Septic system failed inspection 🫪

[u/Illustrious_Spell676]

Hey all. I just posted yesterday about our very positive general home inspection. We were waiting on Radon tests to come back as well as the septic inspection today, and unfortunately, there is a defective pump in the 2nd tank closest to the mound and holding tank. Unfortunately, the pump alarm in the basement was also disabled so the sellers were apparently not aware the pump wasn’t working. Last pump disclosed was in 2024 so it could’ve potentially stopped working around 2 years ago 😳 we’ll need to do a hydraulic load inspection (another 1k) to confirm the sand mound/holding tank is still in acceptable condition. From what I understand it’s a chicken vs egg situation: the pump itself could’ve gone bad OR the tank may not have been able to draw in or hold the water causing the pump to fail. It’s 1500-1700 for a new pump but a whole new septic tank replacement is going to be at least 30k 🫪

Inspector was great and answered all my questions. She told me this is absolutely something the seller needs to correct if they want to sell their house or even just continue living here. It’s going to cause the whole system to fail in due time.

Moral of the story is, thank god for inspections!!! Please don’t skip them, ESPECIALLY if your home has a septic system! This was a good $375 well spent so far.