Septic Systems for Dummies

Venting a septic system

Although the online encyclopedia Wikipedia is often lambasted for inaccuracy, there are worse sources of information out there. One of them is eHow.com, where self-described freelancers post content on a wide variety of topics, all within a set framework. The rub against eHow.com has long been that the parent company, Demand Media, is more interested in form than substance. In other words, the content looks pretty, but it isn't necessarily accurate. We know this because some of our staff has written for eHow. Now some eHow contributors know what they're talking about, but many don't; and with the worst of that bunch, the writer's ignorance of the subject at hand is obvious. Take, for instance, eHow freelancer Lacy Enderson, who has written hundreds of the site's more inaccurate how-to's (and that's saying a lot!), including "Septic System Roof Venting."¹ 

Your first clue that Enderson's feeding her readers a line of bull? Some septic systems are, indeed vented, but none of them are vented through the roof. That's because no building code allows you to install a septic tank under your house, mainly because a buildup of sewer gas could explode. Instead, a septic tank and its associated drain field are separated from the building, out somewhere under the lawn (see image). That's where Lacy first gets it wrong:

"Venting a septic system through the roof allows your toilet and drainage system to work properly..."

Lacy clearly doesn't know the difference between venting a septic system and venting the waste components in a plumbing system. Those funny pipes sticking out of your roof? They're plumbing vents, installed to vent the waste lines – black and gray water both – and prevent a vacuum buildup in the waste lines. They aren't vents for your "septic system."

A careful reading of Enderson's text turns up several clues that she's talking through the proverbial hat. We especially liked her definition of plumber's tape:

"...plumber's tape [is] a spool of metal tape with holes in it." No Lacy, that's not plumber's tape: plumber's tape is the filmy white PTFE (Teflon®) tape you wrap around threaded joints to complete a watertight seal. What you're talking about is metal strapping. And then she gives typical Enderson-style instructions for how your vent gets outside: "Run the pipe through the roof. It will require a roof jack or a metal flashing that goes around the pipe on the roof. This allows the roofer to tie into his roofing material..."

"A metal flashing"? Does this dumbass even know what flashing is (that's a rhetorical question – she surely doesn't)? And "allows the roofer to tie into his roofing material"? WTF is that supposed to mean?

Even if you could use Lacy's half-assed "instructions," which are a weird mix of rough-in plumbing techniques and what might be instructions for adding a new bathroom, you're still left with a big problem: there's nothing in here about actually venting a septic tank. Bullshit like this is why Lacy Enderson, once again, is the Antisocial Network's Dumbass of the Day.

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   ehow.com/how_4622283_septic-system-roof-venting.html

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