OK, I need you all to weigh in on an idea I've had.
Last year when half of our old house backed up with
sewerage, we discovered that the new, large septic tank
(as evidenced by the hump in our front yard) was only
connected to our relatively unused bathroom, and that
effluence from the rest of the house (our bathroom and
kitchen) was still going into an ancient septic tank that
we were under the impression (by previous owners and
realtor) had long since been removed as it was too close
to the well. We pulled the permit at the county which even
showed the work as having been done, coneveniently signed
by the local inspector (no doubt a six-pack deal).
We could not find anyone to do the work. This week my
husband completed rerouting it around three sides of the
house to the newer septic system. We did not bother taking
out a permit since we were only doing what was already on
file. Except, we still have a large concrete underground
structure that once was a septic tank.
Here's my idea: We are really in need of a root cellar.
The opening to this thing is right outside our kitchen
door. Here's a large, concrete cavernous underground space
with no purpose. My husband is skeptical, but not looking
forward to digging through rock to build a root cellar. I
don't see why it couldn't be cleaned up, retrofitted and
used for the purpose.