BigBlue1
Veteran Member
I have a rural property with a septic system that doesn't seem to work as well as it should.
Background is that it was installed in 2004 and passed county inspection in 2016. Sized for 4 bedroom house (which it is) at 600 GPD. First tank is 750 gal, second tank is 1250. There is a plastic filter between the tanks that needs to be cleaned occasionally. Mound system drainfield. We always have 2 people in the house. Every other week it increases to 3 or 4 (teenagers). We don't do excessive laundry, probably average less than 3 showers a day even on busy weeks. No other significant water inflow beyond typical kitchen and toilet. Don't put anything suspect down the drain like food waste (i.e. no in sink garbage disposal and no grease down the drain). Had the system pumped out several times since 2016. Always been told system looks great and no excess build-up.
Symptoms are that every 1.5 to 3 months the filter gets plugged up and causes the level in the first tank to increase, sometimes to the point of backing up into the drain in the lowest level utility room. We've always caught it quickly and never had it go beyond the drain area (have a leak detector since the first time it happened). I've taken to cleaning the filter proactively every 2-3 months, though I was told by the septic guy when we moved in that annually should be fine. Filter plugs with what looks like potting soil consistency stuff. Black, somewhat granular. I spray it off and we're good to go mostly, but sometimes it plugs before my next scheduled cleaning. My septic guy tells me he has no real idea why this happens except that he thinks the system is not large enough.
Does anyone have ideas on why this situation occurs? Is it really not big enough for what averages to fewer than a 3 person household? If that's the case I'm certainly not going to put in a new system for $20K+... I'll just increase my filter cleaning frequency. But it seems like something else is wrong because I know of nobody else with a septic system that has these issues. I talk to people who never do anything with their system other than pump it every 3-4 years.
Thanks.
Background is that it was installed in 2004 and passed county inspection in 2016. Sized for 4 bedroom house (which it is) at 600 GPD. First tank is 750 gal, second tank is 1250. There is a plastic filter between the tanks that needs to be cleaned occasionally. Mound system drainfield. We always have 2 people in the house. Every other week it increases to 3 or 4 (teenagers). We don't do excessive laundry, probably average less than 3 showers a day even on busy weeks. No other significant water inflow beyond typical kitchen and toilet. Don't put anything suspect down the drain like food waste (i.e. no in sink garbage disposal and no grease down the drain). Had the system pumped out several times since 2016. Always been told system looks great and no excess build-up.
Symptoms are that every 1.5 to 3 months the filter gets plugged up and causes the level in the first tank to increase, sometimes to the point of backing up into the drain in the lowest level utility room. We've always caught it quickly and never had it go beyond the drain area (have a leak detector since the first time it happened). I've taken to cleaning the filter proactively every 2-3 months, though I was told by the septic guy when we moved in that annually should be fine. Filter plugs with what looks like potting soil consistency stuff. Black, somewhat granular. I spray it off and we're good to go mostly, but sometimes it plugs before my next scheduled cleaning. My septic guy tells me he has no real idea why this happens except that he thinks the system is not large enough.
Does anyone have ideas on why this situation occurs? Is it really not big enough for what averages to fewer than a 3 person household? If that's the case I'm certainly not going to put in a new system for $20K+... I'll just increase my filter cleaning frequency. But it seems like something else is wrong because I know of nobody else with a septic system that has these issues. I talk to people who never do anything with their system other than pump it every 3-4 years.
Thanks.
