Proper waste disposal and management is crucial in maintaining a healthy and sanitary residential or commercial property. One of the most common types of waste disposal systems is the septic tank, but sometimes, you might come across another type: the cesspool.
What Is a Cesspool?
A cesspool is a tank buried under the ground that functions as storage for home waste like dishwashing water, shower and bath water, toilet waste, and others.
It’s made of brick or concrete and is sealed with a manhole cover. The wastewater and sludge flowing into the cesspool do not get treatment, which is why it’s not advisable to randomly open the lid.
Think of all the gases, liquid solutions, cleaning chemicals, and whatever else might have been drained from your home or business plumbing just sitting all together in the cesspool. Their combination can create dangerous toxins, which might escape as fumes when the lid opens. Or it can end up seeping into the ground soil, damaging the quality of the soil on your property.
This is why it requires regular maintenance from a pumping company. Otherwise, it’s going to get filled and possibly spill
What Is the Difference Between a Cesspool, a Septic Tank and a Tight Tank
A cesspool, septic tank, and tight tank all function to hold sewage waste from your house’s plumbing. The main difference between them is how this waste is handled.
The cesspool only functions as a storage in the outhouse, which means that it cannot treat wastewater to filter back to the ground the way septic tanks do.
Cement or stone materials are used to line the tank in the ground. Depending on the design, it may also have another pipe connecting it to another pit.
Septic tanks, meanwhile, treat the waste it receives by separating the sludge before filtering the wastewater back into a leach field.
Unlike septic tanks, a cesspool isn’t able to do this process. It also requires regular pumping and draining by a professional company, which makes its maintenance a bit costlier than septic tanks. A tight tank is a plain enclosed pit with no other connecting pipes or outlet.
Because both the cesspool and tight tank only store wastewater, soil contamination is a common risk. That’s why it’s crucial to get it regularly pumped and drained by a professional pumping company.
Avoid toxic buildup and health hazard issues from the cesspool. Get professional service from a pumping company to keep the cesspool on your property well-maintained.