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).

remudal I have a service contract with a company that checks my aerobic system every three months. It entails opening the tops and measuring the settlable solids, checking the air pump filters and the disinfection device, as well as inspecting some other parts of the system. I suppose it is practical to leave the tops above ground to facilitate this procedure. I just have to live with this. Thankfully they are behind the house. They are really in the way when dragging the watering hose acrosss the lawn.

I am wanting to get rid of the current lid as well. It is a square concrete lid and has seen better days. Really who decided a square lid is a good idea. The guy that came to pump almost dropped it in the tank. I know if I try to remove to inspect I will drop it in the tank. So far I have found Tuf-Tite and Polylok make risers that would work. I guess I just have to see if I can get either localy or not. Thank you.

Don't spend too much time looking. Your house is like mine. I just had all the drains redone, replacing pipes so a 2 inch didn't flow into a 1.5 inch, changing the pitch from uphill to down (yeah, believe or not), adding traps and a clean-out that never existed (discovered when the line needed to be snaked). My 1890 house (a converted schoolhouse) is over a crawl space that is mostly inaccessible. Fortunately, a friend of mine is an experienced GC who, with help from his brother, a licensed plumber, was willing to crawl in the funky space and make needed repairs. Some of the posters on this board don't realize that many rural communities didn't enforce buildings codes as recently as the 1980s. Even today, a lot of slack is given to owners of old buildings that can't comply with current codes. Please keep us posted on the results of your search.