No Septic Tank?

I went to my cabin this week to dig up the septic tank cap. I found where the line came out of the house, and followed it for a few feet. It was angled down into the ground at a steep angle, and I did not reach the tank.

I took two metal dowsing rods and located all the branches off the line from the house. It looks like there is a main line from the cabin, a branch off that, and then five lateral lines off that branch. I could not locate a septic tank. We ran a hose down the line from the house, and it went twenty feet straight to a point on the hill where past that, there could not be a tank. And none of the lines hooked into a line coming out of where a tank might be. At bottom is an attempt of what the lines look like.

A friend of mine who is in construction big time suggested that the whole thing was made without a septic tank, as it is a seasonal cabin, and only gets light use.

The only other thing I can do is dig, dig, dig, to see if I can dig down to the suspected branches, or hit the actual tank. But by the looks of the surface located lines, there is no septic tank.

Anyone ever heard of this? What would you do?

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Reply to
Steve B
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How could/did you know the hose didn't just go into a tank rather than continuing down a line? (Not saying it didn't, mind you, but don't know from what you've said how you could tell where the end really was, only how much had been played out...)

Pretty reasonable "surmisation" :) I think given the data (assuming there is a way to resolve the possible discrepancy raised above). ...

Sure, lots of folks get by "on the cheap" if they can sneak it by the inspectors or don't bother to get inspected or aren't subject to it.

What to do--how long has it been this way and are there problems at present? If quite a while and no problems (so far), how is the usage you foresee in comparison to previous? If continue light use seasonally, it might just continue to function adequately for quite some time. OTOH, if you become permanent residents, bring in a bunch of kids and/or visitors, it could well fail in a month or two. Do you have to meet a current code for some reason now that wasn't before?

What _ought_ to be done almost certainly of course, is to add a septic tank if it doesn't have one...what you can get away with and for how long is an unanswerable question. Of course, if the laterals are still functioning now and you add the tank, you can probably keep them from clogging w/ solids and not have to replace the drainfield. If you risk over-use and _do_ clog the laterals, then it's the whole system replacement instead of just a tank.

Of course, I've seen some cabins where there was the traditional building w/ a half-moon in the door for that portion of the waste and only "gray water" went down the drains. Mostly in mountains where finding enough soil to make even a minimal rudimentary drainfield was a major problem...

HTH at least some...

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Reply to
dpb

I've seen where the "tank" was a couple of 55gal drums in series before going to the laterals. Worked fine for a 1 person system for a whole lot of years.

KC

Reply to
KC

Unless they were plastic drums, wouldn't expect that "whole lot" to be more than 20, maybe, before the drums were long gone. Guess if it was rocky soil it could be possible the hole wouldn't collapse in, though...

One can see lots of things if one gets around... :)

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Reply to
dpb

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Reply to
Homer

Septic field

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Septic field?

Reply to
Tony Hwang

maybe its a mound system?

Reply to
dikembe

Are the dowsing rods metal, or do they locate metal?

Reply to
Toller

There must be a tank somewhere. Running laterals like that and no tank, it would clog the laterals in short order.

I had to dig mine out last year. Used dowsing rods and something strange happened. I could trace the line right up to the tank and then nothing and then pick up the line again where it exited the tank. The rods would not show the tank itself.

I wonder about the number of laterals also. My rods work like this:

Walking slowly at right angles: Get indicator (pipe). On the other side get another indicator. That second one is a depth indicator, not a pipe. If I was getting what you show, I would have found 3 laterals, not 6.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

try running a snake down the line, listen at ground to find where it goes

Reply to
hallerb

Steve,

Are you sure you have a septic system? You may have a line dropping raw sewage into a nearby river. What you describe sounds like a leach field but a leach field must have a tank. I'm afraid that you have a weekend's worth of digging. Start at the house and dig from there along the sewage pipe until you locate other structures.

Dave M.

Reply to
David Martel

They are made out of rebar tie wire, and they will find any kind of pipe. They will also find metal objects as small as a tin can lid..

Steve

Reply to
Steve B

Nah, Dave. I'm pretty sure. The cabin is on a mountain side, and the only flat area is where the leach field is. The nearest "river" is miles and miles and miles away, probably forty. There is a creek about two miles downhill from the end of my leach field, and at least 750' vertical. Would that count?

I do see some digging, though. I'm going to call the septic guy and have him come and assess the situation, and maybe run a camera down the tube.

The whole purpose of this is to make sure the septic system is in good shape before I bring in a bunch of sand and gravel to level the driveway and parking areas.

Steve

Reply to
Steve B

And not a septic?

I almost took you up on the offer to demonstrate within 25 miles :)

BTW, it may not apply in your locatioin, but looking for a septic tank might be as easy as looking for the greenest/better growing lawn grass...

-- Oren

..through the use of electrical or duct tape, achieve the configuration in the photo..

Reply to
Oren

I did own a home once with a dual septic tank system. I would have never guessed one was in the front yard...

-- Oren

..through the use of electrical or duct tape, achieve the configuration in the photo..

Reply to
Oren

...a leach field _SHOULD_ have a tank..." :)

What somebody did to cut corners is anybody's guess, I guess... :)

...

Did you just purchase this property? If so: Wasn't it necessary for previous owner to disclose the condition prior to purchase? Didn't do an inspection prior to purchase? Can't ask prior owner what the deal is now even if others are "no"?

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Reply to
dpb

Would they find cement or clay pipe?

Reply to
Toller

What about snipping the ends off the tie-wires?

Anything dramatic, let us know!.

It could put _call_before_you_dig_ out of business.

-- Oren

..through the use of electrical or duct tape, achieve the configuration in the photo..

Reply to
Oren

If the tank is non-metallic, I think you need a crystal pendulum to find it. The good news is that this will also tell you if it is a boy tank or a girl tank.

Reply to
Tim Smith

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