Clogged drains + septic tanks

[Eigenvector]

It hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure it will sometime. I live in a single level 1 bathroom house with a septic tank. My suspicion is that someday either the toilet will clog or the kitchen drain will. In the chance that it will, what would be the FIRST thing to expect? My instinct tells me that if my toilet ever clogs it more than likely is a problem with the septic system - it's not like there's much to my sewer system - 3 inch pipe drops down off the toilet and then a big cast iron one straight into the box.

So assuming my drain does back up, should I call the septic guy first or crack out the plunger, then the plumber if that doesn't work?

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

I just had this happen a couple of months ago. If it's just the toilet backing up, then it's most likely a plug in the line. Call your plumber. If all the drains are backing up (shower/tub, washer, etc...) then you need to check your septic. Oftentimes its just a clog at the inlet to the tank which you can break loose yourself. If that isn't it, you might try running a snake from your cleanouts towards your septic and then back towards the house to see if there's a clog there. If that doesn't fix it, then there are probably two other possibilities. One, your outlet of your septic is clogged or your drainfield is saturated. Best to call the septic guys for either one of those. Unfortunately my drain field was saturated so I had to build a new one. Not cheap. Cheers, cc

[Eigenvector]

Good god, I hope I don't ever have to deal with a saturated drain field, I don't have near that much money.

thanks for the reply.