Sewer/Drain Field problems

[Val Thornton]

I purchased my house in 1998. The toilets quit flushing and had a plumber come out and had to have the septic tank pumped. They said my drain field was no good and needed to install a new one. We installed a new drain field (this was about 2000) since then the waste water has found a way to come under the foundation of the house and sits in the crawl space. The odor is unbareable. I dug a trench at the lower end of the house where it sits. It will drain some but not all. Our well also sits at that end of the house and I am afraid that our well is probably contaminated at this point. The well water is very hard and we are not able to drink it, however, we do bathe and wash cloths. I am pretty sure that our land does not perk. I have learned since buying the house that the land in that area of the County does not perk. We are at a loss of what to do to correct this situation. I am afraid if the Health Dept. come they will condemn the house on these issues. I do have a Gov't loan with Rural Development and am thinking about contacting them to see what can be done. I purchase the home as a single mother and was able to get a loan through them.

Do you have any suggestions on what type of system might work in this area where the land will not perk. It seems to only get worse.

Thanks

[ballvalve]

Your septic guy should have thought of that before he wasted your money on a new leach field.

He could have done a sand filter and put the outlet into the old field, or do it now and put it into the drain field.

There are aerobic systems that use air pumps to treat the sewage in the tank, what comes out is pretty clean. Call the guy in the phone book with the oldest license number that says he fixes bad systems. Google for systems info. Dont call your county guys for 'help' yet.

In the mean time, you can use LITTLE water, go to a laundromat, and pump the septic tank every few months. Check for toilet flapper leaks and any others.

[Val Thornton]

Does anyone know anything about the Infiltrator C hamber Leach Field Systems and if they will work in soil that will not perk?

[ballvalve]

NO! Chambers have been outlawed in this country for ANY soil with some clay in them. Took 10 years to figure out that they sit just full of water. The bottoms bio-slime up and form a nice swimming pool. You need rock and pipe.

And or one of many pre treatment options.

Do not underestimate the amount of water from a tiny toilet leak into your system. Use dye in the tanks.

Go into all the bathrooms and close the valves so that just a trickle flows, especially if you have kids. You dont need 20 gallons to brush your teeth.

[Steve Langler 101]

Read my story I would give these people a call...They helped me. Read what I wrote pasted it from another blog I went on to try and give you good advice:


Hi,

Unfortunately I have alot of experience with this type of situation. In reponse to your problem I will say that pumping will not fix the problem. The field has failed which is very expensive 10-30K or more depending on where you live. If you read what I wrote on another blog you can see the solution is definitely not terralifting and the problem is caused by years of sewage buildup from the lack of digestion. Read below:

Best Septic Product to use by Far! Best tip you will get regarding this believe me.
Read my story below that i posted on anothe blog I believe it answers your questions:
I used to think like you that all septic tank additves were the way you described but recently I had experienced a totally different thing happened to me. I live in a house that is 43 years old in Connecticut. I have 3 kids and a wife. I had alot of friends over the years come by and visit my house. I have lived there for the past 15 years. Before me there was a family of about 5 as well. For 15 years I relied on pumpouts and used yeast or Rid x (along with other product ) which is basically the same thing except Rid x is bad because they add fillers. Anyhow, one day I noticed odors and backup inside my house so I pumped the tank like I had done for many years once every 3 years, The pumper and local officials told me never to add anything into the tank. When the pumper came this time he pumped the tank but run off came back into my tank from my field. So I ignored it even thought the pumper told me that my drainfiled was saturated, clogged and ruined. I asked him why and he didnt know. I did some research and called a co. which looked more reputable then the other co's which I saw online www.biosafeone.com a field tech there advised me that I needed to shock my system with their patented products that no other products would work. I was very skeptical and decided to wait. 2 weeks later the problems got worse there was a flood on top of my drainfield and black biomat shot up out of the ground as the biosafeone tech said would happen. I was very afraid of getting code enforced by the local health dept. which they would have mandated a new drainfield with a contractor which would have cost me $35,000, I did get three quotes from contractors they each tried to low ball me but I knew better they told me $8K for a new field but my neighbor Jim told me that was baloney that a new septic system would be about $35K. Contractors always quote low and charge high! I tried to first save some money with some cheaper septic products but nothing worked. Then I called back biosafeone is a desapate attempt to fix my septic system. Biosafeone was not cheap but turned out to be worth every penny!

I called back BioSafeOne to order biosafeone products after all of biosafeone's references that were given to me came back very positive but I was still skeptical because nothing else had worked at this point.Yet all the references spoke highly of the biosafeone products. So I deceided to shock my system using 11 pails of their BIO-112 Heavy Sludge Digester along with their 3 Yr. BOSS product and 1 Biocube . Within 2 weeks all the flood had dried up within 3 days all backups and odors were gone. I was totally amazed in shock!! I could not believe how well the products reversed 43 years of sewage buildup! Just goes to show you the big lie is dont add anything to your septic and everything will be fine just pump it. I found out later that my pumper was directly related to the replacement guy. He was mad that I didnt hire him too. How ironic. My conclusion is that it is one VERY BIG LIE and MISCONSCEPTION TO NOT ADD ANYTHING TO YOUR SEPTIC TANK TO MAINTAIN. Another big lie iis to just rely on pumpouts nothing could be further from the truth. The local government, pumpers and replacement people all profit when the system fails so they tell you this to expect your system to fail in time. The Biosafeone tech explained to me that when their BOSS product is used from day one total and complete digestion occurs of all incoming waste therefore nothing accumulates in the tank or field or pipes so obviously there is nothing to pump out and even better no big replacement bill. I totally refute all other comments on this page if you havent tried these biosafeone.com products then you really have missed something! Thank you so much Biosafeone for saving me a fortune ! You guys are great!

[ballvalve]

SPAM, pure. Its as likely to cure cancer also.

Only thing to add to your septic tank is brekfast, lunch and dinner.

[Smooky]

You need to contact your local health department or environmental health department. They will come out and evaluate the soil on your property. Then they will decide what is the best repair for your site. There could be many problems with your property that just adding drain-lines will not fix. It sounds like you have drainage problems or maybe the drain-fields etc are too deep. Make sure you do not have any leaks. Also things like water softeners should just drain to the ditch. Existing systems are grandfathered when it comes to repairs in most cases. The county inspector uses best professional judgement to design a repair for your site. They are the experts and they will make sure the contractor does it correctly. Most county health departments do not charge for septic repair permits or the charge is not very much. Good luck!