Diving into the unknown (septic tank)

[Mrwurm]

A septic system is quite the mystery. Most of us know how they work. But, how do you know they are actually working. There really is no way to check.
Home inspectors just run some water down the drain to see if it goes somewhere. They don't actually know where its going, we're all just happy that it goes away.
So, here I am standing in my back yard, looking at the area where my leaching field is located. Yep, looks ok from here. So, why do all the toilets in the house bubble and fill up with foam when the wife runs the wash machine ? A few thoughts come to mind.
1) The vent nearest the wash machine is blocked. But, hey, I've checked a lot of vents over the years. I've never actually found one to be blocked.
2) The septic tank is blocking the flow to the leaching field.
3) The leaching field is clogged.
4) The water table has risen above the level of the leaching field.

Seems, that most of the scenarios involve things that can't be easily assessed. Well, I guess I'll start with the easiest thing and just go ahead and check that vent. Worst case scenario: I'll have to send the wife to check the tank /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[RonR]

Back when we lived in the country, we didn't run our sink/tub/washer water through the septic. All the soap would kill the bacteria, making the tank not functioning.

Do you use special soap now that is safe for septic?

Smells foul to me.................. (sorry).

ron

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin Jerry,
Very catchy thread title /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Got me to look /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

All kidding aside, check your vent pipes anyway, I had one blocked up pretty good with a yellow jackets nest a few years back, might be worth a look /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

scotty

 

[Mrwurm]

I'm not sure about the soap, but the house is nine years old and we have been using the same types of laundry soap all along. The toilet bubbling and foaming is a recent develpment.
The 1,000 gallon tank has been pumped three times. I had the tank pumped just for preventative maintenance. Each time, the waste hauler told me that he did'nt find much sludge to remove and that I should wait longer between pumpings. He recommended five years before we pump again.
I'm not sure if it will help, but I'm pretty sure it won't hurt, so I went ahead and poured some bacterial 'digester' products down the toilet. The bottle said its designed to 'rescue' sluggish systems.
Hey, maybe I can get Heraldo Rivera to go down there and check the tank. He could film the whole thing and sell it on pay-per-view /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[JJT]

If you have soap bubbles in the toilet you've got a serious blockage in the system, (I seriously doubt this would be caused by a blocked vent stack). Is it an easy job to dig up the tank and check? If so, dig it up and make sure you have a good flow into the tank when you flush every toilet in the house. If not, snake the line from the tank. If the tank inlet is under water, the issue is with your drain field. If you think the water table is high, dig a hole in the drainfield and see where the water level is at. I had to replace a field in my previous house, (brand new spec house), the field was under water. Went to a raised bed system and the issue was resolved, ($10K in costs absorbed by my builder).

 

[Mrwurm]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Went to a raised bed system )</font>

I already have a raised bed system /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif I'd have to put the system on stilts to get it any higher /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[PBinWA]

Have you called Roto-rooter (or your local equivalent)? Sounds like you need your drain lines cleaned.

 

[Mrwurm]

Hey, now you're talk'n . . . Have someone else do the yucky work /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif Maybe, I won't have to send the wife in there after all !

 

[Mrwurm]

Ya, I usually do all my own maintenance and repairs and sometimes it does'nt even cross my mind to hire someone to do a job. This being my least favorite job, I think I will call in a professional. Thanks for suggesting the obvious to the oblivious /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Egon]

Does your septic tank have an outlet screen that will filter out any undigestibles like artificial fibers from the washing machine?

Egon

 

[caylor]

RonR,

So where did this greywater go?

 

[Mrwurm]

Not sure about an outlet screen, and the way to find out does'nt appeal to me. You're hitting on my worst fear, a clogged leaching field /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[EddieWalker]

Since it's bubbling up at the toilet, it's going to the same tank. In otherwords, it's not connected to a grey water tank.

Is it every toilet that gets the bubbles?

Do you have a long sake? If not, I've used garden hoses with the water turned on and pushed them into the vents on the roof.

It might take three hoses, but sooner or later you will get all the way through the house. Start at the furthest point from the septic tank and start feeding in the snake or garden hose.

If you make it all the way through, your drain lines are fine. Now do the same with each vent line. Furthest away first and work your way closer to the tank.

If everyone of them check out fine, test to see if you still have bubbles in the toilet. If so, than you know the problem is with your tank or drain lines.

There's no real advantage to call in a plumber for this until you know it's something beyond your abilities. They will come out and do the same thing, but charge you allot of money for it while you stand around and watch. Might as well save the cash and do it yourself.

Eddie

 

[Mrwurm]

It started out just affecting the toilet that is three feet from the laundry drain. Now it affects another toilet that is 30 ft from the laundry drain. Toilet #2 is on the other side of the main stack. The main stack has two (3 or 4 inch) lines that run to it. All the fixtures all plumbed to one or the other. So, now I have bubbling and foam in toilets on both runs.

Now that I think about it, it sure sounds like a problem in the tank or field.

 

[RonR]

If you go with the running water hose route, be sure to position a person at each toilet!

You could end up running a LOT of water out through a toilet onto the floor, thinking it's going to the tank.............

Don't ask me how I know this!

ron

 

[RonR]

Caylor, our gray water ran out a 1 and 1/2 pipe about 10 ft from the house and dumped into a flowerbed!

As a youngster, I recall, not fondly, the freezing January mornings when the pipe would freeze. Dad would fire up one of those kerosene blow torches (I still have it!) and go heat the pipe. What a pain in the kazoo!

Many years later, I replumbed this drain to go through the septic.

You gotta understand, this house was built in the early 1900's, then moved onto a new foundation, which then had a basement dug under it. Dad and his brother's added an inside bathroom years later.

This was in the poor country, way before code.....................

ron

 

[ByronBob]

If you dig the tank up to see do yourself a favor and dig up the distribution box at the same time. If the tank comes back ok the next place he'll look is the d-box.

 

[EddieWalker]

Ron,

I've been told, but don't know it for a fact, but Texas is one of the worst states for sewage regulations and inforcement. We have very little in the way of public sewer systems compared to other states, and anybody with ten acres or more doesn't even need a permit for a septic system.

Trailers and moble homes are all over the place in varying degrees of collapse with people living in them. Sometimes multiple families. It's very common to see a large hose running from the trailer out into the woods where the sewage is just dumped on the ground.

I've been called to repair the floors in moble homes that have rotted out so bad the toilets have droped down through them. In one case, they still used the toilte, but on the edge of the hole in their floor. What a disgusting mess. No way was I gonna mess with that job, they were too poor to pay what I'd charge to do it anyway. Sometimes the money just isn't worth it.

If it's going into a tank, it's usually a 40 gallon barrel with a ditch filled with straw to act as a leach field. These are very common too.

Having just the gray water run off to the bushes is a free way to water the plants!!! People do it on purpose if they can and are proud of it!!!

Eddie

 

[hockeyhead]

9 year old raised (eng) system, sounds like mine. Mine has two tanks in series. all the drains are gravity fed to the first tank, solids sink to bottem, then liquids are gravity fed to the second tank. In the second tank there in a sump pump that pumps liquids into the field.
the first tank is the one that gets pumped out, Is there a pump in your tank? or is it completly gravity fed,
my pump went out once so the second tank completely filled , and then gravity fed into the field. The system still worked but it was so so slow
there is only about 12" of waste liquids in the second tank when system is working correctly and hardly no solids.
I owned the house for few years before I knew there was two tanks.

 

[Highbeam]

Good description hockeyhead of the typical mound/raised bed system. If that is the setup then a slow drain can only be caused by a plug in the home plumbing or as previously mentioned...

"Does your septic tank have an outlet screen that will filter out any undigestibles like artificial fibers from the washing machine?"

This filter is a screen that is usually situated in the outlet from the first tank (the actual septic tank) before the liquid runs by gravity into the second take which is simply a pump tank. The filter needs to be cleaned as part of routine maintenance every year or less. I simply pull mine out using the little handle and hose it off and then replace. The material that it collects looks like lint from the washing machine. Most people don't even know it's there until they have a backup but the filter prevents the solids from fouling the expensive and sensitive downstream systems.