Northrup Septic Service

08/15/2025

A month or so ago I wrote a post talking about the lifespan to date of Northrup Septic. Please know-we are not closing, we plan on being around for a long time. Young Dewey is stepping into the lead role while older Dewey is still working - but slowing down what he is responsible for. Please continue to expect good service, honesty and integrity from Northrup Septic. We appreciate your business!

07/21/2025

Thank you to all of our customers for your business and trust throughout the years and throughout the 3 different Dewey’s. The Oldest (and deceased) Dewey of our business-humbly started out back in the 1950’s (with equipment purchased from Mr Leo Doody Sr-it’s a small world in our neck of the woods). The current “older” Dewey grew up literally surrounded by the business (and Northrup Farm Supply in downtown Vesper where local farmers came to purchase New Holland Farm Equipment). As soon as he was old enough to drive-he was out on the job with the septic truck when he wasn’t repairing a hay baler. A late bloomer-kids came along when he was almost 40 and the youngest Dewey (and brother Tate) went to work with Dad from a young age. While Tate opted for HVAC school, Dewey took to the business and started driving his own Truck. With the two on the road-locals were seeing us coming and going 7 days a week. We are changing the guard these days with old Dew cutting back to six days a week and young Dewey trying to Maintain family life and proper work life. If you call and leave a message-it might take a bit for a return call-but be assured that the guys are on it and will get back to you as soon as they can. It would take a unique phone service to answer your questions when you call and help you figure out where your tank is, how to locate your access and what time frame it may have been since you were last serviced—-So, please be patient while they pump your neighbors tank, repair a baffle or dig up the tank that your mother couldn’t possibly do herself and when they get a chance-you will be their next call. Thank you for your good faith and patience. The Dewey’s at Northrup Septic Service LLC 315-696-5691

12/09/2024

Don’t miss this beloved play next Friday-see your neighbors strut their stuff in this local production! You will recognize many familiar faces!

11/10/2023

Now that it’s November-maybe it’s time to get your overdue maintenance pumping done on your septic tank. If it’s been five years or more-you may want to schedule a pump prior to snow cover and /or frozen ground. Troubles with your septic in freezing temperatures is no fun for anyone! The home owner or us! It seems to happen every year-that system that hasn’t given you any problems all year during mild weather-finally acts up with two feet of snow on the ground and temps at -0. Save everyone that trouble and schedule a pumping today! 315-696-5691.

04/27/2022

Recently we have received quite a few calls from people who have opened up their tanks and seeing the fluid level is up to the inflow or outflow pipe-immediately assume “my tank is full it must be time to pump it”.

A septic tank is designed to hold solids-all of the liquids flow through it and out into whatever dispersal system is beyond the tank (that’s another bunch of posts).

Picture your tank as a large rectangular box (yes there are other shapes but for this lesson let’s use a rectangle). At one end of the box you have an inlet pipe coming from your house located a bit down from the top of the side of the box. At the other end of the box-opposite the inlet is the outlet pipe-just slightly further down the side than the inlet is.

So once your tank has been pumped, or when it was brand new-the tank is empty. Then you start living -you shower, bath, wash clothes, wash dishes and of course use the toilet. This water usage fills the tank up pretty quickly! Just a few days of use and your tank is full up to the outlet pipe. It will continue to look “full” until you pump it again.

In reality-a tank
is not considered “full” until the scum layer (that yucky looking stuff on top) and the sludge layer (the sludge on the bottom) take up 2/3 of the volume of the tank. the remaining third is the liquid. This layer of liquid runs through the middle of the scum and sludge.

You should have baffles on the inlet and outlet ends that keep the solids in the tank and keep them from working out into your dispersal system and permanently plugging that (ouch! Expensive to replace!).

So the next time you find yourself staring at a full tank that you just opened up-be sure that it really is full-otherwise you are prematurely pumping your tank (spending your money). Experts say-don’t forget to pump your tank periodically-but most systems can go 4-7 years with Ave family of 4 (longer for 1-2 people and shorter for more people and/or garbage disposal).

03/13/2022

Let’s talk p**p! Take a quick look into your toilet basin. What you should see is a hole at the bottom where everything you flush magically disappears……..Wait! It isn’t magic-and that hole actually gets a bit smaller and winds around a bit before it opens up into your septic tank! Sooooo-think about what you are trying to make disappear-if it won’t easily dissolve-it may very well cause you a lot more than you expect to fix the situation it causes!!
Baby wipes, facial wipes, paper towels, feminine products and diapers DO NOT DISOLVE QUICKLY.
It doesn’t matter what the box says-use your common sense please. Look at what you are attempting to put down that hole and multiple it by the multiple wipes, feminine products etc that you try to flush down daily and it is no surprise when things not only stop going down the drain but come back at you! YUCK! This is avoidable if you just don’t think of your toilet as a garbage disposal. My preaching/teaching is done for the day-thanks for reading and keep your flushing limited to toilet paper and natures callings.

04/27/2021

09/03/2020

Social Media! It’s a great and powerful tool.
Today I will attempt to use it to clarify something we came up against recently.
You only have a minute to make your first impression and first impressions count for a great deal when you are trying to run a business. (They matter in everyday life too-but this post is about business).
Our goal is not only to win you as our customer-but educate you as we go.
When you call us for a price-we quote you the price to pump a standard sized tank (1000 gal). We ask your general location (we pay different amounts for out of county waste-so pricing is different for work done out of Onondaga County).
We also will tell you that it will cost additionally if we must dig up your tank. We can not know how much time it will take to do that so we give you our hourly rate. It is high. For two reasons-if you have never dug holes all day long please trust that it takes lots of energy and surprisingly some
Skill (no not surgeon level skill-but there is a right way and a wrong way). The longer we spend digging your tank up-the fewer jobs we can do in a day. Therefore that labor has to be worth our while. The second reason is we are thinking you
May want to save some money and either digg it yourself or hire a strong young neighbor to do it. You can chose.
We also try to explain that most tanks are not that deep and because we need to get the job done and go on to the next-In order to make a living-we will do it as quickly and inexpensively as possible. Our skills/knowledge of what we are looking for do make us much faster than most people.
Explaining this can sound forward to some. And to some it sounds rude-so we have been told.
So I am using this social media platform to explain the goal we have when you call asking for pricing. Our apologies if at times we sound overly blunt (or rude). We do not mean it to sound like that. Communication can be difficult. We look forward to servicing the public’s needs - whether we do the digging or you do!
Ps-we also mention regularly what the price is if your tank is larger than average.

09/01/2020

You don’t know what you don’t know. We are human. We all do it. Buy a gadget and quickly
Learn just enough to use it. We don’t tend to read directions or go exploring the intricacies of how it works. We just know it does! Until it doesn’t.
On site septic systems are like this. We buy/build a house and vaguely know that it has a septic system. We use the bathroom-flush-and voila! All set!
But there are things about a septic system you need to know to keep it working as long as possible. Replacing an entire system is 10s of thousands of dollars-not 39.95!
We have mentioned maintenance pumping and checking the inlet AND outlet baffles.
Now let’s talk about tree plantings and letting your septic area “go natural”. Your distribution fields, distribution box, and tank are very susceptible to root systems. Trees planted on top of, or very close to any of the above mentioned parts of your system can destroy it. Have you ever noticed how quickly Mother Nature reclaims a field? While driving to work everyday have you noticed an old farm field that has been left fallow (not used for farming anymore). How after one season there may be small bushes growing where grass once was? Berry bushes come and then a few shrubby plants. Next a small tree or two shows up and in about 5-7 years there are trees fifteen feet tall.
Well if your septic system is left to nature-not mowed as lawn or at least brushhogged twice a year-in 5-10 years you will not be able to see where it is for all the growth. If you can’t see it-you can’t tell if there might be breakout problems. And eventually the growth will create root problems that cannot be fixed.
Sooooo-please keep your septic system free of all growth except a nice lovely lawn if possible. If not-hire someone a couple of times a growing season to clear it off. Promise that cost is much less than the cost of replacing it!