. Also, most of the time the ground will be frozen making probing the ground difficult or impossible.

On the right are some of the electronic locators we use. If the septic tank cannot be found using simpler methods, our last option is our electronic septic tank locator. The small orange capsule shown is actually a floating radio transmitter. We flush this miniature transmitter down a toilet. From there, the transmitter will follow the sewer line finally ending up inside the septic tank. We then proceed outdoors with the locator. The transmitter, now inside the septic tank, sends out a dedicated signal that the locator picks up. We then probe the ground above the signal to locate the actual septic tank cover.

Fees for locating and digging services will vary and are usually done on a time and materials basis. Extreme winter conditions will sometimes even require the thawing of the soil above the septic tank to allow us to dig up the cover in the frozen soil. If you can't find that tank... just give us a call.