Septic System Backup Questions

[adventure bob]

Have you considered having the line scoped before you start moving dirt?
Id start at the offending commode and go from there. If all lines are clean then its the field.
Much less digging if you know what your digging for.

 

[Beltzington]

A client called me as he was having flushing problems and system was backing up.
In this case the problem was not enough water.
Their chalet was little used and had little water flow so feces went solid and actually clogged the inlet at the tank.
When we pulled the tank lid I observed what seemed to be the inlet pipe touching the deflector baffle like they had forgotten to measure correctly and let it ride.
I took a stick and poked at the 'extension' and it broke away and water flowed freely.
Was a simple case of lack of usage and the solids simply dried and created a plug.
I instructed them to use more water. That was 5 years ago and I no longer get calls.

Just had the tank pumped, it was only about half full and the inlet and baffle were clean, ran as much water as I could though the system and it flowed no issues.

The service guy came to this same conclusion, something had dried up in the main line and washed out when it got wet enough. He said if the leaching field was an issue the tank would have been completely full. Hopefully this is a done deal, thanks for everyone's inputs.

As a side note I did find out the county health dept. keeps records of when the septic system was installed and will provide documentation for a $5 fee.

 

[kcflhrc]

Nothing worse than septic issues, I have had my fair share after being told when we bought the house 3 years ago, "It's never given us any trouble". I call BS on that. Had to rip up our patio to get at a collapsed pipe. Leach field full of roots, and a host of other problems that supposedly never were there before.

 

[roadhunter]

Glad to hear it worked out in the end. Whew!

 

[PILOON]

Sure you don't mean PHEW....LOL

Glad to hear it worked out in the end. Whew!

 

[DieselBound]

[independent from the OP's issue] Curious, can a camera be run from the tank back toward the house to check for pipe issues?

 

[quicksandfarmer]

[independent from the OP's issue] Curious, can a camera be run from the tank back toward the house to check for pipe issues?

Normally it's put into a cleanout in the house and run toward the tank. It's easier that way.

You can get a cheap boroscope on Amazon for under $100. Tape it to a snake and see what you see.