Septic System - Part 2

[ByronBob]

Water goes into the ground either way. And were talking about nothing more than water with soap in it. Knowing that your're not going to sell the place, the objective is to reduce the water volume. You either relocate the water volume, add more leach lines which will need permits and inspections or live with it.
I'm not advocating any of the above over the other. However, if I was in your shoes and the issue was bad enough, I'd be looking for a gravel delivery and a trip to Home Depot.

 

[caylor]

Your concrete has failed due to the septic nature of wastewater. As organic material decomposes in an "anaerobic", or "septic" environment, a by-product is Hydrogen Sulfide Gas (H2S), which is very corrosive to portland cement concrete.

 

[Tim_in_IA]

I think they use plastic boxes for those as well. Must be to prevent the deterioration in concrete. Just curious, if this happens to the junction box, what is it doing to the septic tank????

 

[tillboy2001]

Ha! I was wondering the same thing /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif But you know, it only seems to be happening to (mostly) the concrete that's exposed to air. The bottom of the box that's in water all the time seems pretty solid and smooth. It's just the part that gets air that's degrading.

I took measurements again this evening and I'm going to try to make the forms and pour a new cover and a new baffle for this. Should be pretty easy. Simple rectangle for the cover and an 'almost' rectangle for the baffle (it's tapered a little).

 

[tillboy2001]

Thinking out loud...

Since my D box is now out of level (tilts downhill slightly) and the lower runs are getting more water because of the tilt, I wonder if it would help to place a brick in the box to artificially raise the water level so the water would be able to reach the upper leach line pipes better? I could adjust the lower runs so the water wouldn't be able to flow into those pipes until the water level got really high. Otherwise it would flow into the pipes that weren't getting much in the past. Make sense? Any reason why it would be bad to put a brick or two in the bottom of the box just to raise the water level? The pipe on the very upper left wasn't getting ANY water...even with the adjuster cap removed...the water just barely reaches that pipe and doesn't want to flow into it.

 

[Highbeam]

Better to relevel the box. Throwing a brick in there jsut displaces a brick's worth of water, it won't change the level.

 

[tillboy2001]

Problem with leveling the box is the lines are buried and so that of course means you'd have to raise the lines a little too. Otherwise you risk cracking open the lines that come out of the box...or even breaking the box into pieces from the pressure you put on it.

 

[ByronBob]

You have a vent going out of your house to let gases excape. This goes all the way back to your septic tank. It's a breather. This is normal anyway.

Before I sold my last house I had to replace my d-box. The crumble faster than a tank because of the size. The tank is much thicker than a d-box

 

[ByronBob]

Don't mess with the d-box. Just opens you up to other issues. The adjusters for the water flow are there for just this type of thing. Digging the box is not a good idea.

 

[Jagmandave]

Don't they make those D boxes out of plastic now?