Another septic tank question

My husband is completely sure we never have to pump our septic tank. His parents built the house, so he would know. We have a 1500 gallon tank, 3 people, 4 bedroom-3 bath-garbage disposal but laundry to the outside, not into the tank. We've been here 10 years and never had it pumped. Every summer the bathroom closest to the septic tank gets pretty stinky and he refuses to pump the septic. Does one have to do with the other? We have no backup or drainage problems at all, but doesn't the tank fill up eventually? We do have huge, long, deep leech beds.

Please help me.

The type of soil you have will determine how good the water goes into the ground.
If there is a lot of sand, the water will move faster into the ground. If the is a lot of clay, it will take longer to seep into the ground.

Over time, yes the tank will fill up with solids, and will need to pumped out.
If it has been ten years, I would say it could use a cleaning.
Even with the best of all ground types, and the best of all line types, the tank will still fill up with non-biodegradable matter, and that is what needs to be pumped out of the tanks.

I don't think the tank being full has to do with the smell. It could be stagnate water in the basement somewhere, a sink that doesn't get used maybe?


Travis

It all boils down to whether you want to pay $300 about every 5 years or, $20K after about 15-20 years...

http://www.inspect-ny.com/septic/tankpump.htm

tank

I am a plumber and do not pump tanks or install field lines and I have mine pumped every 3 to 4 years I have seen some terrible messes ,yards destroyed from sludge getting into field lines, for me pumping is the lesser of 2 evils it costs between 230 and 250 for a tank like mine easy access less than 1 ft deep close to street

The way the septic system works, the tank is (nearly) full all the time. Solids fall to the bottom, and the liquids flow out into the leach fields. the problem comes when the tank fills up with solids and then solids can then flow right out into the leach field...eventually, they all need to be cleaned. Some of the solids break down and flow out, but not everything. It is also a good chance to have those hidden components checked to see how they are fairing.