Toilet/bathtub/sinks all backing up... :-0

[chicosat]

I live in a rural area in Colorado in a home built by the previous owner who also installed most, if not all, the plumbing (PVC) for the home. I've owned the home since '92 and have never had plumbing problems before. Last fall I began experienceing prob with the toilet not flushing well and slow bathtub draining. Drano for the bathtub drain and plunger for the toilet and all was fine again.... for a few months. Then problems again. I'm going to add this info as well even though it's probably not pertinent to the problem but coincidentally .... the prob seems to arise after a snow or rainfall, even if only slight. My vent pipe is a few feet away from an outside wall of the home and rises about 12' from the ground apparently above the T that connects the drain coming from the house and into the septic 'tank', which btw is made from cinder blocks with a concrete lid. Last Fri evening we had a heavy rainfall and saturday morning .... toilet won't flush without overflowing, kitchen sink backs up into the bathtub and when bathtub water is drained it causes a 'bubbling' effect in the toilet which as far as I can tell, doesn't cause the water level in the toilet to rise. This is the worst it's ever been. Constant plunging of the toilet eventually forces materials to go through. If I simply flush the toilet, it overflows. Several uses of a 3.5' drain snake hasn't helped. Someone advised me the vent outside may be blocked so I removed the plug/cap at the base of the vent pipe and found nothing. Ran a water hose into the top of the vent pipe (from standing on a ladder) and the hose didn't feel like it was coming into contact with anything and water from the hose ran through without a problem. The only thing I haven't tried is hiring a backhoe operator to dig up my yard to find the tank to see if it needs to be pumped. (Can't find hide nor hair of any 'above ground' outlet for the tank.) If someone could tell me what the problem 'probably is' I would be so grateful. Are we talking a clog that's further down than 3.5 feet? A vent problem and maybe I need to re-check the vent? Is my septic tank full? (I live alone and work full time so the toilet isn't being used constantly) I do have a young granddaughter that visits often that of course would have had the opportunity to flush something wonderful down the toilet although I haven't witnessed this and she had a look on her face like "what a great idea!!" when I asked her if she had. One more thing..... when I removed the plug/cap that's located at the bottom of the vent pipe that I mentioned earlier, I came back inside the house to see what would happen if I flushed the toilet with that removed and found that ALL the water from the toilet, save about a cup full, had drained out. ??????? Repeating that scenario since hasn't had the same result, ie; no water drains from the toilet. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Mike Swearingen]

Sounds like your drainfield may be getting saturated, and not allowing the effluent water to leach away, or you may have root problems, etc. A cinderblock tank also may be taking in a lot of rain water now that overloads the drainfield.
When is the last time that you had the tank pumped out? Here in NC, the state experts advise us to have a septic tank pumped out at least every five years. Try that first.
Good Luck!
Mike