i want to get rid of 2 of 10 leach lines from my septic system

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miandsh2000

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i have 10 100' lines. i want to get rid of or shorten 2 of the lines. would it be better to cap them off at the distribution box or can i cap them off at about 20' and leave the others at 100'?
 

Mikey

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I'm with finnegan on this. Septic systems aren't just holes in the ground -- they're carefully engineered and sized depending on things like the size of the house, number of plumbing fixtures, characteristics of the soil, etc. OTOH, maybe the original owner was just overly conservative, or drained his hot tub every night -- who knows? I would at least call your local Health Department and see what they think of your plan.
 

Lakee911

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Your better off relocating them than decreasing the capacity, but call a company that specializes in this. If you undersize the system you could be pushing sludge out into the leech field, cause backups, soggy yard, or just turn it into a giant cesspool.
 

miandsh2000

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in laws built the house and say they oversized the system for future expansion.

just wonder if it is better to cut the lines at 20' or plug them up at the distro box.
 

Bob NH

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I would plug them at 20 ft. You keep some of the area.

If you are in a small place where it gets a lot of attention, you will need to call the authorities. If you are in a rural area, and don't need inspections for the pool installation, you might save yourself a lot of grief it you just dig.
 

Finnegan

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I am with Bob. Around here (NJ) they would probably freak out if you were doing anything to disturb the leech field much less the lines themself. I am sure that any town around here would want at least an engineer's report. Though, those are pretty long lines, so you likely would not have any problems if you do it.
 
V

vaplumber

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Locally in my area, you are allowed to upgrade a system, but you may not reduce its design capacity in any way. Sure, you could cut the lines and cap them, and maybe never have a problem, but if you sell the property, or if you have any work done on the system that requires a permit, and they dont find there in the ground what the original permit says is there, they could make you replace the system. As fast as codes change around here, if they make you replace it in ten years, you may end up with 12 or 14 lines instead of 10, or even an alternate system which could cost upwards of $20-$30 grand. I would call the health dept, and do whatever they tell you to do, because even if you sell the property, you may still be liable for what is suppose to be there.
 

Mikey

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At the minimum, you would have to disclose the modification at time of sale, which opens a nasty bag of snakes.
 
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