What is the difference between a house with a septic tank, and one with a public sewer?

homes on septic are typically in areas with larger lots or just rural. it is very expensive to install sewer lines and then direct all the sewage to one place and then treat it and then recycle it or dump it in a river or something. they need to tax many people to make it affordable so it you are in a small polulation area, with larger lots they usually do not bother as the septic system is better ecologically and costwise. The septic is more natural and old fasioned. the larger lot has room for an underground treatment facility of its own. It consists of a large tank that accepts the effluent. it is usually concrete but can be some sort of plastic. this tank provides a settling place for the sewage where the sludge sinks to bottom and is gradually consumed by aneorbic bacteria. the scum floats to the top and is prevented form escaping by a barrier, the fluid remaining is relatively unobstructed with particulate matter of larger sizes and flows gently by gravity out to a grid of large pipes that are spread over the ground about 1 feet below surface. these pipes have many holes in bottom that allow the fluid to sink thru a gravel drainage pit trench into the soil and gardually disspate in a natural fashion as it fertilizes and waters the soil. (hence the old expression in country " the grass is always greener over the septic tank") This grid must be a certian minimum distance from any water wells used for drinking water to avoid contamination. usually about 100-150 feet, so you can see why they need an acre or so of lot size to allow both a well and a septic. (an acre is 209X209) if lot is less than acre, but has piped in city water, then it is still OK to have a septic. we would all better off if everyone used a septic system as it saves the rivers from the sewage plant dumping that usually occurs, but it is impossible in large cities with high-rises etc.
in older more rural areas they rely upon a simple cesspool , which is basically just a hole in the ground with a concrete top to keep things from falling in ( like people) sometimes they used wooden tops that deteriorated and people would actually fall in. ( yuuchh) it is more like an outhouse system than anything else, but the facilities are remote from the pit. They still build these in Hawaii on the big island if you have more than an acre of land. they work fine.
costwise do not worry about septics. BUT..The city will charge you a lot for your sewer but septics are free sfetr the cost of being built. The sometimes pumping is very very seldom in a good system. It does not cost much. it depends upon the drainage mostly.
BUT..if your city sewer line breaks between your house and the street, YOU pay for it. a lateral line can be thousands $$. plus they always bill you each month for sewer and it is not cheap baby. ( look at your bill) So do not believe the hype that a sewer is better. Nothing is better than mother nature. sewers are hugely costly and destroy the rivers. try swimming in a rver near a city. evr wonder why it is so dark and yucky? now you know.

Public sewer is better. Less Maintenance. Less things that can go wrong on your end.

Best way I can explain it is show you what some one else that has studied the issue says.
Here is a link that you can check:
An article about septic tanks versus central sewer systems: http://www.cityofmarcoisland.com/Public_Documents/MarcoIslandFL_WebDocs/SScommendations
Buena Suerte

A septic tank is a big thing buried in you yard that holds all of the waste aand has to be emptied from time to time. A public sewer is sewage pipes that run to the city water treatment plant.

a house with a septic tank is generally in the country not in the city limits , and public sewer is where the brown matter is flushed into the cities sewer system and then recaptured and treated at a sewer treatment plant , a home with a septic tank has a tank underground with leech lines so the brown matter is slowly leeched into the ground via leech lines generally about 100 feet from the septic tank, matter does bulit up in the tank and they need pumping, but the frequency of pumping will depend on how fast the ground drains, city sewer is better.......

Sewer = your water bill times 2, plus you can have a garbage disposer! No problems with what you flush down the toilet.

Septic tank. All your poo is your back yard. You only pay for what water you use. You have to treat your tank each month with chemicals. You have to be aware of what you flush. You can not put just anything down the kitchen drain. Repair cost... replacement parts (pumps) digging up your back yard if there are problems.

If you have the choice I would be on city water and sewer!!!

A septic tank is a large holding facility, usually made of concrete that's buried in your yard. It hold's your home's waste and used water. You are responsible for having it pumped on a regular basis and emptied if it gets full.

A public sewer is a system of pipes that run from your home into a holding tank or a sespool for many homes , including yours.

The difference being, if you have a septic tank, you are responsible for it's maintenance and care. If you are part of a public system, the city is responsible for it's maintenance and care and you pay a sewerage fee to cover the costs.

The septic tank is the homeowners responsiblity to fix where the public sewer is not. Septic tanks need to be pumped.

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