Septic Drain Fields

About once a year I take a garden rake down and open up the draininge a little. Down below there is never any sludge, TP, anything. Further down the branch we have always had 50-75 cow/calf pairs.

No county zoning, rules, etc. No plugs, or problems in 25+ years. The 25 deer that feed every evening on my wheat behind the house put out more waste that the missus and I do.

Not really a solution to your problem. Sorry

Good luck,, Gene

Glenn F.

Oversize tank - I agree well worth the investment, we have a much larger capacity one here and it never needed pumping, installed in '78 or so, first time I ever had to pump it was in '02, however, been doing it every 3 years, the ground had gotten super saturated, froze, oddball conditions leach field backed up, pumped er out, extra capacity was a big + cause it made through until the ground thawed out and the leachate lines started draining again.

Worst case scenario, you rent a hoe, get the bedding stone, pipe and other misc. materials, 2 people can easily install a new leach field in one day, still going to be a cost, but not a contractors cost. Not sure what if any inspections would be required, be good if you did not have to deal with any official agencies over it, sometimes you have no choice, but as long as you have soils that percolate well and you do the right job with the pipe, stone etc., it'll be good.

Someone here rigged up a special wand for a pressure washer and propelled it into the leachate lines, sounded like a great way to open up those lines again, there was a post about it awhile back, one person suggested it and the other tried it, believe it worked too.

--->Paul

I'm not sure how it's changed but there were no certifications or criteria for an excavation contractor here, you follow what is called for on the drawings, leave the pipe exposed for inspection, backfill when approved.

To be honest, if I had to do a repair to mine, I certainly know the routine, and I'd not be kind to someone that wanted to stop me with a bunch of red tape in this area, what was approved for design, installed, approved upon inspection, an in service for 30 years is what is staying. Soil is well percolated with plenty of gravel, we own everything around it, this is a case of shoot shovel and shut up.

I don't recommend someone putting themselves at risk, but if in a bind, short on money, what is someone supposed to do, raze the house because of something like this ?

In certain situations I think some of the authorities that preside over these affairs need to take a step back, and be a little more receptive to a residents needs, these systems work fine, and especially when the municipality does not provide sewerage, like here, yet the state spent close to $20 million on this state road 4 years ago, they did not extend and sewer lines from an existing one 1/4 mile away,and it is badly needed for the residents near the road, and they all have small front yards, high water table in their back yards, guess where their septic systems are, on the front lawn near the road. No mound system will work here, though there is one in the neighborhood, the location of the house necessitated it, looks ridiculous too.

Sometimes you have no choice but to fight em and there ought to be grandfather clauses for existing systems that meet more recent design criteria, 1978 was not 1928, septic design and soil conditions have not changed, if they told me I had to put a mound system in here..... lets just say they'd have their hands full.

However, you would lose 'here'. It is attached to the property taxes, same as if you didn't pay those, you don't have an approved septic, you have 9 months or the fines & issues start. They don't fool around on that. Statewide, tho it is the local county that handles the paperwork.

They are assessing small villages now - 100 people or less - and forcing them to pay to pump the sewage to the nearest town that has a treatment plant. Shut down your septic, even if it is to code, & pay the assessment for the pipe....

Village by me they all had to put mounds in their back yards. Several didn't have room for a mound. So they had to share, bigger mound across 2 yards or 3.... The county officials proclaimed how much more valuable their properties were now - with those big monds covering the back yards, the cross-easements, the lift pumps..... .

I'm not saying I like it, I agree with you. You make sense.

But you wouldn't have much say 'here'.

--->Paul

I would suggest that you get several professional opinions. Ask them about the lye treatments. Frankly I never have too much luck with these miracle can treatments but who knows?

Best of luck

From reading these topics for years on several forums:

Your leach field got slime coated over it & doesn't drain through the slime.

Bacteria prefers no oxygen, so it is a long slow process to get it to break down this slime in the field. It would happen, but you'd need to stop using the field for a year or so..... Not going to happen right? Typically adding bacteria is of no help at all, just nature needs to do it's thing. Magic dust only makes the dust sellers some money, doesn't help you out at all.

There is a hydro-fracturing process where they shoot styrofoam beads & pressure into your leach field and break op the ground. This allows water to drain through the slimey area again. It often works but nothing os 100%, needs to be professionally done, may or may not be allowed by code in your area. It is cheaper than a new field.

Some folks have 2 fields, can switch between them to allow for situations like yours, let one settle out for months to work again. If you need a new field, see if you can do that for your future - use new & old, alternating.

Unsure if this used to be a rental & now your home; or is still a rental. Folks renting don't care much about septic, only complain when all the gunk they put down it floods it. If you are renting it out, might as well bite the bullet & put in a much bigger tank (oversize it!) and new field. That small tank will give you constant problems on a rental.

Again, just what I have read over the years, distilled down to what made sense from the many, many opinions I've seen.

--->Paul