Terralift

RobS · Nov 30, 2001

Bad news at home... our septic field system has failed /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Septic-dude was out yesterday and recommended replacement at $4-8K or the "Terralift" solution. Terralift uses a jack-hammer to penetrate the soil around the existing field lines then injects compressed air to open up the soil and finally refills the area with polystyrene beads to keep the new fissures open. The big attraction is the cost ($1600) and no tear-up to the yard. There is a one year guarantee with $1000 applicable to a new field system if it does not work. This is particularly attractive to us as we plan on moving next summer.

Anyone out there have any experience with this system? Here's a link to their site Terralift

Thanks /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

MossRoad · Nov 30, 2001

Never heard of it. Get quotes from at least 3 septic dudes and consider getting a leach bed that has two fields and a switch box. You can rest one field every other year. Properly maintained, a septic system should last 30 or more years. Over build it if you can. The bigger it is, the longer it will last. Good luck.

 MossRoad

dmccarty · Nov 30, 2001

Rob,

Call the county or whoever regulates spetic systems in your area and see what they have to say about this system. Is it even "legal?" In NC, the state and the county keeps a list of septic installers as well as engineers. You might want to call up an engineer and see what they have to say about this system. NC also has Soil Scientists who perform perc tests. If your state has people that do this you might want to contact them as well to see what there opinion is about the new system as well as what to do about the failure in the first place.

NC does not requires ANY special qualifications for septic installers. If you have the equipment then you are a septic installer so I'm leary of our local guys. Some are real good but I depend on the Soil Scientist and Septic Engineer since they are the professionals AND they don't make money on the installation.....

Good Luck and let us know what happens...
Dan McCarty

Knight9 · Nov 30, 2001

It's not called Terralift here, but they do this locally also. Interesting that their warranty here is TWO years.

Kevin

RobS · Nov 30, 2001

Interesting that their warranty here is TWO years. 

I've done some more checking and found the warranty to vary. Must be a local thing, not through the Terralift company.

I'm meeting with our builder's husband today, who also happens to work in the county engineering office. I plan on asking him about it as well/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Anonymous Poster · Nov 30, 2001

I took a look at their site, and it sure LOOKS GOOD ON PAPER, then I looked at who's using it in my area, and given what I know of the contractors, my opinion is it's just a way to get some extra money out of a septic system replacement.
The concept of fissuring soil by injecting compressed air is clever, but would only work with some soil types and a huge CFM compressor, unless the ground was frozen. This is sort of a reverse of the guys 30 years back who were going to waterproof cellars by drilling holes around the outside of the wall and fill them with sodium bentonite.
Since you didn't say what type lines you have, clay or plastic, and what kind of soil you have, a solution to your problem is hard to come up with. Most leach fields go bad cause people don't pump their septic tank regularly, and the leach lines plug up with solids. If the lines are plugged, no amount of injected air will renew a leach field.

RJohnson · Dec 2, 2001

Rob
Franz gave you some very good information. The Terralift system is a good alternative if you want to save some money instead of replacing the whole leach field. But it is a tempory solution and the problem will eventually come back. Anyone with a septic tank should invest in an effluent filter for the tank. This keeps the solids in the tank where they belong. You should also never add anything to "dissolve" the oils and greases in the tank. This is where you want them and moving them to the leach field will just cause problems. Also every home should have a lint trap on their clothes washer to keep synthenic fiber out of the leach field. These do not break down and eventually clog the soil pores.
Good luck.

Randy

MossRoad · Dec 2, 2001

In some areas you are allowed to put in a separate system for the washer and kitchen sink(grey water). They usually involve a grease trap. Improves the life of your human waste system(brown water) dramatically.

 MossRoad

bcarter · Dec 4, 2001

I have a friend who had this done...worked very well, but was only a temporary solution. The town was putting in sewer but it would be a few years before the project was going to get to his street. Normally this "teralift" procedure is illegal around here but the local board of health was allowing it as a stop gap until the sewer project was complete. He was looking at close to $25K for a new system.

Bill