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Nashville, TN

OK... Gonna tell you all how these nit-wits in my County allow septic fields to be installed.... 3 main 10" circumference lines about 50' long each with fabric over them. Several smaller 'overflow' solid lines connecting them (one fills up - waste water flows through the small lines to the next big line)..

Now here's the catch - main lines are buried just 1' down. Overflow lines are just 3" down. There is no gravel. Ground water can seep into the main lines. I live in the 'bottom land' of a valley. We have fairly solid clay 3' down. The ground is usually SATURATED for 4-6 months during the winter.

After just ten years - all of my overflow lines have started 'floating up'. My main lines are filled with ground water - thus, when you take a shower, etc, the water's got to have somewhere to go. so It finds a way to make a hole to the surface..

And this waste water keeps flowing straight into my pumpkin garden area!!! We keep having nit-wit septic repair guys come out and fix one 'waste water hole' then a week later it finds another way!!

2/26/2006 9:20:30 AM

Nashville, TN

So I've gotten sick of it (I 'repaired' the first breach early last summer by layering 2' of mulch over it - MY 'repair' hasn't leaked since!!!)

My hubby is bringing that company out one more time. IF it starts leacking again - I'm using my hubby's New holland when he's not home **grin** - and bringing the rest of my mulch piles over to cover it!!!

Guess I'll have another gigantic 'bulb bed' right above my pumpkin garden......

Because of all the 'nutrients' that have saturated the pumpkin patch.. Along with the gigantic mountains of composted barn waste that are almost ready to spread (with the new holland).... Will I need to look for any specific growth problems with the GPs?????

2/26/2006 9:25:22 AM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Somehow or other it just doesn't seem right to grow pumpkins in the fluid leaking out of your septic system. The smell alone would be enough to deter most people. To make it right you are most likely going to have to spend some real money, as in a sand mound system. Your thing sounds like a real mess. Are all the houses and yards around you the same? Ahhhh, the odor on a warm summer night out there by your pumpkin patch.
Marv

2/26/2006 10:41:07 AM

Long Island,New York

My experience as a geologist and construction inspector tells me more often than not its the person who builds the house or has the house built that that coughed at the price of a proper system and ended up squeezing a contractor for a lesser system that eventually doesn't work. Couple that with the fact that some areas just plain and simply should not be built on and we have trouble. If you have to build your house on stilts because the side of the mud mountain isn't stable enough to put the foundation on the ground maybe you shouldn't build there??? If you have berms, dikes, and sandbags to keep the ocean out of your basement maybe you shouldn't build there? Lowlying bottom land with an impervious clay layer.....hmmm....maybe not build there? I'm guessing you have no municipal sewer system to tie into?

2/26/2006 11:18:18 AM

Western NY

Septic systems where there are high (or even seasonally high) water tables require special considerations. It sounds like you have a serial distribution type of system, which is one the ones i've never seen up here. Covering the system with more soil or mulch will only temporarily mask the problem. eventually, it will either break out onto the surface of the ground again, or back up into the house.

For the long term, you're going to have to look into curtain draining the property to keep the soil dry, and I would say you're probably going to have to replace the leaching area. If you have a lot of clay, you would be looking at a sandfilter type system if you were up here.

I work for the our Health Dept here inspecting those type of systems, shoot me an email if you have any specific questions on that part.

as far as the pumpkins goes, they hate soggy soil, so if it has dried out well it might not be a problem, but i wouldn't expect the best results.

Andy

2/26/2006 11:42:16 AM

Ray, North Dakota

Instead of digging up and repairing the system, could you add on to the end of it, more saturation lines? Septic repair or replacement can get very very spendy.

2/26/2006 1:59:21 PM

[email protected]

It's time to move.

2/26/2006 5:13:31 PM

Pocatello ([email protected])

I'm new to septic systems, and have questions...

The tail end of my drainfield extends into the garden. For
some reason, nothing wants to grow in that very section of
the garden.

I have two drainfield "lines" that run away from the house.
In the hot part of the summer, you can see the "outline" of
the lines... the grass is green directly over each line, and
yellow and dry inbetween the two lines. The lines are about
10 feet apart...

I had my tank serviced this fall, just like I do every 2
years. When the guy came out to pump it, we noticed that
the water in the tank wasn't even up to the level of the
drain. That is, the tank appears to be leaking. Our
situation is that we have a clay soil for a few feet down,
then under that it's a loose gravel that goes way down.

If any of you experts have comments on the above, I'd be
glad to hear them. Thanks.

2/27/2006 10:20:06 AM

San Luis Obispo, Ca.

Sounds like a "stinky" situation?

2/27/2006 11:34:31 AM

Western NY

Cliff - as for your tank:

if your septic level isn't even up to the outlet, it is leaking somewhere. It's most likely either leaking at the seam halfway up the tank, or at a drainplug on the bottom. the drainplug is a long shot, i've only seen one of those situations in the last 4 years, as only some tank makers use them. they are there in case water gets into the tank during storage (before they sell it) in places where it freezes hard in the winter from what i understand.

if your tank has a slow leak, the clay layer surrounding the tank will keep it a slow leak into the soil, and during heavy use, the tile field will probably be getting the effluent. the problem is, if the hole excavated for the tank was deep enough to punch into the gravel layer, especially if your well is nearby, or downgrade.

odds are, your best option will be to replace the tank, preferribly with a dual-compartment (most of the volume is in the first chamber) model, with an effluent filter (Zabel is the big name, although there are others popping up now). you're probably looking at a 1000-1500 gallon tank, depending on your local regulations.

2/27/2006 12:01:05 PM

Nashville, TN

I called the 'county environmental' official to come and tell us how to fix it 'properly' (granted I also couldn't BELIEVE that this is the system that the county APPROVED and RECOMMENDED to be installed in the first place)...

He came out - said that the system was indeed installed to 'code specifications' and recommended a couple of repair services..

Well, since it still is having problems - I called my 'ol Uncle who is a Hydrolics Engineer in California for advice.... He recommended raising the 'level' above the system by 2-3' with a substrate that would allow easy disipation of waste water - and to create a Surface ditch around the ENTIRE septic field to reroute surface water...

So looks like we're going to dump a bunch of gravel - then cover that with either sand or stone dust.... Guess we'll just have a big graveled area now - that you can't use for parking anything (can't have the weight crush the lines)...

Danny's studied the 'septic run-off' area and most of it went down the 'edge' of the garden near the fence. We'll just put fresh mulch over it - which will keep any order from eminating!!

God I HATE rednecks that make codes for systems that are just not suitable for the area!!!!!!!

2/27/2006 12:55:01 PM

Pocatello ([email protected])

Our well is a community well, 40 houses on it, and it is
upgrade (upstream) from my tank. The guy who came out to
pump it had been doing these for 30 years, and didn't seem
too concerned (I realize that that's not a good measure, but
oh well...)

In fact, when he had the tank cleaned out he was able to
point out a rubber gasket that wasn't placed right at the
bottom of the tank.

2/27/2006 1:08:09 PM

Billerica,Massachusetts

just be thankful you don't live in the peoples republic of massachusetts, you'd have to have that septic meet title five requirements and it would cost you around 15-k - 20k

2/28/2006 8:25:20 AM

Pocatello ([email protected])

One thing... our water is pretty rigorously tested, as it is a community well. We test it every month.

2/28/2006 10:55:48 AM

Sloughhouse, CA

Our soil is also clay. Our perk test was poor and had to put in a trans-evaporation system (engineered system). The effulent (sp.) comes out of the house and is pumped into two chambers (one with air) Then it is pumped up to the back of our property.We have two chambers there with 20- 100 ft. lines with holes in it. That is buried about 3ft. deep. We have been in the house about 20 years. About 5 yrs. ago we cleaned out the lines by back flushing with 1/2 in black hose. Last yr. we dug down to the pipe put in new pipe covered it with gravel and tile and then reburied it. We have had a lot of rain this month and no problems.Thank goodness for the Ford tractor. My pumpkins grow on top of the field.We have no smell even in the summer when you open up the chambers to check them. The system was made in Houston Texas.
Good luck with your septic system.

3/22/2006 12:32:39 AM