i have just cleaned out my 1000' gallon fiberglass septic tank (of 20 years) and have noticed that the baffle is coming loose from the side walls of the tank? also there is only one opening in the baffle? a 4' hole near the top of the baffle... the guy who pumped my tank recommended that i drill 3 additional 3" holes near the bottom of the baffle? is this something that i should do? and should i crawl in there and patch in with a fiberglass repair kit?
While I am a Red Seal Journeyman Plumber I don't know a LOT about septic tanks because in BC here that area is a whole separate trade. But we do learn some stuff about them in school.
Your septic tank is sized on the # of bedrooms in your house. This is because it's designed on the average daily usages of X number of people. So if you are having constant problems with your tank it's probably because the average daily water use of a person has gone up a lot over 20 years.
As to drilling out more hole in the top of the baffle... I wouldn't suggest it. The tank is design to work how it is. That 4" hole at the top of the tank is designed to allow effluent (the liquids) to transfer into the 2nd chamber.f
Septic tanks are designed to usually have a 24 hour retention period. That is to say that if you flush the toilet then the contents of that flush should remain in the 1st chamber of the tank for a minimum of 24 hours to break down any solids. You don't want to speed this process up.
DO NOT ENTER YOUR SEPTIC TANK!
It is a confined space full of lots of nasty gases. It's actually deadly. Unless you adverse in confined space entry I wouldn't risk going in there. There are lots of procedures and safety things you need to be aware of.
If you got the $ I'd strongly suggest you hire a company to fix it for you.
Good luck!