Mowing Mowing Septic tank

[DavidInNH]

I'm pretty sure that I have a system that is similar to the "Infiltrator". Mine was installed in '93 and IIRC, they referred to it as a "Swedish system" (but my memory isn't what it used to be). One of the benefits mentioned at the time was that we needed less lineal feet than alternative systems.

Hey, if you believe the VW ads, then those plastic arches ought to be pretty strong./w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

-david

 

[patrickg]

David, I never heard the Infiltrator type leach field called Sweedish but I'm surely no leach field historian. I don't know how strong the Infiltrator is regarding driving over it but I just wouldn't. Compaction is a bad thing for leach fields and I'm sure having a wheel break through and go into one could spoil an otherwise fun tractor day.

Patrick

 

[Soundguy]

If those are steel i-beam sections, then the person driving should have known they were overloading the septic tank lid... a small tractor is one thing.. a huge forklift with a heavy load.. sheesh..

Soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

The drainage field for my house was ,a pseudo comercial instalation similar to an infiltrator structure.. but closer to comercial, in that it had a main line, trunked to 3 sub lines, hole deal is about 6 to 7 ' deep, and uses plastic filter structures and some voids. Looked very nice... took a good amount of gravel.. but possible less than a 'standard' system.

Soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

Incidentially, the deeper system like I used, doesn't give you the 'square lush green forest' in one spot in your yard, like some of the other systems .

Soundguy

 

[patrickg]

Hey, Soundguy, Wow, 6ft deep? Gravel? The infiltrator system doesn't use gravel as far as I have read. Where did they put the gravel? It is possible that if the top of the plastic arch thingies are 6 ft down that you might not have so much problem driving over them. The infiltrator depends on evaporation and transpiration and the big void it encloses gives you a huge surge capacity as well. Your system is way out of my experience. Details, please?

I was warned to never drive parallel to the leach field trenches but to go crosswise and as little as possible. I was told I could till it a couple inches but in general to leave it alone.

Patrick

 

[patrickg]

Well Soundguy, Bring on the lush green patch! Mom's year old leach field is about 50 ft or so by nearly 200 ft. I didn't fertilize it as much as when I did the new yard and seeded annual rye. The rye looks like it will make a decent hay crop at the rate it is growing (over a foot high lots of places). The leach field is way behind in greening up and has a lot of weeds. I will spray it for broadleaf weeds in a week or so and maybe seed a couple kinds of grass on it. I wish it would go lush green! Wasn't it Erma Bombeck who said the grass is always the greenest over the septic tank?

Patrick

 

[MrP]

Will c,

How about horses walking over the leach field? Could they do damage to it? It seems to be sunken in in places. It could be normal settlement (the field is about 10 years old).

 

[Soundguy]

My system uses 3 areas that ar rectangular voids, with angular facets running the length, and has drainage ports all over the surface. Gravel is piled up over the structures ( about a 2' structure with gravel a foot to either side, plus about 6" on top.. then covered with regular fill.
Fairly interesting system.. probably a good 6' or so of fill over the whole mess. Other than the fancy drainage structures.. it is really only a variation on a theme for a regular drain field.

Soundguy

 

[patrickg]

SoundGuy, So far in my limited experience with septic systems I think I have learned that THE most important thing is that IT goes away when you flush, every time. But seriously, your system sounds well constructed. Like the Infilltrator system it should have good surge capacity. I don't know what your soil characteristics are so I don't know if it would have been a good idea to put some kind of "anti-infiltration" cloth over the top of the gravel before backfilling with soil. It keeps fine stuff from getting into the gravel and plugging it up. Of course there are soils where that would be a waste of time and money.

Our job was competitively bid and I picked the next to lowest bidder because for $50-$75 difference I thought they were going to do a better job. They used a cloth cover prior to backfill with soil. I think it was Tyvek or some other man made stuff with a jilion year life underground.

Don't laugh too hard but I was thinking of fertilizing over the top of the leach field to get it to green up some. It looks real poor compared to the area I took to bare earth and planted annual rye. I'll give it another 3-6 weeks to perform or get some fertillizer.

Patrick