Another Septic System cost/alternatives thread

[Finnster]

Sounds good to me but I would still add venting to the end of leachlines and a shorter vent at the box. Lack of oxygen is a big problem that causes the leachfield to turn anaerobic from aerobic. plowking

How easy is that to do? I understand the concept, but I know when I had the system inspected they had a bug of a time even finding the lines. They are buried deep, and the probe rods were not terribly successful at even finding them. They had cameras too.

Obviously I could just dig all over the place. But would hate to dig up have the yard to plant a field of candy canes you know what I mean?

 

[idaho2]

Finnister,

Do you have locator service in Bucks County, If you dig call them first to find your lines. Who knows what the prior owner buried. The worst they could say is No.

idaho2

 

[JPRambo]

I would try using dousing/divining rods to find the end of the drain field lines. A pair of 16 inch long #12 copper wires bent about 4 inch from one end hold them loosely and allowed to swing freely. they should find th e lines or anything in the ground near them.
How to use divining rods - YouTube

 

[plowking]

Around here the leachlines are 60 inches apart and they all run parallel from the dist. box to end of field. There is a header line that connects the ends together.W will probe the end of field to find the end of stone and work our way back to find the header. We remove the 90 degree elbows on outside corners of header and install tees and bring up the vents,some people call them candy canes but we have trenched the vents to edge of woods if the customer doesn't like them in middle of lawn. We have our vents 36 inches high so they don't get buried with snow in the winter. plowking

 

[Bocephous]

If you can divert your gray water from running into your septic tank it would greatly decrease the amount of water that your leach field has to contend with. Trying to coax clay (at least the clay found around here) into absorbing that extra water is a losing battle.

 

[the old grind]

Plowking is so right about the bacteria & field health things. Well aerated soil allows aerobic bacteria to take over naturally beyond the tank. An aerobic conversion could be fancy or plain, but can supposedly rescue the worst system in weeks or something. (Is it too late to vent & hope for some recovery??)

I scouted out an aerobic system whose upkeep items seemed affordable if these outfits really do work that well. Surely there's a $6-10k brand out there somewhere with multiple chambers or 'scatterforb technology' but this guy here is something I might try before shelling $20k that I didn't need to.
Septic System Problem, Septic Tank Problems & Solutions | Aero-Streamｮ

Just how bad is that system already???

 

[Finnster]

Around here the leachlines are 60 inches apart and they all run parallel from the dist. box to end of field. There is a header line that connects the ends together.W will probe the end of field to find the end of stone and work our way back to find the header. We remove the 90 degree elbows on outside corners of header and install tees and bring up the vents,some people call them candy canes but we have trenched the vents to edge of woods if the customer doesn't like them in middle of lawn. We have our vents 36 inches high so they don't get buried with snow in the winter. plowking

Is this is common config for a septic?

The reason I ask is when I had the septic inspected, they were probing for lines perpendicular to the Dbox (90*). Looks from the pix I took, lines are going out in multiple directions. I know they had a hard time finding them. In the 1st pic you see the probing rod they were plunging in the dirt to find the lines, but it was deep and hard clay to push through.

I understand what you are suggesting. A riser on the dbox, and then on the ends of the field. I just can't figure out where the heck my field is.

Here are some (gross) pix when they came to dig up and inspect Dbox and system.

from the camera's perspective, the lines are going straight away from camera, along the trees and porch.

Dbox: Looks like one line out to the side. IIRC, there were 3 or 4 lines out the long side (not pictured). The visible long side port is from the tank.

So it looks like most lines would go straight out from here (under the deere.) Under a whole bunch more trees of course...

 

[Finnster]

Plowking is so right about the bacteria & field health things. Well aerated soil allows aerobic bacteria to take over naturally beyond the tank. An aerobic conversion could be fancy or plain, but can supposedly rescue the worst system in weeks or something. (Is it too late to vent & hope for some recovery??)

I scouted out an aerobic system whose upkeep items seemed affordable if these outfits really do work that well. Surely there's a $6-10k brand out there somewhere with multiple chambers or 'scatterforb technology' but this guy here is something I might try before shelling $20k that I didn't need to.
Septic System Problem, Septic Tank Problems & Solutions | Aero-Streamｮ

Just how bad is that system already???

Its not horrible, but it does get swamped out during the winter and spring if the ground gets saturated. I don't have anything leaching to the surface, but the toilet closetest to the tank does flush a bit weird when it gets swaped. Plus there gets to be a bit of a "septicy" smell in the house. Can't figure out where its from. Nothing outside, and all the traps are filled. Only happens when the field gets swamped. Other issue w/ that bathroom is that it doesn't have a plumbing stack vent to the roof.

We do have the laundry going into the tank. The water softener is to the sump pump. Its actually supposed to go to the tank also according to the township.. but that's a terrible idea.
The sump discharge is a hole other problem I would need to take care of before I would think about routing the laundry to it. My neighbors say they do, but I already have standing water near year around on the side of the house the sump discharge is. A gutter drains there also.

This whole problem was part of the justification of the BH to the wife. Eventually I want to trench the gutters to the street, dry well or otherwise disperse the sump, and french drain the swampy areas.

I have standing water/poor drainage areas, gutter discharges, trees and other undesirables above the tank/dbox/field area too I want to trench also.

Hopefully a combination of all these fixes can take care of most of the issues.