Septic Help!!!

[kcflhrc]

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]

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]

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

 

[kenmac]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

 

[ultrarunner]

Mine is old circa 1978 and is a single camber 1200 gallon concrete...

Some around here are very old and made of redwood...

 

[teejk]

Mine is old circa 1978 and is a single camber 1200 gallon concrete...

Some around here are very old and made of redwood...

Kinda depends on soil and "gravity" I think...the concept is older than you or me...it's not brain science/rocket surgery (might have those mixed up). We have a lot of new factors on how they work but respected the concept has not change (and I don't buy the anti bacterial hand soaps thing because a single taco night will over come that).

 

[Billrog]

CR172 glad that was an easy fix. The only bacteria needed in a tank comes from our own gut any thing else added may cause you more grief with your field creating a slurry rather than a clear layer in your tank that the T picks up and distributes it to your field. As for today's systems they are strictly designed around the particular soil in the area you live as well as terrain. This and no. of bedrooms in the home will determine the size of tank and field required in permeable soil. Soils with more restraints may require a treatment plan , pressure distribution system, sand mound this explanation is simplified but gives a bit of insight. Inlet and out let T's are an essential part of a system for it to work properly.

 

[Kenneth in Texas]

in the not too distant days, we would just add more lateral line, of course with all the ridiculous codes now they make that hard to do

 

[woody]

this is great discussion and since the op has his problem solved I need ideas on how to find a septic tank. I just purchased a spot of land that use to have doublewide on it but it has not been there for about fifteen years and there is no pipes sticking up out of the ground. I remember where the house was and I found the local water line and meter, but have not found the septic tank or lines. anybody got ideas how to locate the tank. I have asked all the neighbors and tried the contact the old owner but no one knows.

 

[bcp]

I found one by using a smooth 1/4 inch rod about 4 feet long. I tapped it into the ground about every 3 feet until I found something solid, then moved about a foot at a time to see if it was a continuous surface. I pulled it with Vise-Grips.

Bruce

PS: Looks like there are ready-made versions.

Septic tank probes

 

[lennyzx11]

I found one by using a smooth 1/4 inch rod about 4 feet long. I tapped it into the ground about every 3 feet until I found something solid, then moved about a foot at a time to see if it was a continuous surface. I pulled it with Vise-Grips.

Bruce

PS: Looks like there are ready-made versions.

Septic tank probes

That's the way I have seen it done also. When I had to dig mine open a few years ago, I used a metal detector which picked up the metal lids/hatches on it.

 

[Billrog]

Being a double wide the tank should be close to the surface so a probe or metal detector should be about a good away as any as mentioned.

 

[CR172]

All the septic folks we've had out, 3 in 8 years, just use a piece of rebar with a T handle welded on. We don't use Charmin or other 'boutique' TP. Cheap thin 2 ply from Costco. I'm starting to wonder if the input baffle was somehow damaged during a cleaning or rooting......

 

[Billrog]

CR172 that is very common to happen. I've seen where plumbers knocked them off and told the owners they weren't necessary. Most older tanks have and inspection port at each end of the tank where you can check the T. T paper breaks down fairly fast but Kleenex and paper towel are a problem as are wipes & feminine products. If the crust in the tank gets to thick it can come over the top of the T and cause grief as well.

 

[teejk]

All the septic folks we've had out, 3 in 8 years, just use a piece of rebar with a T handle welded on. We don't use Charmin or other 'boutique' TP. Cheap thin 2 ply from Costco. I'm starting to wonder if the input baffle was somehow damaged during a cleaning or rooting......

I think the recent problem is with those "extra strength" TP's. They don't break down (by design) and my wife heard that they should be avoided on a septic system (after a few "incidents" in our new house). Since ditching them we have had no problems.