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Hi! Our septic tank field goes slightly downhill from the tank. The end of the field is about 100 ft. from the tank and has a huge "hole" filled with gravel. That area has now become a wet spot and sometimes trickles into the dirt road in front of the house. We had the tank pumped a couple weeks ago. The area dried up for a couple of days, then, bam!, became wet again. We have a 1,200-gal. tank and there are two of us at home. The field "line" to the end is greener, so water is seeping out along the perforated line. What's our problem and how do we repair it:? Thank you!
I have about the same problem as you and am in the process of digging up my field to replace my pipes and stone under the pipes. We have lived in our house for 28 years and last year was the first time we had our tank pumped as we had a wet spot forming in the lawn. The guy who pumped the tank said that some solids have made it into the field and formed a greasy layer that the water can not leach through.
I am digging up the field myself and am going to dig out the stone under the pipes and then work a three tine garden fork into this area to loosen and open up the soil in this area. Also your field should be level so the water will leach out evenly. I didn't want to hire a contractor as then the state may get involved and require a completly new system (many thousands of dollars)
Septic tank aerators are available that can prolong the life of septic tanks for many years.
1. Immediately stop using any products that are not biodegradeable. Your leaching system is plugged and cannot handle anymore non-biodegradeable materials.
2. Immediately place a filter over your washing machine discharge line such as those available at http://www.linttraps.com
3. Add a digester aide such as http://www.bio-r.com or rodx to encourage rapid degradation of any biodegradeables in the system.
4. Find and place an aeration system such as http://www.septictankaerator.com at the front of your septic tank to encourage aerobic bacteria to get the job done . They work 10 times more quickly than other bacteria to break down waste materials.
5. Do everything you can to minimize water useage, ie: always use sink drain stoppers to minimize water use, quick showers (few baths), while the system tries to heal itself naturally.
I have found that the only tissue to use is Scott, do not flush anything like Baby Wipes (my sister just had to spend over $1000 to replace her pump due to her children flushing those wipes during a prolonged visit) and then once a year, I flush one cup of a special mixture right before bedtime that is microbial and eats through waste or toilet tissue of the wrong type. One result i've noticed is how slow the septic field grows after using this mixture, which tells me it is working.
I make it myself and use the diluted remains on my garden and it has caused all my plants to more than triple in size in 6 weeks. Example is 4" salvias that are now 3' tall and covered in blooms. It detoxs the soil and is like nuking them...i will see if i have some photos to post of the salvias I planted and how they looked yesterday.
