Cesspool Issues

 

RICHARD: I bet I’ve got one you’ve never had before.

 

TOM: Alright.

 

LESLIE: OK.

 

RICHARD: I’m calling from Hawaii.

 

TOM: OK.

 

RICHARD: In Hawaii, we have mostly cesspools. Are you familiar with a cesspool?

 

TOM: Is that like a septic tank or not?

 

RICHARD: No, it’s just a hole dug in the ground about 15-foot deep and maybe 6, 7-foot wide and all your sewage goes into it.

 

TOM: Oh, that sounds lovely. That’s because your drainage is …

 

LESLIE: (overlapping voices) And it’s not lined or anything?

 

RICHARD: Yes.

 

TOM: That’s because your drainage is so good in that sandy soil?

 

RICHARD: Yeah, I guess that’s why.

 

TOM: Alright.

 

RICHARD: But once in a while they get coated and some people – other than pumping it, have you got any ideas what I can eat up that thing with?

 

TOM: Hmm.

 

RICHARD: I’ve tried sulfuric acids.

 

TOM: Hmm. I’m afraid we have no clue. I think we’ll have to go to Hawaii and take a cesspool tour and educate ourselves on this unusual problem.

 

RICHARD: (overlapping voices) (chuckles) Told you I had a good one here. Yeah.

 

TOM: I can’t say that I feel terribly bad for you. I mean you do live in Hawaii.

 

RICHARD: Yep.

 

TOM: So, you’ve got to have some inconveniences from time to time. (Richard chuckles) But no, if you had a septic tank, we would talk about pumping it and all the things that you do but I just – I’m out of ideas on how to crack the glaze that’s apparently coating your cesspool. I wonder, though, if some people have to dig new ones when this happens.

 

RICHARD: Yes, they do.

 

TOM: Yeah. Well, I mean that’s …

 

RICHARD: And sometimes they dig a new one and put an overflow.

 

TOM: You know, that’s similar to what happens to septic fields when you have a septic system. Sometimes the field becomes saturated and there’s nothing that you can do at that point because there’s just so many deposits in over the years that you have to dig a new one. And it might be that that’s what’s happening here and that would make sense.

 

RICHARD: Yeah.

 

TOM: And do you have the room on your property to relocate that? Because typically …

 

RICHARD: Not really. (chuckles)

 

TOM: Naw, yeah.

 

RICHARD: I guess I’ve just got to pump it.

 

TOM: So, OK. So, alright; well that’s a good point then. If you don’t have the room, what you do if you have a septic system is you have to excavate that, replace it with fresh soil and start again. So that’s sort of the next option. I doubt there’s anything that you’re going to be able to put on top of this to break that down and make it go away.

 

RICHARD: (overlapping voices) Yeah. OK, well I thought it was worth a try. (chuckles)

 

TOM: Alright. Well, we tried. I hope that makes some sense to you and, again, enjoy the Hawaiian weather and don’t think about the minor inconveniences (Leslie chuckles) like the system not working.

 

RICHARD: (overlapping voices) Thank you very much and we’ll think about you. (chuckles) Have a (inaudible at 0:08:05.8).

 

TOM: Alright, thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.