septic help needed
 

I have instituted many water saving rules and installed some water saving devices in my home in the past year because my Leech field is starting to back up right at the leech tank. We moved into this house without kmowing anything about septic tank care as we are all city-folk.

One of my neighbors told me I could get an enzyme based product at the hardware store to pour directly into my leech tank and toilet that might help loosen up my leech field. He didn't know the name of the product except that I should not get Rid-X because it is of lower concentration.

Can somebody here reecommend a product name for me to try?

I have used Ridex and a couple other brands I don't recall and doubt that they had any appreciable effect. I noticed no difference in breakdown of solids in the tank. And if no difference in the tank, stands to reason that breakdown in the field would be even less likely.

I am putting up a link to an article from the University of Kentucky, not selling anything, and gives a very good overview of septic systems.

https://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/agr/agr166/agr166.htm

When measuring the solids in a tank, I use a wooden stick about 6 ft. long. I put 1 ft. reference marks on the stick. Another stick laid across the opening makes it easy the read the depths.

If you put the stick into the tank slowly with no push, you can feel some resistance when the stick reaches the solids. Note your depth then push to the bottom of the tank. Difference in measurements will give the amount of solids in your tank. If your tank ever gets full enough of solids, solids can spillover into the leech field piping. This is very bad but will clear up some over a period after tank is pumped.

My tank has 3 compartments and I will always find less depth of solids as you measure toward the leech field outlet. The worst condition is for the last compartment (outlet) to measure a high level of solids.

I totally agree with this article that pumping the septic tank when needed is the most important maintenance item.

If your leech field is in an area that is not well drained, rain and lawn watering can contribute to your problems. I once helped a neighbor with bad drainage. We used 4" corrugated flexible pipe with drainage openings buried about 1 ft. in a bed of gravel. We used it on two sides of the field to direct unwanted water away from the field. This pipe is commonly used as a drain around building foundations. Can be bought in 100 ft rolls at Home Depot.

I've done a lot of talking here but I know what a pain it is when you have problems with your system. Hope this helps.

Rid-X and others need a step they dont tell you about. The septic system needs some airriation. (sp). Without air injection of some sort the little buggers wont grow and break down sludge.

Even simple air injection helps the natural break down of the sludge.

Best is to have the Honey wagon come out.

Leach fields can colapse and loose the bio and become packed. If you have latrial lines they can become packed and nothing will move.

I would get the septic tank serviced. Then go out to where your leach field is and do a perk test.

psy

Hi psyshack,

I was wondering if you could elaborate a little?
What is a Honey Wagon?

what does "If you have latrial lines they can become packed and nothing will move." mean exactly? Do you mean lateral? as in a lateral pass?

"I would get the septic tank serviced" I would assume you mean emptied?

What is a "perk test"?

Sorry for all the questions but I am still quite new to septic systems and would like to avoid $10,000 repair bill...

Thanx

we got ours emptied when it was being like yours. its works fine now

Had it emptied every summer so far, just in case. It keeps coming back though.
This time a little worse than others.

how long ago did you start with all the water saving stuff

It's been a fight with the kids but I started to get serious a few months ago. As soon as I noticed water near the Leech tank.

yeah that should help if you do it over a whoal year if ya can keep it up that long. how much in water heating cost has that saved you?

Everything in my house is electric so it's hard to tell but I figured about $30/ Mo.

niiice thats pretty good

A coworker of mine says that RidX is crucial and kept her dad from having to have the tank pumped out anywhere near as often as their neighbors. If you already have some solids, you might want to put the stuff into the tank and try to stir it up so that the enzymes and bacteria all get reshuffled.

Whenever the guy comes out to empty it (anually) he says that I'm doing it earlier than I need to. There is not too much solids in the tank. My problem seems to be too much water caused a backflow in the leech field

Eyeball the ground of the field and surrounding area to see if you can spot a drainage problem, i.e. rainwater or lawn water running onto your field. A new leech field is an expensive proposition.

If your field is permanently saturated and you can't get it better with drainage, the next step would be a new leech field. You may never have had a proper field, lacking the rock, gravel and sand it should contain to work properly.

Honey Wagen is a slang term for the tank truck that pumps out the contents of your septic tank. The term dates back to the 1800's horse-drawn manure wagens that used to haul urban manure out to the truck farms surrounding the city. "Honey" being a reference to the odor.

Drain fields usually are branched like a tree, with several lateral arms. If the lateral arms of the drain field become totally clogged with solids from the septic tank, then liquids can't move through that arm.

"Serviced" means having the septic tank pumped dry by the "Honey Wagen".

A perk test is digging a 2 foot deep hole in your drain field, filling it with water and timing how long it takes for the water in the hole to drain away. It gives a idea of how well your drain field can theoretically function.

If you don't have a solids problem then I don't think that enzymes or aeration will help. Your problem is not with the tank, but with the field lines. I would look for evidence that the lines are crushed or plugged somewhere, and try to make a repair at that point.

You may just flat be exceeding the capacity of the lines, though, in which case psyshack had good input about making sure rainwater and irrigation water are being diverted away from the area where the field lines are as much as possible. You might end up having to install more field lines...

Bill, you know a lot of SH**.

:blushing: :-)

first off you need to remember that all sewer systems are living things, both home septic tanks, and public sewer systems, and you can kill them, the most commen poison is bleach, dumpin even half a cup of bleach down your drain can nearly kill off the living enzimes that brake down the organic matter in the tank, we only use viniger, and bio-degradible soaps, and other then having to repair the main pipe entering the tank, it's been working great for many many years