Septic & Drain Field Issues

[tsingerjr]

I have a 1200 gal tank (4-5 people). We had our tank pumped 10/31/15 and over the last month I've noticed a sewer smell in the basement and noticed a small trickle of water than ran down the wall. We had heavy rains this week and a considerable amount ran down the wall this time. I called the septic company and when they pulled the lid, the tank was filled and covering the inlet and outlet pipes. I'm going to dig up the line to see if its cracked somewhere.

After they pumped the tank, quite a bit of water flowed back into the pit from the pipe going to the drain field.

What are my options?? Do I need a new drain field? Do I need to have my system pumped every 2 years? Can I add a chemical to my septic to help? I'm in a bit of a panic mode. Thanks!

 

[Valveman]

Gonna move this to plumbing. They maybe able to help more there.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[tsingerjr]

Guess nobody has any thoughts...thanks anyway

 

[Reach4]

After they pumped the tank, quite a bit of water flowed back into the pit from the pipe going to the drain field.

5 gallons, or a foot of water (which is a lot more than 10 gallons). Some newer septic systems have a filter on the output, and that could be clogged. That is probably too much to hope for.

What did your septic guy say? If he is an experienced operator, he probably knows how things were built in your neighborhood and what fixes have worked. Did he know somebody who has been able to rejuvenate a field?

At a minimum. after this experience and with this many people, I would get this pumped annually. Maybe after 6 months this next time even. If you have a garbage disposal, stop using it. Don't use strong drain cleaners.

Try this search in a search engine: rejuvenate septic field

 

[tsingerjr]

Thanks... The tank actually filled back up completely. We haven't used the system since Wed and the level dropped about 5 inches (not sure if that's a a lot, but its progress) and is now at the bottom of the line feeding the tank, but still covering the effluent pipe leading to the drainfield. We are heading out of town for a week and won't be using the system. The septic guy said let it sit and see what it looks like when we get back. He didn't mention anything about rejuvenating the system, but I'll definitely research that.

 

[Treeman]

Does your tank have inlet and outlet baffles. The way you describe the pipes leading into and out of your tank suggests maybe you don't??

 

[tsingerjr]

Attached is the set up that I currently have. Thanks! I added some Septic Shock that I got from Home Depot. It hasen't rained in 2 days and it seems to be dropping about an inch a day now. We also aren't using it though.

 

[tsingerjr]

We didn't use the system for 7 days, while on vacation. Yesterday, we got home from vacation and the water was down below inlet pipe and drainfield looked ok. I ran the dishwasher when we got home and no issues. Last night we continued getting pounded with ran in Pa (another 3.5 inches) and this morning The drainfield is saturated and tank filled up over the top with water. We didn't even use the system.

 

[LLigetfa]

There is probably nothing wrong with the drain field except that it is below the water table high water mark. Only solution is either divert rainwater by changing the grade/slope around the field or to put in a new raised bed and sewage pump.

 

[Reach4]

tsingerjr make your gutter downspouts send their water out to the yard. Make the basement sump pump pump its water to a pop-up out in the yard. With these steps, you may still need a new or rejuvenated drain field, but you might not.