Diving into the unknown (septic tank)

[rlk]

Jerry, I had the same problem a couple of years ago.

Not knowing what the problem was, I had the tank pumped. Very little sludge was found. Everything worked well until the tank filled up, then the toilets started gurgling again.

Had a plumber snake the lines to the tank - no problems were found. The plumber told me the leachfield was clogged and needed replacing. I didn't believe it so kept looking.

The only thing that had not been checked was the distribution box. After digging it up and taking the lid off, I found it full of grass roots. Water would go through the box, but it was very slow.

I cut all the roots out of the distribution box and everything has been working well since then.

Rather than sew grass over the distribution box where I dug it up, the wife now has a nice plant bed.

Hope you find your problem to be as simple as mine was.

Bob

 

[Phils]

Having just gone through the same thing last month (but on a 25 yr old system) I'd suggest you check your first distribution box, as Bob discussed. That will tell you if your leach field is the problem or not.

Phil

 

[Mrwurm]

Ok, the system keeps up with showers and toilets. It's only the wash machine that causes problems. So, I'll be waiting till the weekend to 'dive into' this problem /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[scott_vt]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Ok, the system keeps up with showers and toilets. It's only the wash machine that causes problems. So, I'll be waiting till the weekend to 'dive into' this problem /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif )</font>

Mornin Jerry,
Just another thought, and maybe not too expensive. Have you given any thought to putting in a drywell for your gray water from the washer? This might be an alternative.

One other thing that happened to me years ago, was when the septic system was being backfilled, the equipment operator was not very careful and managed to drop a fairly large stone on the pipe that went from the tank to the d-box /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif This caused me many gray hairs before I finally figured out what the problem was /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif That line was close to the driveway and occassionally would get run over by the vehicles in the driveway and eventually just about collapsed that pipe /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

scotty

 

[Mrwurm]

Yes, there are many possibilities. I bought the house two years after it was built, so I don't have the advantage of knowing the history of the installation.

 

[MarkV]

Jerry, not much to offer that hasn’t already been said. I do hope you will get photos if you send the wife in for a look though. I would then suggest you run very fast and very far. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

MarkV