Check Records. Many counties and cities with permit and inspection programs for septic systems will have this information on file. Locate the eeptic tank. If the access manhole or inspection pipes are at ground level, they will be easy to find. Unfortunately, they are often buried several inches, or even several feet, below the ground surface. To locate the tank, go into the basement and determine the direction the sewer pipe goes out through the wall or floor. determine the direction it leaves the house. With a metal rod as a probe, start poking around in the soil 10 to 15 feet from the foundation of the house in the same direction as the pipe was headed in the basement. A metal detector may be of assistance in finding the tank since most concrete septic tanks contain metal reinforcing rods. Locate the cesspool. Try looking around the yard in the general direction where the sewer pipe left the house for an area where the grass grows differently. These clues may help locate the cesspool: An area where the grass isn’t growing well, or where the grass is greener or grows faster. An area where there is a slight depression or mound. An area where the soil is soggy when the rest of the yard is dry. Or Else a licensed contractor or inspector has tools to locate the tank. Once the system components; have been; located, be sure to make a map of there location.