Starting A New Septic System

[kiphorn]

When I move into the new house, it will be the first house I've lived in that had a septic system. Must you do anything to a brand new system to get it to start digesting the things that are going into it or will the process start up on its own?

Are the enzime products that you buy in the grocery store worth while or is just flushing money down the toilet? (No pun intended)

Kip

 

[chim]

Someone told me to flush some yeast down the toilet in our first new house. We did. System is still OK as far as I know. That was in 1972.

We skipped it at this house when we built it back in 1989. System is AOK anyhow. Once the "crobies" arrive for dinner, it pretty well takes care of itself. Of course, it should be pumped out at intervals...............chim

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Kip

i have built three houses over the last 20 years with septics, have done nothing special to any of them, not even had to pump

 

[woodmills1]

If the system is designed and built properly it doesnt need any additives. In my previous house I put the washing machine on a dry well and never even had to pump the septic in 17 years

 

[kiphorn]

<font color=blue>i have built three houses over the last 20 years</font color=blue>

You must be a gluton for punishment. This one house should be enough to last me for the next 70 years.

I'm beginning to think our house is situated over an ancient Indian bural ground. Every time we turn around there seems to be another problem. Some day we'll sit in the new house and tell stories and laugh but for now its just costing me sleep and hair.

3 houses in 20 years.........Not for me!


Kip

 

[TedLynn]

It should not need anything, but 3 - 4 blister packs of yeast are cheap and will will speed the process up. Ted

 

[MossRoad]

Have some nice spicy food and use the facilities a few times. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

But seriously folks, the only things a proper septic system needs is found in human waste. The microbes and such will start working almost immediately. You do have to watch what kind of soaps, detergents and paper products you put in the system. Apparently anti-biotic soaps are very hard on the microbes. Also look into a laundry lint filter as the lint doesn't decay in the system and can plug the soil in the leach bed.

And contrary to some other opinions, have it pumped every few years wether it needs it or not. How are you going to know if it needs it? When grey stinky water starts oozing up in your yard. By then, it is too late and you are doomed to high dollar repairs.

As with your tractor, preventative maintenance is the key. Around here it costs about $100.00 per thousand gallons to have it pumped. So, every other year I spend between $100.00 and $150.00 and have great peace of mind.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

And contrary to some other opinions, have it pumped every few years wether it needs it or not. How are you going to know if it needs it? When grey stinky water starts oozing up in your yard. By then, it is too late and you are doomed to high dollar repairs.

What repair bills are you talking about, and you should get some warning because shower drains ect, will slow up gradually. My last house i lived in it with my wife and one child for 8 years never emptied it and it never over flowed.

 

[gmason]

Kip, I just recently attended a 3 day class here to get my Subsurface Wastewater System Operator certification. Took the State test and now I'm certifiable /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif.
This question and many others came up in the class and the answer in short is, no products are needed to flush down your toilet in order to jump start it, or ever.

But if it makes you feel better, they won't hurt anything either.

One thing I would suggest it to get to know your system. Where are the lateral lines, the tanks, the cleanouts. Search for "septic" links here in the past few months and there was a link to a good pamphlet on basic caring of your septic, do's and DON'Ts.

Pumping your tank should NOT be a every-so-often job. It is however recommended that you pump when the sludge level reaches between 25%-30% the capacity of your septic tank. This can be checked very easily, quickly and cheaply by a operator. Not a plug. There is a tool out there called the Sludge Judge(~$100) that can tell exactly the level of sludge in your tank and operators are required to have one.

good luck
gary

 

[MossRoad]

Once your drains start slowing down there is a good chance that the drian pipe walls have been coated with sludge and that the sludge has flown over the baffles out of your septic tanks and into the leach field. Now you call the drain surgeon to rototooter your pipes, pump your septic tank and figure out if they can salvage your field tile system.

The house I lived in as a kid had 7 people, 5 of which were female( I don't care if you label me sexist, in my experience, they uses more toilet paper). The system worked great for 20 years, until it failed. Then it was stinky mess in the yard time and $$$ repairs.

The system in the house where I live now was installed in the late 50s. The former owners had 6 in their family and we have 4. He had it pumped every 2-3 years and recommended that I do the same. I do and it is still working fine. Many of my neighbors are on their 2nd and 3rd systems. Theirs seem to fail about every 20 years. Mine hasn't.

As far as knowing your system, that is a good idea. I know that every time the guy pumps mine it is about 50% full of sludge. Your level of sludge may vary according to the size of your system and # of people, etc... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0449207595/ref=lib_rd_ss_TFCV/103-5642084-4079836?v=glance&s=books&vi=reader&img=1#reader-link>"The grass is always greener over the septic tank".. Erma Bombeck</A>

 

[RobertN]

About the only yeast that would work is a specialized beer Lager yeast. Most all yeasts work ing the 70's and 80's. Your inground septic tank stays at least in the low 60's, and probably in the 50's year round. Being in the ground like that, it's like a basement, root cellar, or wine cellar. Once you dig down a bit, the ground stays a pretty constant temp(although the exact temp may vary due to individualized variations at the site).

Tha guy that pumped our tank a few weeks ago said to put in thier "box of bogs", which just kick starts the process. Apparently they are the same "bugs" as used by large treatment centers.

 

[gmason]

A septic system is designed(here in NC) for the number of bedrooms, not # of tolets/baths etc. They do that because they figure each person uses x amount of water per day, either flushing, showering, or washing clothes... If you over taxing the system then your going to have problems. A system(tank size and drain field) is designed for a certain GPD(gallons per day) This gives the solids/sludge time to settle to the bottom of the septic tank and so only grey water makes it into the lateral lines and into the ground.
Decomposition in the tank is anerobic(with out O2) and decomposition in the ground in aerobic(with O2). So while most of the solids should be broken down in the tank, if you flow more water into/through the tank than it was designed for then yes some solids may make it out to the field.

A lot of factors determine the amount of decomposition in the tank(temp, PH, and type of solids). Of course grease, bleach, food scraps should not go into the system in any quantity. If your filling your tank up to %50 in 3 years that's pretty quick and you should look into either a larger system or using less water/w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif.

As far as sludge in the lateral lines, in our LPP system I "flush" the lines every 6 months, I only see a small amount(1-2seconds) of "black" before it turns clear/grey. With a gravity feed system it's harder to do this type of flushing.

A septic system, if designed, installed, and used properly should work for many years without any problems at all, it's when one or more of those 3 aren't when problems occur. Once a system fails, then all kinds of trouble occurs.

The county should have a record of your system(if installed in the last 20yrs for sure) if you have question about size and layout.

gary

 

[MossRoad]

I agree with you completely./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Around here they are also based on number of bedrooms as well as soil type.

All I am saying is that our 45 year old system is working well because it is maintained well. There are literally hundreds of 15 year and younger septic systems in newer housing developments in our county that are failing. The main cause is that they are plugged up solid. It could have been prevented with regular maintenance and possibly better design. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Hi kip
What size septic tank do you have, and what sort of soakage drain? In this country i think the min size is 3000lts and 45 mts of soakage drain. It is dug to about 1200mm deep and the same wide. A concaved or ( upside down u) perferated poly is layed in the bottom then covered with non porous 2" stone, then a layer of porous non degradable paper is placed over that and then backfilled. It is also encouraged that you grow trees over the top of this drain, to aid transpiration. This link maybe of some interest.


http://www.ahc.sa.gov.au/council/faq/sanitation/septiccare.html

 

[Inspector507]

If anyone is having a problem with a "sour" leach field, try this link <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.terraliftinternational.com/>Terra Lift</A>. It did wonders for my front lawn that was oozing black water.

 

[gmason]

A lot of people move from the city top the country and think they can put everything they did living in the city down the drain on a septic. For us, this was my first time, and we weren't given anything on the care or maintenance of the system. The first thing I noticed was that we didn't have a garbage disposal in the sink.
So I'm sure lot's of people stick food scraps, grease, and anything and everything in the toilet down into their tanks that just don't rot too fast. There has been quite a bit of research into the size of a tank(GPD) needed for a normal 3brm house, and while this is for normal usage and even occasion over usage, it can't function on long term over usage.

We studied a system for a k-6 rural school and the weekly/daily demand on that kind of system. Something that has high usage for just a few days per week then rests for 2-3 days. Basically, the soil acts just like another storage area like a septic tank, and when that storage area is full, you can't exceed the area without problems.

It's getting very costly for city's to build major water treatment plants, and the feds are backing off the funding for them, so as communities grow, more people will be on individual/community septic systems. The instructor in my class predicted that in the next few years-5-10 that ALL septic systems will need a operator and regular inspections done.

I good working septic system is the best way to "treat" wastewater and keep the ground water clean.

gary

 

[jph_in_Bama]

I heard that yogurt works well in a septic tank! It works great tenderizing a steak so why not in the tank!

 

[kiphorn]

daedong:

I have to admit my metric isn't that good so I'm not sure about the conversion that you posted.

My system was designed for our three bedroom house. It has a 1000 gal and a 500 gal tank hooked up in a series.

Most systems in our area are elevated sand mounds because the soil did not perc. Fortunately, our soil perced so we were able to install a conventional system. The drain field consisted of three trenches about 19" deep. The bottom of the trench was lined with stone and then the pipe was laid in, the pipe was covered with building paper and covered with more stone and then graded with 12" of soil. The perc rate was 43.1 minutes/inch.

I didn't see the complete installation of the drain field and the design paper work is at my office but this is what I remember.

Kip

 

[gmason]

Kip, what you've got is a Septic tank and a pump tank. Conventional system as far as the drian field goes? Would yours be a gravity feed system? You have no pumps?

Your trench installation sounds pretty normal, though your trenches must be pretty long 50'+.

At 19" here though I believe they'd have to install a LLP system.

gary

 

[gws]

Intended use of a septic system should put enough bio-mass into the system to get it started. I would keep the laundry bleach use to a minimum for the first couple of months to get the system going.