Septic issue

[Madisontex]

We live in Wake County NC. Our ground is red clay.

My drainfield is very slanted. The high part is always dry. The low part is always wet. Whenever it rains we have issues with pooling. The low point ground is so saturated from the rain that the septic water comes up. Our water usage is not excessive for the system we have. Is there anything we can do? The septic guy we have been working with said we can build up the yard and make it level. However, I’m reading that it not a good idea. We have a little ones and are constantly having to chase them away from wandering into the wet areas. I want to be able to use our yard without having to worry about the wet and nasty smell. Help is appreciated.

 

[4570Man]

What’s the ground like at the low area? How much would it take to make it drain somewhere else? Also check your meter to make sure it’s not loosing water.

 

[Madisontex]

The ground in the low area is clay and disgusting. It’s at the least mushy all the time. We have an emergency drain field but I don’t want to utilize that unless we have to as I have a greenhouse and playground on there.

 

[ponytug]

How much slope are we talking about here?

Sounds as if it wasn't built correctly; ideally, you want your septic lines to all be equally full, i.e. dead level. It is possible that what was done, but your clay soil is forcing the water out at the low points on your slope. My drain lines are set into a steep,slope, but they do cascade top line to bottom line in the clay soil, and we have no issues. This leads me to suspect that your water table could be generally high in your low spot, leading to issues.

What do you mean by "emergency area"?

I would be inclined to do as your septic guy suggests and build up the lower ground with sand gradually until the soil is dry and stays dry. There are some nice YouTube videos on how to do it, but you keep spreading 1/4-1/2"of sand into your grass (you can use a Scott's lawn spreader), then let the grass grow, then spread more in. You use a rake and extra sand to manually fill in any excessively low spots. Basically, put the sand in as fast as the grass grows, although by the sound of your second post, you may want to go whole hog and add a foot, or three, of sand topped by enough topsoil to get a lawn back.

I am assuming that your septic tank has been pumped and that you don't have a water leak in the house.

All the best,

Peter

 

[3Ts]

What kind of septic system do you have and how old is it? I'm assuming the older gravity system and that it was already in place when you bought the house. The clay is a problem, it doesn't percolate well. First, how is the yard graded? Does it prevent surface water from running onto the leach field? If not, I'd fix that first. The percolation has to be fixed, you may have to go to a raised sand bed to do it.

 

[jaxs]

The picture you paint of system isn't near enough detailed to alow suggestions that include much meaningful detail. Why do you distrust the septic guy you have been working with and why haven't you hired one you can trust? Trying out WAGS picked up from the net can get expensive,not to mention possibly make matters worse.

 

[CalG]

Ask about dosed discharge from the tank.

 

[old and tired]

What do you mean by "emergency area"?

We only needed 3 lines but had to have room for a fourth line, just in case. I think if we added another bathroom or finished off the basement. But that's in another area.

IF one line is getting more water, I wonder if the distribution box isn't level any more...

Also, if the drain field is "very slanted"; I would try to kill two birds with one stone. Get a more level backyard and cover the drainage area better.

Also, for the record, drain fields need to be below the clay into soil that will drain... that IS the reason for the perk test!!

 

[Larry Caldwell]

We only needed 3 lines but had to have room for a fourth line, just in case. I think if we added another bathroom or finished off the basement. But that's in another area.

IF one line is getting more water, I wonder if the distribution box isn't level any more...

Also, if the drain field is "very slanted"; I would try to kill two birds with one stone. Get a more level backyard and cover the drainage area better.

Also, for the record, drain fields need to be below the clay into soil that will drain... that IS the reason for the perk test!!

Bingo. I would dig out and adjust the distribution boxes.

 

[etpm]

I installed my own septic system. While this does by no means make me any kind of expert I did learn stuff along the way. My system is an infiltrator system and is gravity fed. My infiltrator system use ditches two feet deep by 40 inches wide. Into the ditches are placed plastic half "clamshells". These clamshells are 3 feet wide, 1 foot tall, and 10 feet long. The clamshells link together so ditches are dug to lengths in multiples of ten feet. My ditches, 4 of them, are 50 feet long. My drain field is bi-level, with an elevation difference of about 4 feet. There are two ditches in each level. Between the septic tank and the infiltrator ditches is a distribution box. The effluent from the septic tank goes into the distribution box. From this box are 4 pipes that go to the infiltrator ditches. The same amount of effluent must go to each ditch. To achieve this there are devices, one in each outlet in the distribution box, that close off about 1/3 the diameter of the outlet. These devices can be rotated so that the same amount of liquid flows into each pipe going to the drainfield. No matter what type of gravity fed drain field you have it should be fed equally and to do this a distribution box is required. So find yours and make sure it is working correctly. In your situation I might even consider biasing the fluid flow a little to the upper part of your drainfield just for now until you get the lower part figured out. Drainfields work by evaporating the liquid, not by having it soak down into the ground. If your ground is already saturated it may not be able to handle any more water. To fix this you may need to raise the ground but this may also involve raising any ditches or pipe in the ground. This is probably why you have read that piling on sand is a bad idea. There may be a water problem where surface water, that is water that is not only on the surface but also water that moves through the top 4 or so feet of soil, is present in such a high amount that your lower drainfield is always saturated. If this is so then you must find a way to direct this water away from your drainfield.
Eric

 

[Boss 302]

X2 on checking the distribution box, it may have gotten out of level causing all or the majority of the water to go into one line. The lines inside the distribution box may have the dial adjusters so that you can set all of them at the same elevation.

 

[Egon]

Perhaps consider a “Mound” system. Commonly used when the area doesn’t’ perk well.

Might have to revert to having the system redesigned by an engineer.

 

[PBinWA]

X2 on checking the distribution box, it may have gotten out of level causing all or the majority of the water to go into one line. The lines inside the distribution box may have the dial adjusters so that you can set all of them at the same elevation.

I had the same issue as the OP. I had to dig up and replace the distribution box (mine was cracked) and then play with the dial adjusters to get the water flowing evenly. Been 10+ years and all is working well.

 

[dmccarty]

Our system is gravity fed, on a slope, and we have clay where we do not have rocks. When the septic field was built, we had to have clay brought in to cap the field. In other words to prevent rainwater from entering the septic lines clay was put on top of the septic field. The down slope side of the field is not wet.

Are you sure the problem is with the septic system and rain water runoff? In our old house in Wake county, I had to dig a trench and fill with sand to help control the water run off from the slope of the land as well as the down spouts of two houses to mostly solve a wet area problem.

Later,
Dan

 

[4570Man]

How much slope are we talking about here?

Sounds as if it wasn't built correctly; ideally, you want your septic lines to all be equally full, i.e. dead level. It is possible that what was done, but your clay soil is forcing the water out at the low points on your slope. My drain lines are set into a steep,slope, but they do cascade top line to bottom line in the clay soil, and we have no issues. This leads me to suspect that your water table could be generally high in your low spot, leading to issues.

What do you mean by "emergency area"?

I would be inclined to do as your septic guy suggests and build up the lower ground with sand gradually until the soil is dry and stays dry. There are some nice YouTube videos on how to do it, but you keep spreading 1/4-1/2"of sand into your grass (you can use a Scott's lawn spreader), then let the grass grow, then spread more in. You use a rake and extra sand to manually fill in any excessively low spots. Basically, put the sand in as fast as the grass grows, although by the sound of your second post, you may want to go whole hog and add a foot, or three, of sand topped by enough topsoil to get a lawn back.

I am assuming that your septic tank has been pumped and that you don't have a water leak in the house.

All the best,

Peter

That’s how they’re supposed to work. I assume the lines run across the hill vs up and down the hill and the water is just pooling at the bottom of the hill. By emergency area I assume he means duplicate area. Locally to get a septic permit you have to have enough ground that perks to put in the drain field again in the event the first one fails.

 

[TheMan419]

The picture you paint of system isn't near enough detailed to alow suggestions that include much meaningful detail. Why do you distrust the septic guy you have been working with and why haven't you hired one you can trust? Trying out WAGS picked up from the net can get expensive,not to mention possibly make matters worse.

One hundred times this. I give professional advice for a living. I ask clients this from time to time. If you don't trust me why are you here? Go find someone whose advice you will trust and take. Rarely have a client leave after we have that discussion and figure out where the miscommunication was.

If you have talked to your septic guy and he has explained everything to you, and you do not trust his advice.... get a second opinion from a professional, not a bunch of guys that own tractors.

 

[ljjhouser]

Before I say this, I will say - always check your local codes. Where I am located, is all bedrock. That means clay in on top of it. And most clay will not perk.
Are you using laterals?
Are they still in good condition? Or are they all silted in. The lateral field should be flat.

If not, you could replace them by removing clay and trucking in better soil that will perk.

NEXT answer. When I designed and installed my system. I had 9 loads of dirt hauled in. But it was mostly clay on top of bedrock. It did not perk, not one cup over 24 hrs.
The solution for me was to eliminate the idea of using a lateral field. Instead, I used a 1000 gal septic tank, then effluent goes to a small chlorine tank (about 1 ft cube size), then to a 500 gal holding tank. The holding tank gives the chlorine time to work and kill all bacteria. Then the effluent water goes to a sprinkling system driven by a Jet pump. That way there are no laterals and the water with fine mist mostly evaporates and waters grass.

That was done with city and county permit. Installed by myself - I did get a state Installers License. Just had to pass a test. easy.
Hope that helps. Just to give you some ideas. Also, I looked into building a lagoon with an aerator to speed treatment. But the liner was too much for me.

Well, Just some ideas.

 

[etpm]

When I installed my septic in Island County WA I had to pay an engineer to engineer the system. 700 bucks but money well spent. Between proper design and the county out to check on me and offer good advice several times a week I ended up with a very good installation. Installing it myself I came out thousands ahead, even after paying for the backhoe I bought to do the job.
Eric

 

[bigtiller]

Google...."Septic maintenance and repair near me"

I did that and they discovered and fixed my problem.
My distribution box had settled a little and they adjusted the outlets to fix the problem.
I had a line that the grass was always greener and taller than the rest of the field.

 

[Jstpssng]

When I installed my septic in Island County WA I had to pay an engineer to engineer the system. 700 bucks but money well spent. Between proper design and the county out to check on me and offer good advice several times a week I ended up with a very good installation. Installing it myself I came out thousands ahead, even after paying for the backhoe I bought to do the job.
Eric

You also know a bit more about how to do another one.
I started doing my own but quickly decided I wanted it done by a pro. It cost me around $1000 more than if I’d done it myself.