septic problem

[gnb]

Hi everyone, We had the septic tank pumped six months ago when we bought this house, because it was full and backing up into the house. Everything was fine up until Easter Sunday when we had over six inches of rain around here and our yard was pretty much under water for awhile. Whenever we flushed the toilet or ran any water in the house, we could see water bubbling out of the ground approximately 18 inches away from the septic tank's clean-out pipe. Just yesterday we paid someone 250 bucks (if anyone reading this is in middle Georgia, does that sound excessive or about right?) to come take a look and he pumped it out, saying that the leach field had become saturated which caused the rain water to back into the septic tank. When the tank was full, the water began seeping out of the top of the tank. He said that once the tank was emptied, water started flowing back into it from the saturated leach field, but that it should be ok. Well it just finished raining again - not a tremendous amount, it rained heavily for a bit, but the ground was still pretty wet from Sunday so there is standing water all over the place once again and water is bubbling up from above my septic tank when we flush or run water. I'm wondering why the water bubbles out of the ground just above the tank instead of backing up into the house if the tank is full? Does it sound like our septic guy was right in his assessment of the situation? Remember, Sunday's rain was well above any normal rainfall amounts. School in our county was closed the following day due to flooded out roads and a few coffins in a nearby burial plot were unearthed. Any opinions and comments are appreciated. Gayle

[Speedy Jim]

Instead of calling the septic guy, you should have been calling the attorney guy.

It's hard to believe that the sellers did not know of this condition, but failed to disclose it in the contract. (IMHO)

Jim

[Dick]

I could have written your message for you. You could change the location and it would be us.

The water bubbles up from the ground because the tank is (hopefully) lower than your toilets and drains in the house. It's only when the leach lines are mostly plugged that the water will start backing up into your house. As long as water from the tank can get to the leach lines, and there are enough openings, the water will take the path of least resistance and go up and or down from the leach pipe(s) into the earth.

You need to address the flooding in your yard. Otherwise, every time you get a heavy rain, you are going to saturate the leach field. Once that happens, things start backing up and you are left with the only option which is to pump out the tank again. Where we live it is $.32 per gallon to pump out a tank. Most of the ones around here are 1,000 or 1,200 gallon, so it is a costly proposition. We had ours pumped twice in January because of heavy rains. To add insult to injury, when the water in the leach field drains back into the tank, it's $.32 per gallon to pump that out too.

What we did was hire someone to put in what we call here in Arizona, "swales." They are little rock-lined channels that drain the excess water from your yard out to the street. We had 85' of swale installed, and haven't had standing water since.

We also took a look at our water usage to see what we could do to take the load off the septic system when it is having a problem with rain water saturation. We installed 1.6 gpf toilets, started limiting our showers to 5-minutes (with a 2-gallon/minute shower head), made sure we had full loads for our dishwasher and clothes washer before we ran them, and put in a hot water recirculating pump to stop running all the cold water down the drain while waiting for the hot water to show up in the sink and shower. By taking these steps we have been able to reduce our household water use age from 5 to 6,000 gallons per month down to 2,000 gallons. That's 3 to 4,000 gallons less each month that the leach field has to absorb. So far everything is running great.

Dick

[linda]

Are you sure that is a clean out pipe? Were we are all septic tanks have a pipe that looks like a clean out but if you open the cap it has a thing to switch the leach lines. 2 sets of leach lines in the field and you switch to the other set to give the soaked one a dry out time. Switch about every 6 months to a year.

Alternating leach field One of two or more leach fields designed to be used while the other(s) rest. They are generally fed via a manually operated diverter valve located in the line from the septic tank.

[gnb]

septic

I don't know, to hear the old guys around here talk, they haven't had this much rain in such a short period of time since the '60's. The former owner built this place in the '80's, so he may have been unaware of it. He and his wife seem like good and honest people. One never knows, though, that's for sure, but I think they're decent people. Thanks for taking the time to reply :) Gayle

[gnb]

Ah, that explains that question!

The rains have been so severe that I don't believe there is a spot on our nearly 19 acres that isn't saturated! The weatherman was bemoaning the fact this morning that the ground is saturated and they were speaking of possible flooding today when more rain makes it's way through.

Hmm, it's nearly a quarter of a mile from out house out to the street!

That water recirculating pump sounds interesting. It does take forever for the water to get hot in the bathrooms. I'll have to google that. Five minute showers? I'm going to time myself this morning, but I think I spend nearly all that time trying to get the soap out of my hair! My son and husband most likely don't go over that by much. I'm going to look into the showerhead and the toilets as well. Good advice on conserving well water during a drought as well. Thank you for taking the time to address each of my questions, I appreciate it. Gayle

[gnb]

situation?

other(s)

Now that you mention it, maybe it isn't a clean out pipe afterall. Because the spetic guy digs the dirt away from the tank and pumps that way. Maybe he called it an access pipe. Hmm.. I'll have to ask my husband, but I do know for a fact that there is only one leach field. Thank you for taking the time to reply :) Gayle

[Dick]

You don't need to drain the entire 19 acres, just where the leach lines are located. And you don't have to get it all the way to the street. Just somewhere away from the leach field.

If you decide on toilets, go with Toto. Toto is the world's largest manufacturer of toilets, and none work better. We bought two, and now have a third one on the way. They have outstanding performance. Take a look at HomeClick.com. That's where we got ours. No tax or shipping charges. If you want to research the best brands, go here:

Don't know if you have Home Depot or Lowe's near where you live. Both carry the Autocirc hot water recirculating pump. Lowe's was $20 cheaper in our area. Very easy to install. Dick

[Bob S.]

If your soil has slow percolation, 2 leach fields may be necessary but the standard installation is one field.

Sounds like you got a lot of our rain. Here in central Alabama we've had about 14", plus hail, in the last week - 7", 5", & 2" at a time with only a couple of days inbetween. The ground is really "squishy".

My septic tank has 2 access holes, one over each of the 2 sections. Each access hole is about 14" square and tapered like a bottle cork so the hole covers make a tight fit without dropping into the tank. To pump the tank you remove the dirt from the top, lift the covers, insert the hose, and start pumping. I'm sure there are other designs though.

Bob S.

[Dick]

You can find them on their respective web sites. It is $198 at Lowe's and $219 at Home Depot.

Dick

[Jack Allen]

Dick,

I just checked our Lowes and Home Depot for the autocirc and neither store has them. What is the aproximate cost?

[Jack Allen]

Thank you.

[linda]

To look at my leach field it too would only look like one leach field, they divide the length at the diverter valve to send it to part of the filed and switching the diverter valve sends it to the other half. So it may look like one field but work as two.

[Dick]

I should have added that when I went to Lowe's to purchase our pump about a month ago, there were none on display. They did have some brochures in the plumbing department. The sales person had to call to the office to locate them. They were stored on the very top shelf in the back of the store.

Dick

[Dick]

It's fairly easy to find out if the ground is super-saturated. Our pump out guy carries a long, steel probe. He sticks this in the ground along the area of the leach lines. Works like a dipstick. If it's all wet all the way down when he pulls it out, there is a problem.

Dick

[Kathy]

It could be the vent.mine is only right abouve ground level. It looks like an upside down J. Only 2 or 3 inch diameter pipe.

[gnb]

Arizona,

Who do you hire to put in swales? what do I look for in the yellow pages? Do I have to figure out where they should be placed or does the...er.. "swale-guy" do all the figuring?

I was just wondering whether trying to direct and drain water to other areas that are also saturated, with little rivulets of water running all around, what good would that do? Because the entire piece of property was saturated. After a day with no rain, though, I see where some areas dry out while others still have standing water on top, so I'm assuming that with the swales the water will drain away from the saturated area once it has somewhere else to go. I think I'll show this entire thread to my husband, even though he isn't nearly as concerned about it as I am.

Thank you for the links and other useful information. :) Gayle

[gnb]

Bob S. wrote: If your soil has slow percolation, 2 leach fields may be necessary but

It has been able to handle a few rainy days in succession prior to this, but the amount of rainfall this past week has been well above the norm. I can't believe the soil would have slow percolation, as it appears to be mostly sand around here.

Bob S.

Your rain? Well come and get it - it's causing me all kinds of problems. ;) Gayle

[gnb]

field,

My husband is certain that we have one leach field only. Two fields sounds like an excellent idea under normal circumstances, but I'm sure I would have simply had two saturated leach fields, instead of just the one,after the amount of rainfall we've recently had. :) Gayle

[gnb]

Whenever we

It doesn't look like a J, it's just a section of white pvc (pcv?) pipe sticking up out of the ground with a cap on it. The septic guy told us to buy a huge bag of salt, the kind the farmers use around here (don't know what *they* do with it) and put it down that pipe. He said that would prevent tree roots from growing into the pipe.

Sometimes I miss my old home. This country girl business has it's down-side! Nothing will make you feel more uncivilized than having a screwed up septic system. :) The positives far out-weight the negatives, though. Have a good one, Gayle