Yesterday was a terrible day, weatherwise. It rained for most of the day – according to my weather station around 10% of the rainfall that has fallen this year so far, fell yesterday. It stopped (briefly) around 2pm. This gave me an opportunity to pick up some exterior plywood to make up new covers for the manholes on the septic tank.
The existing manholes covers were made of wood and pretty rotten. The one manhole cover protects a drop of around 11ft! This is where the water from the septic target drains into the bottom field. The hole is made up of reinforced concrete rings, but there aren’t any leg irons (metal foot hoops used for climbing out), so if you fell in, it would be difficult to get out. The new covers are made of 18mm exterior ply, so should last a bit longer than the existing covers. A coat of primer and gloss paint will also help.
Given the state of the existing wooden manhole covers, I have put some temporary fencing around the area.
This is the final tank in the system and this is where the waste water drains away into the bottom field. It is around 11ft deep!