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OT Septic Field Question

J

John T

Well-known Member
Okay, so were in this drought right, but when I look at my lawn there are 5 nice even totally filled strips of GREEN grass (rest is burned up brown) exactly above where my 5 one hundred feet septic leech (leach?) tile fingers are buried!!!!!

Does that mean my field and fingers are all working correct??? Thats a GOOD thing to see right???

When mine was built in 1979 (unlike today) there were 5 mini distribution boxes (one at each finger) where the first had to fill,,,,,,,,,then it overflowed to the second and on down the line. Today I think all five are built on the same level???

Mine has only been pumped out once maybe 5 years ago, but hey I think alllllllll is well if the 5 even filled green strips in this drought mean anything.

Any knowledgeable professional plumbers and septic system installers out there??? Opinions, Comments??

Ol John T
 
Sounds like everything is fine. Mine runs into a hayfield and in dry weather, I have nice green streaks where the lines go. Been that way for 34 years and no problems.
Richard in NW SC
 
Reminds me of Irma Bombeck's book THE GRASS IS GREENER OVER THE SEPTIC TANK.

It would seem to me your runs are clear full and wicking moisture upwards if the grass is green over them. Bluegrass doesn't have a very deep root system. Jim
 
I'm not a septic expert by any means, but I'd say your leach field is working. However, that doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't have the septic tank pumped. The septic tank collects all solids. Organic compound are broken down, but minerals (say dirt from washing your hands) settles into the bottom of the tank, and will begin to build up. If you let it fill up, that dirt then goes into your leach field, and will begin to plug it up. That's my take at least.
David
 
You should have a 'septic tank' before your distribution boxes, where the solids go and have a chance to break down before entering your drain fields, hopefully as a liquid. The tank should be pumped out occasionally to remove the solid waste and grease buildup. More often for a larger family or higher useage system. This way, the greywater outflow doesn't plug up your drainfields over time and require they be replaced.
 
I would say your leach field is looking fine.

It doesn't tell us anything about your tank, or if it is near needing a pumping or not.

When the tank fills up - can be in a year or can be in 40 years, depends on how big it is and how many people are using it and how they use it - it starts letting the solids leak out into the lines, and they will fill up with a sticky slime of solids, and then your leach field is ruined.

You don't know that's happening until after it is really to late to fix the problem.

So it's smart for a person to pump the tank a few times, and try to learn how fast or slow your particular lifestyle fills up your particular tank.

Then you can figure if you need to pump every year, or every 20 years.

It would seem your lines are working well today.

We don't know how your tank is funtioning.

--->Paul
 
Now at the "D" box or 22 years ago when working for an excavation outfit, we used to do quite a few new systems, and there was one "D" box with the appropriate amount of holes for the number of leach lines to be connected, and at the connection into the box were these devices that you adjust to do about the same thing, I forget now if they were set to drain equally or staged so that each would drain in succession of each other, "D" box was level and the perforated drain tile was set 1/8" per foot slope, set on a bed of clean crushed #2 stone, covered in #2 stone, inspected at some point, red rosin paper over the top layer of stone, then backfilled with appropriate fill, usually planted in grass.

I have a garden patch over ours, been there since the place was built,not sure if it totally aligned, I don't grow rooted vegetables there, corn as of late, til the deer got it, but in the dry hot weather we had, no weeds at the time, never had to water the corn, either the soil holds the moisture, (clay) or what. I've never had any trouble except when the ground gets saturated and there is that freeze thaw thing, that will back up the leach field, rare occurrence, once in 30 or more years, pumped the tank, and that was it for that incident. I only till 8" or so down, my father actually started this plot and used it many years until he moved.
 
well,my opinion ,if i had my druthers i would like to see only three or so of the lines looking like that, but yes they are working.Three would mean simply you had more capacity.IN my opinion if all five are green your running at near capacity on your leach field is all. not that theres anything wrong.
 
If I recall the baffled septic tank itself (prior to the leach field and its 5 dist boxes) is 1000 or 1200 gallons and YES it was pumped once (since 1979) like 5 years ago.

In the eighties n nineties we raised 3 kids (long showers esp for teen girl lol) but now its just the two of us n we may be gone in the RV 3 to 6 months so it dont get near as much use nowadays......

Okay when the kids were all home and in extended rainy periods (spring and fall only though) it would perk to the ground level (effluent) up some at the very end of the very last finger but stools still flushed no backups ever. However since the kids all left it dont seem to ever do that. I may have it pumped this fall prior to or after?? the rainy season as preventive maintenance but I think its workin okay now.....

John T
 
Im NOT admitting to anything, but I know this "dude" who figured lint and grease were the worst enemies of a septc system soooooooooo he drains his clothes washer (lint) and kitchen sink (grease) way down over the hill into the middle of 40 acres where theres no living souls for miles n miles nor wells or nuttin but wild game. Wonder if that extends the life of a system I bet it does, wow some "dude" huh lol

Anonymous
 
Hey dude, that's a pretty good idea where it is legal to do so. My state it's not, and tanks are required to be pumped every 3 years whether they need it or not. :)

--->Paul
 
mine gives me fits every time we have all the kids and grandkids down for the holidays,but as long as its just my wife and i its fine.I KNOW mine is bad though,cotton wood trees have filled them with roots.I need to replace them ,but thats one project I keep putting off.
 
when i grew up we didnt have running water in the house but we did have a sink with a drain.it ran out of the side of the house into the garden.works good ,but you dont want to run gray water onto root crops such as potatoes, turnips and things.above ground crops it works well on.of course we never ran a whole lot of water down the drain since we carried it all in buckets.just mostly dishwater.bathwater we would throw out on the yard.
 
pumping is the answer to longevity, the solids are the bad guys and the more you keep out of the leach field the better you'll be,..i have mine pumped every 3 years and throw some yeast in to get it working again, sounds like your's is doing fine
 
Guess I would depart a little from what the others said.

Good news is, yes, it is working, as indicated by the green going all the way out to the ends of the lines. Old type gravity leach systems fail by filling with solids, starting at the outer ends, and working their way up the line. When the lines are plugged all the way to the distribution box (or far enough up that the outflow of tank doesn't keep up with inflow, hence a backup), you get to install a new system. You probably came close to that situation when the kids were home, and it came to the top.

Bad news is, effluent isn't being absorbed into the soil very well- moisture should go DOWN, not up- so the ideal situation is no green over the leach field. Your soil isn't as absorbent as you'd like to see, but "it is what it is", and not much can be done about it, short of an expensive new system.

So just keep the grease out of it, make sure the baffle is intact, get it pumped every 5-7 years, and it should be fine. Someone else stated one of life's truisms- "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
 
Green streaks are not necessarily created by water going up, from the septic system. First, these areas are the best tilled area, in your lawn, the soil profile has been mixed up, and any compaction shattered. Best tilled spot gets longer roots, longer roots means greener grass. Second, it is more likely, that if you were to measure the level of the lawn, the septic line areas will have settled, since installation. Low spot gets the water, and hangs on to it longer.
 
Sounds like it's working right, and I think you could probably go 5 years or so between pumping,
Thats what I plan on doing, it's just 2 of us, and we are gone 1/3 of the time.
 
Around 'here', everyone in the country (with enough acreage) has a gray water (kitchen sink, dish washer, washing machine) system and a septic tank (commode, tub, sink, shower) system. The gray water is either dispersed on top of the ground or put into a simple french drain. Lots of folks have septic tanks that are 50 or more years old that have never been pumped. My field lines are exactly bass ackwards from yours; the grass on them is dead/dying (we're having a major drought).
 
That dude is correct, have an equal size concrete tank, same as septic, think its 1000 gallon, oversize and overkill on purpose for gray water, with a line that I think daylights, good ole fashion septic w/leachfield in well or decent percolated soil, is as best it gets, for cost, performance and what have you if you keep grease and lint from it, have heard a lot of municipalities, want mound systems, frankly, I don't even know what that is LOL !
 

I'm with Mike PA. Get that tank pumped and baffles inspected ASAP!!!!! Yes, it is working to a degree, but in a dry year you can see where everyone's leach fields are, not because of green but brown, because the bed of stone with a bed of sand under it makes it so that it retains moisture very poorly. Just picture pouring five gallons of water onto 12 inches of stone over four feet of sand. How long will you be able to see the water? The field is hurting but is probably salvageable if you get to it soon. Too much money to take a chance on it.
 
You're living proof of the validity of Irma Bombeck's book: "The Grass Is Always Greener Over The Septic Tank".
 
Don't try to fix whats not broken,my septic system was intalled when I built this house in 1975 and has worked flawlessly ever since.If a septic system is working correctly it should never need pumping.
 
Walk on those green areas bare footed and see if any of that thick black liquid sqeezes up between your toes. If it has you've waited too long. I had that problem with my last home and was one of the reasons I sold it. Maryland changed that law sometime ago and if there's any major issues with the home you need to tell the buyer or fix it or sell the home "as is."

We made up our mind once we sold it that our next home would have public water and sewage. Been here for 44 years. Hal
 
Nope, not true. Even if it is working perfectly, there are some "solids" that don't dissolve, and will gradually build up. If you let the solids build up to where they go over the baffle, the drainfield will be destroyed in short order.

Septic guy who pumped ours said 3-5 years if you have kids at home, 7 or 8 if just the two of you.
 
Thanks yall, I never planned to do anything or fix it since its not broken and works great (good flushes, no backups ever, no effluent rising in wet weather since 3 kids left), I just wanted opinions on the good or bad of the nice full green strips. Some mentioned the ground there had been cultivated (better for growing and water retention) but rememebr its been there 32 years now. I think, however, since its only been pumped once in the 32 years, I may start having it pumped evey now n then as preventive maintenance. If I ever catch that "dude" who runs his kitchen sink and clothes washer over the hill (reducing lint and grease in septic system) Ima gonan turn him in lol

John T
 
My septic system has already proved you wrong by working fine for over 35 years.What do you expect a guy that pumps tanks for a living to say?He needs suckers to keep his business going.Kinda like real estate agents they always say "Now" is the time to buy a house whether its true or not cause thats how they make a living.
 

I am not am expert but one of my jobs during college was putting in septic systems. I didn't design them or run the tractor but I did spend alot of time in the trench. I would like to expand on the post by Mike (WA).

I was taught the drain field lines should receive equal amount of liquid and to that end all the outlets on my distribution boxes were set dead nuts level. Since all your lines are green it simply suggests they are all equal. I would agree perhaps full of water and therefore failing.

One way to determine is to have your septic tank pumped. Ask the technician if he/she can watch/listen for water returning from the drainage field. A drainage field in good condition should not have a significant amount of water flowing back into the tank as it is pumped. In the case they are water filled since, there are only two of you perhaps they can recover once they are drained...?

BTW - The ends of the drainage fingers should not be connected. That can form a ground loop. Sorry I could not resist...
 
Hey Paul,

Sounds like some of the politicians in your state have strong ties with the septic pumping industry?! LOL
 
(quoted from post at 07:48:18 07/19/12) I'm not a septic expert by any means, but I'd say your leach field is working. However, that doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't have the septic tank pumped. The septic tank collects all solids. Organic compound are broken down, but minerals (say dirt from washing your hands) settles into the bottom of the tank, and will begin to build up. If you let it fill up, that dirt then goes into your leach field, and will begin to plug it up. That's my take at least.
David
Click to expand...

Dave you are close to right but there are actually more floating solids that build up in a tank. The baffles at the inlet and outlet keep the floating solids from floating on out to the field and plugging it up, because the water has to come up under the outlet baffle. The baffles go down about two feet. When I got mine pumped nine years after having it put in, the floating solids had accumulated to within two inches of the bottom of the baffles, so in another month or so I would have had floating solids going out into my field. Another problem was the way they used to secure baffles in the early concrete tanks with wire which would rust away and the baffle would drop to the bottom of the tank. That is why you don't just get it pumped but also check the baffles. I have replaced missing baffles with 4 inch PVC stuck into the outlet pipe and then goes into a Tee a few inches into the tank with a vertical pipe going down about two feet. Floating solids stay on top and water goes into the outlet two feet down.
 
just keep paying someone to pump yours 5 to 7 had mine pumped at 20 and pump guy said was nothing there...know my fathers old place was built in 1973, never been pumped family of 4 living there now...we do put yeast and pour old milk down it sometimes...
 
its not that,( i use chicken) but the grease,soap,whatever you have for dinner thats in the dishwater thats the problem. its more than just water.causes your root crops to taste bad and can actualy rot them in the ground occasionaly.a plant above ground sort of filters this stuff out.
 
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