Septic issue

[Madisontex]

We live in Wake County NC. Our ground is red clay.

My drainfield is very slanted. The high part is always dry. The low part is always wet. Whenever it rains we have issues with pooling. The low point ground is so saturated from the rain that the septic water comes up. Our water usage is not excessive for the system we have. Is there anything we can do? The septic guy we have been working with said we can build up the yard and make it level. However, I’m reading that it not a good idea. We have a little ones and are constantly having to chase them away from wandering into the wet areas. I want to be able to use our yard without having to worry about the wet and nasty smell. Help is appreciated.

 

[4570Man]

What’s the ground like at the low area? How much would it take to make it drain somewhere else? Also check your meter to make sure it’s not loosing water.

 

[Madisontex]

The ground in the low area is clay and disgusting. It’s at the least mushy all the time. We have an emergency drain field but I don’t want to utilize that unless we have to as I have a greenhouse and playground on there.

 

[ponytug]

How much slope are we talking about here?

Sounds as if it wasn't built correctly; ideally, you want your septic lines to all be equally full, i.e. dead level. It is possible that what was done, but your clay soil is forcing the water out at the low points on your slope. My drain lines are set into a steep,slope, but they do cascade top line to bottom line in the clay soil, and we have no issues. This leads me to suspect that your water table could be generally high in your low spot, leading to issues.

What do you mean by "emergency area"?

I would be inclined to do as your septic guy suggests and build up the lower ground with sand gradually until the soil is dry and stays dry. There are some nice YouTube videos on how to do it, but you keep spreading 1/4-1/2"of sand into your grass (you can use a Scott's lawn spreader), then let the grass grow, then spread more in. You use a rake and extra sand to manually fill in any excessively low spots. Basically, put the sand in as fast as the grass grows, although by the sound of your second post, you may want to go whole hog and add a foot, or three, of sand topped by enough topsoil to get a lawn back.

I am assuming that your septic tank has been pumped and that you don't have a water leak in the house.

All the best,

Peter

 

[3Ts]

What kind of septic system do you have and how old is it? I'm assuming the older gravity system and that it was already in place when you bought the house. The clay is a problem, it doesn't percolate well. First, how is the yard graded? Does it prevent surface water from running onto the leach field? If not, I'd fix that first. The percolation has to be fixed, you may have to go to a raised sand bed to do it.

 

[jaxs]

The picture you paint of system isn't near enough detailed to alow suggestions that include much meaningful detail. Why do you distrust the septic guy you have been working with and why haven't you hired one you can trust? Trying out WAGS picked up from the net can get expensive,not to mention possibly make matters worse.

 

[CalG]

Ask about dosed discharge from the tank.

 

[old and tired]

What do you mean by "emergency area"?

We only needed 3 lines but had to have room for a fourth line, just in case. I think if we added another bathroom or finished off the basement. But that's in another area.

IF one line is getting more water, I wonder if the distribution box isn't level any more...

Also, if the drain field is "very slanted"; I would try to kill two birds with one stone. Get a more level backyard and cover the drainage area better.

Also, for the record, drain fields need to be below the clay into soil that will drain... that IS the reason for the perk test!!

 

[Larry Caldwell]

We only needed 3 lines but had to have room for a fourth line, just in case. I think if we added another bathroom or finished off the basement. But that's in another area.

IF one line is getting more water, I wonder if the distribution box isn't level any more...

Also, if the drain field is "very slanted"; I would try to kill two birds with one stone. Get a more level backyard and cover the drainage area better.

Also, for the record, drain fields need to be below the clay into soil that will drain... that IS the reason for the perk test!!

Bingo. I would dig out and adjust the distribution boxes.

 

[etpm]

I installed my own septic system. While this does by no means make me any kind of expert I did learn stuff along the way. My system is an infiltrator system and is gravity fed. My infiltrator system use ditches two feet deep by 40 inches wide. Into the ditches are placed plastic half "clamshells". These clamshells are 3 feet wide, 1 foot tall, and 10 feet long. The clamshells link together so ditches are dug to lengths in multiples of ten feet. My ditches, 4 of them, are 50 feet long. My drain field is bi-level, with an elevation difference of about 4 feet. There are two ditches in each level. Between the septic tank and the infiltrator ditches is a distribution box. The effluent from the septic tank goes into the distribution box. From this box are 4 pipes that go to the infiltrator ditches. The same amount of effluent must go to each ditch. To achieve this there are devices, one in each outlet in the distribution box, that close off about 1/3 the diameter of the outlet. These devices can be rotated so that the same amount of liquid flows into each pipe going to the drainfield. No matter what type of gravity fed drain field you have it should be fed equally and to do this a distribution box is required. So find yours and make sure it is working correctly. In your situation I might even consider biasing the fluid flow a little to the upper part of your drainfield just for now until you get the lower part figured out. Drainfields work by evaporating the liquid, not by having it soak down into the ground. If your ground is already saturated it may not be able to handle any more water. To fix this you may need to raise the ground but this may also involve raising any ditches or pipe in the ground. This is probably why you have read that piling on sand is a bad idea. There may be a water problem where surface water, that is water that is not only on the surface but also water that moves through the top 4 or so feet of soil, is present in such a high amount that your lower drainfield is always saturated. If this is so then you must find a way to direct this water away from your drainfield.
Eric