Septic leech field replacement

[AirportFF]

Having issues with my leach fields. Anyone know of a reputable septic company that will give me an honest estimate? Had it pumped last summer, prior to that it was 3 years earlier. Noticed some water bubbling up to the surface above the tank last month, so I had it pumped again that day. There were virtually no solids in the tank, almost all water. Today when my son was in the shower I noticed the water coming to the surface again. So I am suspecting that there is an issue in the fields somewhere.

[Exbiker]

Solids should be floating. If you don't see any then perhaps the outlet baffle is broken and allowing solids to flow to the drain fields. Fix ASAP as solids past the tax is serious.

Is this a sand mound, with a pump or a standard system?

Is there an Allstate septic near you?

[AirportFF]

It's a standard septic system. I had it pumped on March 27th. The first thing I did was go in the tank and check the baffle. There were no issues with it that I could find. The outlet pipe was full of water. I was thinking that the fields are saturated since we at the bottom of a hill. But I can't afford to have it pumped out once a month either.

[Exbiker]

It's a standard septic system. I had it pumped on March 27th. The first thing I did was go in the tank and check the baffle. There were no issues with it that I could find. The outlet pipe was full of water. I was thinking that the fields are saturated since we at the bottom of a hill. But I can't afford to have it pumped out once a month either.

3 years a almost no solids? They gotta be someplace. You could check with your CEO but that could open a can of worms.

There are companies that hydroblast drainfields but I have no experience with that.

[phill]

If you have a comventinal tank it should be baffled on the inlet and outlet. They are normally on opposite sides of the tank, so it usually takes digging out the other access hole to check the outlet.
I have one couple that have a tank designed for 4 bathrooms, with just the 2 of them there is hardly any solids when we perform an inspection.
With all of the rain we have had this year, my guess would be that most fields placed in a low spot will have some leakage. If the leakage is contained and not running on to neighbors it should go back to working when the water table goes down.
I have no idea what the soil is like in your area but around here about the only systems that work are the ones with cloronated surface discharge and a seasonal leech field.
One last thing when your system is working normal it should be fed bakers yeast about once a month.

[staylo]

I am not a septic system expert, but they had a whole thing on septic systems on a recent This Old House episode that talked about septic aerator systems. They went to some government facility in Mass. that tests septic system technologies and the gov guy said that an aerator system can rejuvenate a failed drain field, or keep one from going bad. The systems seemed to go from as simple as an aerator pump that sits in the tank and bubbles oxygen into it, apparently boosting bacteria activity, to the top-of-the-line "membrane bioreactor" that seems to act sort of like a mini water treatment plant. Below a link to the episode on TOH, as well as a quick link I found to a company that sells the aerators. Who knows, maybe something like this will save you some money if the field's going bad. Good luck. It's a crappy situation to be in.(sorry, couldn't resist )

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/tv/v...677464,00.html

http://www.septicaerator.com/

[AirportFF]

3 years a almost no solids? They gotta be someplace. You could check with your CEO but that could open a can of worms.

There are companies that hydroblast drainfields but I have no experience with that.

I'm sorry I wasn't clearer. I had it pumped last April (2012) while leaving for work this past March 27th I noticed the bubbling and had it pumped that day. At that time there was only 4-6" of solids in the bottom after 11 months. (it's a 1000 gallon concrete tank BTW) Keep in mind that it's only my wife and I here. And I'm at the firehouse every other day for 24hrs

If you have a comventinal tank it should be baffled on the inlet and outlet. They are normally on opposite sides of the tank, so it usually takes digging out the other access hole to check the outlet.
I have one couple that have a tank designed for 4 bathrooms, with just the 2 of them there is hardly any solids when we perform an inspection.
With all of the rain we have had this year, my guess would be that most fields placed in a low spot will have some leakage. If the leakage is contained and not running on to neighbors it should go back to working when the water table goes down.
I have no idea what the soil is like in your area but around here about the only systems that work are the ones with cloronated surface discharge and a seasonal leech field.
One last thing when your system is working normal it should be fed bakers yeast about once a month.

Everyone that we had here today is leaning toward saturation of the fields. One guy was probing around the area and only found clear water, not sewage. They all seem to be of the mindset of wait and see what happens as things dry out, it's not an emergency right now.

It's a crappy situation to be in.(sorry, couldn't resist )

Hardy har har

[Exbiker]

You know that in a standard system the drain fields are just perforated pvc pipes laid in a bed of stone. This was designed and installed in a spot that was able to perc. Unless there has been a lot of change in the area and the cutting down of trees it should still perc and operate properly.
11 months 2 people properly used should have almost nothing at the bottom and the solids should be floating at the to and being eaten by the bugs.

FYI. the only thing down the drain should be grey water without tons of soap, human waste, white unscented, unquilted toilet tissue, no tampons or facial tissue and no garbage disposals.

[Rick41Mag]

FYI. the only thing down the drain should be grey water without tons of soap, human waste, white unscented, unquilted toilet tissue, no tampons or facial tissue and no garbage disposals.[/QUOTE]

Good info here! I will add to not put food wastes down the toilet either especially milk or tomatoes. I'm not sure how old the system is but FWIW it certainly sounds like the leech field is contaminated/pipes blocked or someone lied about the percolation capability of the ground. If the tank/baffles and inlet/outlet plumbing looks OK the next step is to dig up some of the leech pipes to see if they are blocked, plugged or maybe full of roots. If you have the room you could potentially (assuming permits) flush or hydro blast the existing pipes and maybe extend the fields to allow for more area to leech to. Good Luck.

[Rovert]

I will add to not put food wastes down the toilet either especially milk or tomatoes.

Wondering what the reason is for this. For those of us who have single stream recycling, we're expected to dispose of 'sanitized' containers, meaning that I have to rinse things out before throwing them in the bin. That would, by definition, mean that something - both tomato and milk products - will find their way into the tank.