Septic leach Field question

[wickman]

I built a new house about two years ago so the septic system is just about that old. Starting last year I've been noticing dark green lines in the lawn where the leach field lines run. My yard looks striped. This spring it's back again. I don't notice any other issues with the system. Should I worry about something? I haven't called the septic contractor yet. Should i just fertilize more between the green striped to even it all out?

Thanks,

Wickman

 

[riptides]

That is very normal.
Fertilize around it may help. But the stuff that is leaching is full time, 24X7.

-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Inspector507]

That is YOUR natural fertilizer leaching out of the pipes /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Poppa]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( That is YOUR natural fertilizer leaching out of the pipes /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )</font>

Yes, and great fertilizer it is. I have two tanks, the first contains the solids and the second acts as a holder that gets pumped out to the field. I keep threatening to install a big trash pump hooked up to a commercial size RainBird sprinkler so that all five acres look that nice. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif Problem is my wife says she'll kill me and I think the neighbors might have something to say about the whole operation as well /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Of course, it's mine so it doesn't stink /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Mike

 

[BigDave]

Have ever heard the phrase " the grass is always greener over the septic field?" /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[wickman]

OK... I guess I should be thankful for the free fertilizer... and the idea about setting up a sprinkler to spread the good stuff around sounds tempting /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Thanks,

wiclman

 

[Poppa]

Last year, I had my tank pumped. Ended up getting some guy, Bob was his name, he had retired from his old job (electrical engineer I kid you not) and had bought himself a brand new shiny, Red, pumper truck. I guess it was his son's idea. They were in the business together so to speak. The dad pumped tanks and the son did some repair work and new system installation. Bob was really nice and having a blast with his big new toy and charged a very reasonable rate so I let him have at it.

I was busy putting in fence posts so I went back to my work while he did his. My father was visiting, helping me put in fence posts and making sure my beer fridge did not become over-stocked. By the time Bob and the big red truck arrived, Dad was tired of fence posts, as was I, and so he decided to watch Bob work. I looked over at one point and saw these two elderly men humping some hose and both were smiling and I thought well as long as my tank gets empty it works for me.

About twenty minutes later, Dad comes walking up. I look up from my work and there he is, Polka-dotted. And, he isn't smelling so fresh. I stand there and stare and he stands there straight faced and tells me that Bob is still a little green when it comes to which controller on the rig does which function. Apparently this hole in Bob's knowledge occurred while Dad was looking over the rim of the tank to see how Bob was doing. I look up and notice that besides Dad being Polka-dotted, one side of my house has a bit of a new paint job as well.

In the end, Bob did learn which handle causes sucking and which handle reverses the flow and he did get my tank empty and we even got my dad and my house cleaned off. So, everything did turn out OK. Also, I've noticed that this year, the grass in that part of the yard seems to be particularly aggressive. I keep trying to tell my wife that this is just further proof of my RainBird theory. She keeps trying to remind me of what that side of the house smelled like for a couple weeks. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

yeah, yeah, details. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Mike

 

[riptides]

HAH, details! That's funny.

Hey, ONLY if your standing down-wind right!

-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[_RaT_]

Wickman, I strangely have just the opposite problem. I can tell exactly where our leach lines are because the grass dries out there the quickest requiring extra water. There are 3 strips, about 18" wide about 100' long. GO figure.

 

[AndyM]

<font color="blue"> Wickman, I strangely have just the opposite problem. I can tell exactly where our leach lines are because the grass dries out there the quickest requiring extra water. There are 3 strips, about 18" wide about 100' long. GO figure. </font>

Are you sure the dry stripes aren't the areas between each of the lines?
I noticed the same thing yesterday--
There's about 8 feet between each of my lines. The green stripes are about five or six feet wide and the brown grass stripes are about two or three feet wide.

 

[_RaT_]

No, I'm not sure now that you mention it. It would seem though that other areas would suffer the same fate. The strips in between the dry areas are no more or less green then all the rest of the areas. My thought was that my leach field might be percing the water so quickly that that perhaps it drys out the area above because of a shallow soil condition. I don't know how this leach field was built and quite frankly what I just said really does'nt make much sense. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[BubbaJr]

Hello,

The dark green stripes line up with the leach lines in the septic field. If your septic tank has 3 covers, there are 2 chambers in the tank (one for solids and the other for the liquids), and the last cover is over the distribution box. Open the cover closest to the leach field and see if there is a plastic elbow sticking up at a 90 degree angle, with one end connected to a horizontal pipe. If you have 2 horizontal pipes in the box (on the output side), you need to switch the 90 degree elbow from one pipe to the other. This should be done about every 6 months, and will lengthen the life of your septic fields. If you have this system, you have 2 separate fields so that one of them does not become overloaded. One of the clues that it's time to change fields, is when you see the green stripes in the grass. It's not hard to change the pipe, just wriggle it back and forth to remove it and reverse the process to re-install it on the other pipe (friction fit). Just be careful you don't fall in the hole. even though it's the least objectionable hole of the three to fall into, it's still kind of yucky!!! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Good Luck /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Ps. The fumes from the 3rd cover aren't too bad, so you don't need a gas mask, or anything.

 

[AndyM]

<font color="blue"> Open the cover closest to the leach field and see if there is a plastic elbow sticking up at a 90 degree angle, with one end connected to a horizontal pipe. If you have 2 horizontal pipes in the box (on the output side), you need to switch the 90 degree elbow from one pipe to the other. This should be done about every 6 months, and will lengthen the life of your septic fields. If you have this system, you have 2 separate fields so that one of them does not become overloaded. One of the clues that it's time to change fields, is when you see the green stripes in the grass. It's not hard to change the pipe, just wriggle it back and forth to remove it and reverse the process to re-install it on the other pipe (friction fit). </font>

Here's what the distribution box looks like that Bubba was talking about. Just switch the elbow from one side to the other. This gives the one side of your septic field a "break" while everything flows into the other side.

By the way, that's an old photo. There's really no snow on the ground today! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif


I have to keep mine flowing to the back side during the wet season, because the front half is already saturated from rainwater runoff. I'll switch it this summer, around July.

There's an upside to having stripes in the lawn--
I'm going to be putting a fence along one side of my septic field, and now I know exactly where I shouldn't be putting my fence posts! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[SPIKER]

hummm raintree sounds like a very smelly water sorce but you could go into the bonsi grownig field! lol

my older brother and his buddy was working the summer as a honey truck drivers. at a camp ground where portable toilets were in side the mobile trailers. anyhwo had to flush when they turned on the suction or else it would SUCK the tanks flat... needless to say some of the people would not do it quite right.
best one was day I was there fishing in the lake.

they hooked up to this one trailer and told her to flush, she didn't listen and came out side to ask what next. well they had already opened the valve and started to suck aginst the tank (hard steel one) and it created a major vacume in the tank and stalled the truck. all vacume was lost and it back flushed into the trailer just as she had ran back in to flush it! lol /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif about 300 gallons of raw blue & brown sewage right in the face! there was also a few other "accidents" if they were rude to them or acted supperior to them! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Wilburn Cox]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( That is YOUR natural fertilizer leaching out of the pipes /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )</font>

Yes, and great fertilizer it is. I have two tanks, the first contains the solids and the second acts as a holder that gets pumped out to the field. I keep threatening to install a big trash pump hooked up to a commercial size RainBird sprinkler so that all five acres look that nice. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif Problem is my wife says she'll kill me and I think the neighbors might have something to say about the whole operation as well /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Of course, it's mine so it doesn't stink /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Mike

Mike; I have two tanks, each 500 gallons and when it rains the run off water seeps into my tanks. I have a 1/2 Horse power centrifugal pump with 3/4" PVC running into the second tank (water only). I have 4 acres and I pump this out over the back part just through a water hose laying on the ground. I wonder if using a rainbird sprinkler would get me into trouble with the sanitation dept. Just thinking. Have a great 2019. Red Cox