Household Septic System

[jlgurr]

Somewhere in your basement walls, there has to be a drain line coming down from the upstairs plumbing that connects to the waste line to the septic.

Logically--again --it should line-up with an upstairs toilet.

The upstairs bathroom is above the bottom but the upstairs toilet is on the wall facing away from the photos and likely drains down that wall as the floor joists run parallel to the leach field. That's an interesting point too. Would there, could there be more than one line to the septic tank or might the upstairs toilet drain connect under the basement floor with the basement toilet.

Man, where are those x-ray glasses when you need them?

My OCD is going to start getting the best of me here pretty soon. LOL!

 

[dave1949]

The upstairs bathroom is above the bottom but the upstairs toilet is on the wall facing away from the photos and likely drains down that wall as the floor joists run parallel to the leach field. That's an interesting point too. Would there, could there be more than one line to the septic tank or might the upstairs toilet drain connect under the basement floor with the basement toilet.

Man, where are those x-ray glasses when you need them?

My OCD is going to start getting the best of me here pretty soon. LOL!

I guess anything is possible. There could be a buried clean-out in the septic line outside the house too.

Just as an example, my house has two drain pipes about 30' apart coming out from under the slab that feed into a common line going to the septic tank.

It's a mystery but I'm sure you will crack it eventually. It's really good you are doing it now with no pressure.

 

[Wagtail]

OP here. Two photos of my suspected tank location. In photo1 you can see the basement wall and heat pump. Coming directly perpendicular from that wall and about 4 feet from the corner of the house you see a flat rock in the lawn. That flat rock marks 15 feet which is what the health department sketch says the tank is from the house.

In photo2 you will see the flat rock still, in the right. Now looking parallel to the house you will be looking across the tank and into the drain field. The flat rock marks the right side of the tank so it will be extending into the lawn however wide it is from that rock. The drain field extends straight back in the photo to the tree that appears to be above the tarp on the ground. It's all very flat and probably not more than six inches difference from the rock to the end of the field. Honestly, I can't see much of any kind of witness marks. At the flat rock I poked a probe 18" deep every 12 inches in a 10' square there. The ground is hard clay and I gave up after my arms turned to rubber.

View attachment 417526View attachment 417527

That's interesting. In the second photo, is there a known reason why there is no growth 'away from' the rock marker? Could it be residual clay/soil from the initial hole dug for the tank? I say this because I have a similar patch of soil where little to nothing grows beside my tank (to the left in this photo):

 

[jlgurr]

That's interesting. In the second photo, is there a known reason why there is no growth 'away from' the rock marker? Could it be residual clay/soil from the initial hole dug for the tank? I say this because I have a similar patch of soil where little to nothing grows beside my tank (to the left in this photo):

Can't get any kind of grass to grow there. Not real good grass anywhere here due to all the trees but this area has always been more problematic.

There might be a good place to probe. Didn't occur to me that maybe it was installed further into the direction of the leach field. If there was a tree (the old stump this side of the flat rock) in their way they might have moved the location of the tank after the sketch was made??? I'll probe up in that direction and see what happens... stay tuned....

 

[doxford jim]

That's interesting. In the second photo, is there a known reason why there is no growth 'away from' the rock marker? Could it be residual clay/soil from the initial hole dug for the tank? I say this because I have a similar patch of soil where little to nothing grows beside my tank (to the left in this photo):

Just a thought - have you put any lime down on the bare area ? If the soil is acidic it might prevent the grass from growing well or from growing at all. For what it costs a few bags of lime won't do any harm at all.
I know one house I had, had a lot of coniferous trees (pine etc.) and the grass wouldn't grow too well. I put down lots of lime to neutralise the soil (acidic) and it made a big difference.

 

[PILOON]

Gotta say, this is the crap-iest discussion yet on TBN!

 

[GPintheMitten]

All I know is when I sold my property they told me I had to take all my crap with me.

 

[Wagtail]

Just a thought - have you put any lime down on the bare area ? If the soil is acidic it might prevent the grass from growing well or from growing at all. For what it costs a few bags of lime won't do any harm at all.
I know one house I had, had a lot of coniferous trees (pine etc.) and the grass wouldn't grow too well. I put down lots of lime to neutralise the soil (acidic) and it made a big difference.

Thanks for that suggestion and it's worth a shot, Mate. Ta. I limed the property almost two years ago (2 tonnes per acre) but this area may take a wee bit of specific attention.

 

[ddbackhoe]

Can't get any kind of grass to grow there. Not real good grass anywhere here due to all the trees but this area has always been more problematic.

There might be a good place to probe. Didn't occur to me that maybe it was installed further into the direction of the leach field. If there was a tree (the old stump this side of the flat rock) in their way they might have moved the location of the tank after the sketch was made??? I'll probe up in that direction and see what happens... stay tuned....

Way too many times the sketch and install do not match. Even stamped/engineered designs can be installed with an error margin of feet. It's just poo and as long as the install is done correctly, the where isn't as important. I.E., "hey there's a tree here, Ok let's move over ten feet to save the tree". Once the sketch/design is turned in, I've never had a health dept. person check the site vs. design. They check tanks, lines and grades, but never location.

 

[ddbackhoe]

All I know is when I sold my property they told me I had to take all my crap with me.

:laughing: some people are just more picky than others