Ground Water and Septic Tanks and Bagpipers

Septic Tank

JL says: As I was having breakfast this morning of broccoli slaw & fried chicken pieces (totally weird for breakfast, I know), I noticed how aware Barbara & I have become of exactly what goes down the drain. When I emptied the slaw bowl onto my plate, I went to the garbage container in our pantry, and wiped the slaw dressing & residue out with paper products which were in the trash. Later, I did the same thing with residue off of my plate.

Some time back, we had to have a plumber come here to unclog the kitchen drain (with industrial strength - whatever), and from that experience, have learned to be more careful with what we put down it.

Our well in “Two Turtles” was 365' deep into an aquifer which came under the Chesapeake Bay. The water was wonderful, but we think has degraded a little in the 20 years since we moved across the Bay.

Here at “AFGO Cottage,” we are in an area affected by a meteor strike in the past (which seems to have scrambled the sub-strata (within which water resides). (We have a neighbor which complains that another neighbor waters his landscaping plants with 10,000 year old water.)

When we had the rough-in plumbing installed in Two Turtles (done by the son of the plumbing inspector), the main waste line ran under the center of the house and into the septic tank at an angle which permitted gravity flow. (He joked that we'd better eat a certain amount of fiber, or we might blow out the baffle in the tank with the 88' run and angle of descent.)

Anyway, Barbara & I are not contributing to the prospective 290 year future when the total volume of the Bay will consist of treated sewage effluent.

Jl

By happenstance, I just got the following essay from a friend that seems to go well with Jon’s appreciation for a good, functioning septic system:

BAGPIPER AT A FUNERAL
I found this anonymous article deeply moving.
As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a Pauper's' cemetery in the back country. As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost and, being a typical man, I didn't stop for directions.

I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch. I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play.

The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I’ve never played before for this homeless man.

And as I played 'Amazing Grace,' the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, and we all wept together. When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full.

As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say;

"I NEVER SEEN NOTHIN' LIKE THAT BEFORE AND I'VE BEEN PUTTING IN SEPTIC TANKS FOR TWENTY YEARS."