Drain Field Problems

[septic_woes]

Hello everyone,

I'm completely new to septic systems. I'm recently starting to see a small damp area about 3 feet wide at the end of my leech field; you can see a small bubble of water pop up. I had someone come out and said there is clog in my system and I need my leech field dug up and all new gravel put in and drill holes in the pipes(Quoted $3000). Is there anything I can do to try and fix it myself. To me it sounds like the problem is probably at the damp area. There's no other signs of water build up at the surface level. I have no clue how long my septic system has been in place. I get my septic pumped every 2 years. Any help is greatly appreciated!

[suemarkp]

If the field is not absorbing the water from your tank, it is going to tend to come out the end of the pipes. If you have a clog, it will come out just before the clog. Unless you have x-ray vision, you may not know the exact layout of your field to know if its coming out the end or in the middle of a finger.

Regardless, it doesn't look good for your field. The field should not clog, as only water is supposed to go to it (the tank is supposed to hold sunken solids and floating scum). If your baffles are good and you pump when you're supposed to, that shouldn't happen. But a field will clog up on its own after enough effluent as gone through it. A life of 40 years is typical.

So a replacement drain field may be in order. I'd recommend checking out the gravelless Infiltrator type of fields. These use 36" wide half circles of plastic and no gravel. Way easier to put in and your yard doesn't get nearly as torn up.

Also check your tank to verify the output baffle has not deteriorated. It is imperative that no scum float out to the field, and the baffle will stop that (it is basically a T fitting with an extension above and a longer one below). You pump when the floating scum or sunken sludge has gotten too thick (about 8-10" for either). The amount of time it takes for that to happen depends on how many people you have, and what goes down the drain.

[Wgoodrich]

The leeching to the top at the END OF THE FINGERS is the big telling fact to me. This says to me that your leech field is not clogged. Instead I am suspecting the end of your leech field is rather shallow to the surface of the finish grade. I would dig down where the water is leeching to the surface and see how shallow your system is at the end of your leech field. I suspect you will find it is a bit shallow allowing the surface water to show leeching up to the surface. If this is the case you need more ground cover over the leech field. Water at the end of the leech field says your lines are not clogged to me. This was a common practice back in the late 70s / early 80s. This was not the most healthy practice but many commonly designed their system to be shallow at the end to allow the leeching during wet seasons.

Just my opinion

Wg

[septic_woes]

Wgoodrich I think you may be right about depth. At the end of my leech field is the lowest point on my property(slopes down about 60' from my house and then back up). How deep should the pvc pipes be placed? Just seems weird that the only signs of water is at this small 3' area. Is it possible to have a blockage where the water can pass through the pipes in the leech field but have clogs in the actual holes drilled in the pipe so the water can't evenly get dispersed; so you would have a large amount of water at the bottom of the field?

[Wgoodrich]

What is your weather been like. Is your ground saturated with water having a high subsurface water table due to a lot of rain. If so the subsurface water will retard perk into the already wet ground thus looking for an easy place to go being a thin top layer of dirt over the end of your fingers.

If you can't answer about how much rain you have had go out by the finger system about 3/4 way to the end and dig a hole to the depth of the fingers at that location. If water is standing in the hole you have your answer.

Remember they say septic slurry leaching through 10' of earth makes the leached water mostly pure.

Let us know what you find.

Wg

[wastetech]

In the UK we are not allowed drainfields with 'ends' to the pipes. The drains must be a closed loop system with a gradient of no more than 1:200 to prevent your problem happening.
Please visit http://www.wte-ltd.co.uk as this website has a lot of information on sewage problems and drainfield soakaway design

[chris_davis]

you don't have a clog
But I need more information to help.
Do you have a pumped system. Is there a grey electric box on top of your septic tank or mounted on the house. You mention that its uphill then down then up to field. taking all that into account is the top of the field lower or higher than the top of the tank and by how much approx.
chris