I don't know if my county even has a health dept. We had the crushed pipes fixed and lateral lines added when we bought the house & the septic guy had to get a permit. Then 3 years ago we added a bathroom & the same septic guy had a plumber do everything to connect to the tanks and he didn't have to have a permit. This time, our septic guy just told us what to do, said it was no big deal if it was just the top. Now replacing the tank will be a big deal. This is the first time this tank has ever been touched as far as I know. Surely it wouldn't have been made this way to begin with, but I don't see how concrete can move without cracking. Yes, it's concrete, and when it was completely drained, there were no cracks in the walls or bottom. There were cracks, more like chips about the size of a quarter in the top rim. That may have happened when the roofing truck drove over it 11 years ago. About 10 years ago, a longhorn steer got loose & was walking around in that area too. We've been walking & riding the lawnmower over this cracked lid for 10 years and it might have been this way all that time. If dh hadn't tried taking it off, it might have stayed this way. But now we're worried about the chips in the rim turning into cracks, and need to dig up the other two tanks to look at them. We had the tanks cleaned when we bought the house 10 years ago & then again 2 years ago & no one ever said anything, but I think they just dug up the little cork-like lid in the center of the top of the tank (which I keep calling the lid).

A San Francisco Millennium Tower resident has a news report on this subject. Inspectors cut openings in her outside walls and the unit below and discovered openings due to shoddy construction. Search Google for the video. I live in an upper ranch condo with townhouses next door and a unit below. I have been smelling sewer, garbage,animal odors. For over ten years. Yes, I have reported the issues to the property manager and the HOA with no action on their part. In the last two years , chemicals have been applied in my unit. The chemicals smell like smoke and also a mentholated odor which I suspect.Is a bug pesticide. The menthol and smokey smells are in two rooms, while.The sewer smell is all over my.Unit-2,000 sq. Ft. I suspect the sewer pipes have been opened deliberately. I have contacted the state & local police regarding the smells, hacking and an opening in my attic floor. Yes, some crook connected my ATT wifi wires to the townhouse next door and the unit downstairs. If you have an attic, make sure to inspect it thoroughly for wires and openings.

Plus: I live in Michigan, too, and we lost power just before Christmas for several days. It was in single digits and even negative digits at night, and with no electricity so no heat tape warming any of the pipes. Nothing froze for me, likely because we have extra insulation under our home, and the interior house temperature never dropped below 43 degrees. You could ask the management if they will install heat tape on your sewer pipe. I was told that heat tape on a sewer pipe was never needed for a proper installation. I also read online that running the water at the sinks at a constant slow trickle, as you are told to do in an old house, may cause the sewer pipe to freeze in a manufactured home. I also read that frozen pipes are not usually the disaster in a manufactured home that they are in a house, as the pipes are not as rigid and are far less likely to break.

how big is her tank? doing launcry, bathing, washing dishes, etc should refill a 1000 gallon in a few days to 2 weeks at most for a single person. but here is the thing, the LID is above the water line so there will always be a little gas there. is the lid underground? if so, then maybe the dirt just has not recompacted over it yet. the only time you should smell sewer gas from a septic system is if there is a problem. then you smell it around the field. also, are their any roof vents nearby? maybe the wind (or lack of) is causing the gas to settle in that area from a roof vent. our old house had one spot in the yard you could smell sewage on a windless day. it was because of placment of a vent on the roof, the gas just collected in teh dead area and stunk up around it. even a mild breeze was enough to displace the gas and eliminate smells.