Septic Help!!!

kcflhrc · Jan 22, 2016

EricTheOracle said:
You couldn't drop in a new 3" PVC pipe in a different place and abandon the old pipe under the concrete?

How would I do that? My main pipe comes out under the concrete patio as cast iron then transitions to plastic about 2 feet out from the house under the slab. Then continues under the whole slab before it just turns to grass and heads to the septic tank.

Deere Dude · Jan 22, 2016

mark02tj said:
Interesting post, John White!!

Since you don't recommend RidEx, is there anything that you can put in the tank to increase the biological activity?

And, what about the Borax mentioned above to keep the roots clear?

The last time my tank was pumped I asked the same question. The answer was to throw a chicken in the tank. It will start fermenting pretty fast.

He said or else I could put some yeast in a drain at a sink and wash it down instead. That was cheaper than a chicken.

CR172 · Jan 22, 2016

Oh I can just see the missus now when I tell her we have to sacrifice one her hens.......:dog:

kenmac · Jan 22, 2016

CR172 said:
I have contacted the folks that pumped it out last year and was told we have a problem elsewhere. I have no idea where the D-box is or if we have one. I am going to snake the line between the house and the tank and see what gives. I have also inquired about "additives" to help and I have always heard to NEVER use RidX. In searching for possible answers I came across several sites that have high $$$ additives that claim to work. And then there are those that say to poor beer down the drain. That's a waste of a perfectly good beverage...... Maybe I can use the Budweiser that someone left......

Additives will not solve our field line issue.. If you have taken the septic tank lid off ,and it's full.. Nothing you can do short of replacing the field lines
As far as adding additives to your tank Living | Adding Yeast To A Septic System Won't Do Any Good | Seattle Times Newspaper

teejk · Jan 22, 2016

kenmac said:
Additives will not solve our field line issue.. If you have taken the septic tank lid off ,and it's full.. Nothing you can do short of replacing the field lines
As far as adding additives to your tank Living | Adding Yeast To A Septic System Won't Do Any Good | Seattle Times Newspaper

Yup...nobody I know likes to pull that lid off but that is the first step...if it's to the top then look at the exit baffle. If not, look at the input baffle. Modern systems around here use a 3 chamber tank (#1 "stuff" that feed...#2 clean liquid coming off of chamber 1 with a filter at the bottom that feeds...#3 pumping station receiving filtered water from #2 forcing it out to the field. Wisconsin is **** about ground water but I think systems are now pretty uniform. We being **** about such things, we are required to get inspected every 3 years and pumped depending on solids. Hence we have a very wide crew of septic "pros"...I have a good one.

CR172 · Feb 11, 2016

As an update to our problem. There was a blockage between the house and the first tank. My hand held rooter wouldn't get it. We called a guy, he came out and within 15 minutes or so (and $80) we were back in business. The additives 'sound' like a good idea, but.... Even the guy that came out thinks additives are a good thing. His thought is " once you've pumped it, you've pumped out all the bacteria..." Not true. All they did was pump the tank. It wasn't sterilized or anything like that. And as the article referenced above says " adding bacteria to a septic tank is kin to adding a tablespoon of salt to the ocean to make it saltier"......

ultrarunner · Feb 11, 2016

Septics are so unusual here only a septic company will come out... even to clear a blockage.

My brother deals with several plumbing companies on a regular basis for his job... he had a blockage and each said they would send out their rooter guy and then declined when they learned it was a septic system.

teejk · Feb 11, 2016

Just a guess...a big wad of toilet paper in the "inlet" baffle? My septic guy told me that was the 1st thing he looks for. He didn't want to come out but told us to open the cover and check...septic leaves the house below basement floor and the tanks have a few risers...luckily we had a 20' pvc pipe that worked just fine (I let my sons do it because they probably caused it...I understand that when that pipe hit the wad nobody would have wanted to be down there...NASTY). Avoid that "extra strength" TP.

teejk · Feb 11, 2016

ultrarunner said:
Septics are so unusual here only a septic company will come out... even to clear a blockage.

My brother deals with several plumbing companies on a regular basis for his job... he had a blockage and each said they would send out their rooter guy and then declined when they learned it was a septic system.

The systems have become an industry...new ones will have a 3 chamber tank ("stuff" in chamber 1, liquid into #2, filtered into #3 where it is pumped out the field). I understand that even the field is now engineered to ensure that chamber #3 fills the entire field when it pumps. As noted earlier I think the primary cause of "slow" on newer systems is in the inlet baffle...a "rooter" won't be able to solve that...open the cover, hold your nose and find something long enough to knock off that clog. My son said it wasn't "pretty" when it let go.