septic tank problems

I just bought an old farmhouse an am going thru all the repairs that need to be done and have a puzzle.

when a large load of waster is flushed down the pipes (i.e. bathtub emptying) the basement fills with septic gas. found a cleanout cover rusted out (and now fixed) but still having the gas.

I'd say that when the water enters the tank, the gas gets pushed back, after the fix it has dropped noticeably, but it appears it has now been directed to the tank vent.

still some gas in basement, and a fairly good stinker from the septic vent, have i been living in the city soo long to forget that this is normal?

Reply to
Tater
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forgot to add some pertinent information......

darin feild outlet seems to be draining correctly, tank was pumped out before purchase (paid for by me) and the house was not ocupied for approx 6 months before we purchased.

and some websites say that chem treatments are nothing more than snake oil. aside from that SWMBO purchased a bottle of such stuff to see if it does work or not.

Reply to
Tater

Shortly after I bought my present house, I also found a rusted cleanout cover. I replaced it and that stopped the sewer smell in the basement. I do get sewer smell whenever my wife does laundry but only in the back yard. I believe, however it is coming from one of the roof vents as my septic tank has no vent. I lived in the city for 17 years and had also forgotten that these things come with country life. We live with a pretty constant wind from the West that after going over the house is backdrafted down behind the East side of the house, thus I believe why the smell is in the back yard when laundry is done. If you're still getting smell in the basement, perhaps you have a plumbing trap that is empty of water, thus letting the sewer gas through.

Tom G.

Reply to
Tom G

You need to install a trap in all your sewer lines and air vents to the roof. Those two things should cure all your problems.

Reply to
DK

I remember a year or two ago, there was a poster who had a mansion house with many rooms. He was complaining that his house often filled with sewer gas fumes and smelled like sh*t..

The solution was simple. He walked thru the empty rooms once every day or two and ran a cup of water in each drain and refilled the 'traps' which blocked the sewer gas.

Reply to
DK

I've found vents hidden inside walls, someone took a short cut and used pvc one way valves in an attempt to make drains work better. That might be alright at first (though I doubt it would pass code), but if the rubber flap or what ever makes it one way fails you have an open pipe.

Reply to
Eric in North TX

Vents like these are supposed to be on risers that take them up into the attic so that they can be serviced.

In theory, you can bring all vent pipes to a single vent trap like this and run a single penetration of the roof.

Reply to
Robert Gammon

Reply to
nospambob

Time to have it inspected. It could be unhealthy so call a reputable outfit to check the whole thing out. Try Google and you'll get lots of info on the subject.

Reply to
Pop`ö

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