It's pretty standard to just plant grass over a septic drain field as the shallow roots won't interfere with the pipes. I'm wondering if there's a better option than just grass. I know I can't plant any edible plants above so I'm thinking maybe some type of pollinator field. Anyone have some specific recommendations?
I have a 40 year old system. About 3 years ago we terraced out a play area on the side of the house, unbeknownst to me, right where the drain field ends. Turns out they dug down just deep enough to hit the drain field. Septic company ended up capping the field pipe about 30 feet or so short of the area and we converted the washing machine discharge to a grey water system to reduce the load on the field.
Flash forward to today. Wet spot in the yard under some big trees about 40 feet where the field was capped off. Yep, it's septic water bubbling up. Original septic company comes out and says I need an alternative system since there's not a ton of room in my yard. Different company suggests 3 options:
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Pump tank and see if it dries out and returns to normal working condition (we've had a ton of rain lately and recently had a sprinkler leak which he says could add to the problem).
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take out a few trees in the (very wooded and steep sloped) back yard for an area for a traditional system to go in, provided soil test is ok and we're not too close to a storm drain runoff creek in the backyard (cost: $12k-$14k including tree removal).
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Alternative system (cost - $20k - $30k).
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"How do you feel about doing work without a permit?" - Create a pit style system right in the area where the water is bubbling up. Problem is my county doesn't allow them any more. So it would have to be on the DL. (cost - $4k-$5k).
I'm definitely getting it pumped and giving it a little while to see what happens first. I'd like to do it the right way and put in a traditional drain field that's on the up-and-up but I'm concerned that the area we'd need to put it in won't work. What are the downsides of going with option 4, though? Any other suggestions? I'm in a suburb of Atlanta if it's important.
It's not for sure yet but I may need to replace my existing septic drain field which is currently 32 years old. Has anyone done this recently? What was the cost, steps, etc? I looked up a couple companies and plan to call Tony Ikard tomorrow morning to get an appointment scheduled. I called the Madison county health department and they forwarded me the documentation they have which states I have a 1000 gallon tank and 170' of drain line (2 lines total).
My neighbor said they have to truck out the dirt around the existing lines since they are apparently a biohazard material and he had me scared about the cost of this work. Obviously I will know more as time goes on and I meet with the experts but I just wanted to put this out there in case some of yall have recently gone through the same thing. Any advice or info would be helpful!
Update 1:
I have an engineer coming this week to do the perc test. He will help me design a new drain field depending on a few factors (the most important of which is how well my soil does on the perc test). He will fill out forms and I take that to the health department to get a permit ($100 fee) at which point I start looking for someone to do the work. In case other local redittors are going through the same thing I will continue to post updates
Update 2:
Perc test is done and drain line plans where drawn up by geo engineer. I filled out the rest and took it to the health department (environmental services offices which has a door in the back on the right, not the main entrance). They said it would take approx 2 weeks to get permits bc someone is actually going to come out to my property first to verify a few things. I sent plans to two contractors requesting quotes. No quotes have been received yet. Btw, the new drain field is suppose to have 260' of drain line.
Looking for recommendations of businesses who would be able to replace the septic drain field for my 23 year old 4 bedroom house. Got a failed inspection. Finances are not an issue just looking to get the job done and done right!
Just looking for validation or to be told I’m completely wrong. Every year the grass over the septic drain field turns brown in the hot summer months. Every other part of the lawn is dry, but green. In spring and fall the grass over the septic is green and lush. In years past the crabgrass thrived, but this year I finally got it under control so that area is quite brown.
My thought is the soil depth is preventing the roots from retaining enough moisture to survive the hot summer months. Is it worth bringing it up an inch or two or three? Would that damage the drain field?
We had our mound system inspected back in April (this is done regularly), besides being towards the end of its life (20 years at this point). Last night my wife and I got home, I heard our aeration pump far more than ever before so I inspected it, to find it was completely disconnected from the pipe that goes into the next tank that "tosses" the effluent into the air to a little collector to be moved to the dosing tank. I saw the first tank was full, so I reconnected the pump to the pipe and air flowed and water started to slowly move to the dosing tank again.
About an hour later, our alarm sounded. I checked the system and the dosing tank was empty (just having finished a pump). Putting the pieces together I started to think that perhaps pressure built up because the dosing tank couldn't pump to the field and forced the pump off of the pipe.
Anyways .. here is the real question that is weighing on my mind right now. At both end of the mound there are multiple check points, one of these (at each end) has a PVC pipe exposed with end caps that can be unscrewed. The local health inspection office tech told me those can be removed temporarily to flush any sediment in the line. I saw there was sediment last night so I removed the caps and when the dosing pump ran a LOT of effluent came out. Is that normal? Since system is pressurized and the effluent is going to generally take the path of least resistance that somewhat makes sense .. but I have never seen this operate before.
Thanks for anyone who wants to try and help!
Edit: I spoke with the company manager (dude was super nice for helping ease my mind). Still having the guys come out Wednesday but he said removing those caps and seeing the effluent come out when the pump runs is totally normal. It makes sense but since I have no experience with these things leaving anything to chance is not good.
Hey all,
we bought our house about a year ago. They replaced the septic drain field before we purchased the house as part of the home sale (bringing it up to code for the state). We live in a high water table area, so they changed the design of the septic drain field.
My question: Do they pump the holding tanks before doing the work on the drain field?
Trying to determine if it was/wasn't so we can know when to schedule the next pump out.
Thanks!
tank has recently been overflowing enough to create a pretty good wet spot above the tank. had my tank pumped a few months ago after 25 years - i built the house and have not had any problems until now.
it's not overflowing now but you can see the darker mud where it has been. so i dug up the tank lid and lifted it and the level does see pretty high. i go out about 25 feet and dig up a section of the field line and the hole immediately fills with water. from looking at the ground - 25 feet looks about half way. the field line appears to be about 18" under ground.
i just had my house roofed after the hurricane and there are some tire ruts in this area. surely they didn't crush the pipe 18" under ground - or did they? Why did this hole fill full of water? should the drain field be mostly dry - we have not had rain in about a week although this is the south and we've been getting a lot of rain lately.
Thanks for your thoughts!
*edit-First of all, thanks for all the input. I'll respond where/when I can. Also pumped that my top voted post on reddit is about the poop system in my house. And silver now, too!
Hi guys, I've got a small home in central Florida with a septic tank/drain field. We have it pumped about every three years or so and haven't had any issues. Long story short: the house drains fine, main line is clear.
We decided to have the septic tank cleaned out yesterday. It's been about three years since we had it done last. The technician didn't say anything about the condition of anything, he just did his job and left. My wife gets a call from the company this morning saying that our "drain field is bad." I called back and the woman says that the technician "noticed that the water is draining slowly into the drain field, and we should keep an eye on it."
The guy who pumped it only had access to a 18x18" (approximate) opening into the tank that we had to dig a hole to get to. Is there any way he would be able to get an idea of the condition of our drain field from that, or from pumping? Are they just blowing smoke to get us to hire them to replace our drain field? Thanks in advance.
*ETA-The drain field age is unknown, unfortunately. House was built in the 60's, I've lived in the house for about 15 years. Neighbors' houses were all built at different times, so there won't be any way to tell from that either.
Drainage from the house is fine, and there's not wet soil/pooling in the yard. That may be related to our extremely sandy soil here, I guess. Water on the surface tends to disappear rapidly.
I uncovered the tank the night before the guy came out and it looked to be about at least 1.5 ft below the top of the tank, but I wasn't looking for the inlet and didn't notice where the level was in relation to that.
Hi all,
Buying a new house in Michigan. In the dead of winter, the front yard is being completely torn up/removed and replaced with new dirt and gravel for the septic drain field. After the installation is completed, the yard will be regraded, but nothing is planned for grass/sod. How should I go about mitigating my future mud pit? Reseed in spring? Lay sod? I'm pretty clueless.
Thanks!
My home is on a narrow, level, 1/3 acre lot. The basement is slightly less than 8ft in height, 4-5ft below grade around the entire perimeter (no walkout, 1st floor is about 3ft above grade).
Currently, the building drain exits the side of the house about 1ft below grade, turns 90deg, the tank is on the side of the house, then the drain field in the back yard.
I've been curious about moving the entire system to the front yard to open the possibility of adding an inground pool. The problem is that the main stack enters the basement behind the staircase, which means it would have to either cut in front of the staircase and across usable area to maintain its current exit depth (not really feasible in any way, would block the staircase), or go lower into the slab and exit at footer level. Its possible I could keep it current exit point and just turn toward the front yard instead of the back, but that would mean tearing out my entire asphalt driveway which is not ideal. I also might run into setback issues as it would be close to my neighbors property (not sure the current system would be approved if it were a new install).
If this is even possible and I ended going forward with this project at some point, dropping the building drain below the slab would be preferable. It would also allow me to add a bathroom in the basement without an ejector tank.
The problem is this would put the tank at least 4ft below grade, with the drain field even lower.
Ive tried doing some research on codes, but haven't found anything 100% conclusive. Im also not at a point where Im serious enough about this project to bring someone in. I just want to know if this is even possible. At this point, its more about knowing if this house has long term potential for us to add the things we want.
First time home owner and I’ve gotten a few quotes. I just want to make sure I’m not getting ripped off... I know nothing about septic tanks. I also don’t know how large mine is. The person who emptied my tank last year gave me the best price ($2500 material + labor) to change the drain field since the water is not filtering out. What is ther average price here to have that done?
The renters next to me have started parking a pickup truck over the tank and drain field. I told them it's not the best idea, they're still doing it. I'm friendly with the home owner. Is this worth giving him a heads up?
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Description
Let our professional tech come out and quickly handle your grease trap service needs, We perform top quality installation and service of your septic system drain field, septic tank system, septic tank installation and repair, grease trap service and pumping. We cover all Palm Beach County.
Owner Name
Saraan Hempton
Address
3077 Fleming Ave
Lake Worth, FL 33463
Business Phone
561-562-7727
Business Email
Year found
2019
Number of employee
6
Operating Hours
24 hours - 7 days a week
We have a septic tank near the house that runs 100+ feet past drip line of a few mature, old trees and out to a field where the drain field is located.
I know septic systems have limited lives but does the piping connecting the tank to the distribution box and drain field ever need to be replaced?
I'm hoping not because it could mess with our beautiful trees root system. I suspect this is original to the house and it's 70 years old. We have had no septic issues knock on wood.
Curious if anyone can help me understand more.
Hi. We are in the process of buying a house right now. On 3/30 our realtor said he received the septic inspection and the whole system failed. They needed to replace two tanks and a drain field.
During all of this we are in a shutdown state. Original close was this Thursday. We took the opportunity to delay closing until May but our realtor put in a contingency that once the seller completed the work we can pick a sooner closing date than May 5.
I got the paperwork back today from our relator and I am seriously weary of this whole thing. Inspection failed on 3/30. It says permits were acquired 3/31. I have an estimate from a private excavating company from 4/1 for all the work that needs done. And in the email from our realtor he says that the County approved the final project on 4/2. How in the world can all of that work been done in one day? Two new septic tanks and a whole new drain-field. In a state that is shutdown? All of this was done so quickly to keep closing on Thursday.
I don't know... can someone help me out? Is there anything I can do? Something seems off!
Hi plumbers,
Thanks in advance for taking the time to try to help. I'll try to keep this short.
My septic tank is filling very fast. It has previously been fine for 5+ years between pumping and I always pumped it every 4 years to be on the safer side. I pumped it in 2018 as normal, but noticed in 2019 water was pooling onto my lawn above the tank. I pumped it again in December and noticed within a month water was pooling again onto the lawn. Most septic companies I've dealt with just want to pump it, make sure water is flowing into it, and then consider it resolved, but it just overflows again after a short time.
Possibly relevant:
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1000 gal tank used by 2 people.
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I see water on the lawn above the tank, but not elsewhere in the yard.
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One of the (unused) toilets in my house does not flush - sometimes has a bubbling/gurgling. I have not had this addressed yet because it's in an unused bathroom. I don't think this can be related but just wanted to provide all the info since I'm not the expert.
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No other plumbing problems - no slow drains, no septic smell or backup inside the house.
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Not sure about the age of the septic system itself but it was installed before the previous owner moved in, so 25 years ago at least.
I contacted a new company and they suggested on the initial phone call that I probably need a new drain field. They want to send an engineer out for $3000 to design plans for a new drain field. I'm hoping that might not be necessary.
Is there anything else you could recommend or suggest, or would you agree that there's nothing to do besides get a new drain field? Thank you for your time :)
Good day all -
I'll new to starting my own vegetable garden and looking to educate myself before the season begins. The rear part of my 2.5 acres ends with a septic mound drain field. I know I don't want to grow on the mound but I'm trying to figure out how far away I need to be to grow without getting the soil corrupted? I've tossed around just doing raised garden beds about 15 ft away or so but I honestly have no clue if that's far enough away. I'm also undecided if I want right at plant straight in the ground. A soil test is happening next week as I'm looking into that now.
Any resources you could point me to would be super helpful. I've done some research and it doesn't seem to be a common question. A lot of the searches I've done have been muddied with the question of growing ON the mound which I don't want to do.
Thanks for your time!
We have a gravity drain system and drain field 1 is showing signs of failing (black scum in it's d-box). Drain field 2 is still fine, and my system was designed to run on only one field - so I'm not panicking just yet.
I'd like to hear everyone's experience with resurrecting a drain field. I know it can (sometimes) be done. Did you use an aeration kit (professional or DIY)? Did you use some of that snake oil in a jug (if so which one)?
