The Basics
The Quick Answers
How often? As soon as sludge and scum take up a third of the tank (SPS 383.54). The three-year date on the county's notice is for a different job, an inspection (Wisconsin DSPS). Household size, tank size and garbage disposal use decide how fast your tank gets to that third.
How long does it take? A residential pump-out is a single visit. Allow extra time if the lids are buried or there's a second chamber.
Can you pump while we're at work? Usually, yes; lids that are marked or easy to find are enough.
Who tells the county? We do, as your agent, and the report is due within 30 days of the pump-out (SPS 383.55).
Key Differences
Pumping vs. Cleaning
Pumping empties the tank. Cleaning is everything we do while it's open:
- Loosening the scum layer and settled sludge so the tank empties completely
- Cleaning and reinstalling the effluent filter
- Checking inlet and outlet baffles for corrosion or damage
- Emptying the dosing chamber of a mound or at-grade bed and running its pump through a cycle
- Checking lids and risers are sound and secured
Every Howard septic pumping visit includes all of it. Our septic tank pumping and cleaning page walks through each step.
A Sump Pump Tied Into the Tank
Here's a spring call we'd expect in Howard. A basement sump has been cycling all week, and its discharge was piped into a laundry drain that runs to the septic tank. When we open the lid, the liquid is up above the outlet and the effluent filter is coated: the system is getting more water than it can pass. Wisconsin's plumbing code bars stormwater and clear-water piping from connecting to a sanitary drain (SPS 382.36(4)(b)1), and the EPA says to keep sump pumps away from the drain field because excess water slows or stops treatment (EPA). On that Howard septic pumping visit we'd clean the filter, check the outlet baffle and look over the field for wet spots. Then we'd explain that the sump line has to be rerouted so it drains away from the tank and field.
Local Rules
Brown County or Outagamie County?
The village straddles the Brown–Outagamie line (DHS county list), so your parcel's county decides who mails the letter and who receives the report:
- Brown County (most of the village): Planning & Land Services, Zoning Division. Its POWTS forms are on the county forms page.
- Outagamie County: Development & Land Services, which runs the county's sanitary program (Outagamie County Land Use, Zoning, and Sanitary) and takes the maintenance reports for its side (SPS 383.55).
Not sure which side you're on? The county that mailed your last maintenance notice, or the one named on your sanitary permit, is the one we file Howard septic pumping reports with.
Local Context
A Growing Village
Howard keeps growing as new neighbourhoods spread northwest of Green Bay. Many of those neighbourhoods are on village sewer, but older homes and rural parcels on the village's edges may still run on septic tanks, mounds or holding tanks. If you've just bought one of those homes, ask the seller or the county for the last inspection or pumping report, and book a visit if it's been close to three years.
Duck Creek winds through the village and its eastern edge meets the bay of Green Bay (Wikipedia: Howard). For a home near the creek or the shore, water also limits where a replacement system could go, because state code sets minimum setbacks between septic components and the ordinary high-water mark of lakes and streams (SPS 383.43). Regular Howard septic pumping is the cheapest way to put that day off.
FAQ
Howard Septic Pumping FAQ
What size is my septic tank?
Your county permit lists it. Many homes have 1,000 to 1,500 gallons of tank capacity, but check your records. We'll confirm on site.
Should I pump every year?
Only if your usage calls for it. We measure sludge and scum at every visit and recommend the right interval for your household.
Will snow stop a pump-out?
Not usually, if the lids can be reached. Marking the tank before the first snowfall helps.
My neighbour is due too. Can you do both?
Yes. Put both addresses in your booking and we'll look at doing them together.
Do you handle holding tanks in Howard?
Yes. A holding tank never drains on its own, so it has to be emptied each time it reaches the full level; how many times a year that comes to depends on your household. See holding tank pumping.