Problem with Septic / Drain Field - any experience?

Question

Hey BP,

I bought a property last year and it had a brand new septic tank and drain field installed. The tank was increased from 1300 - 1500 gallons, and it was inspected and got a clean bill of health. Fast forward 12 months, and the drain field is leaking into the drive way. Then, a couple of days later, it actually starts backing up into the house and I had to have it emergency pumped.

The back up seems to be that the tank filter was clogged by grease / fat. I've asked the tenants to please dispose of grease/fat/food in the trash vs. the drains (there is no disposal installed). I hope that's resolved.

However, the drain field still seems to be leaking into the yard. I've had three companies come out and all of them say the tank and the drain field are working properly, but the drain field isn't big enough. The field is 320 sq/ft and is estimated to process ~9K Gals of water a month, but the property is using ~15K Gals a month. So the drain field can't process it fast enough and causes the leak. The property has an easement, so the drain field can't be increased to process more, it's maxed out. The companies said that the field should have 4-5 people max living in the property, but there are currently 7 (4 adults, 3 kids) between the two units. It seems reducing the water usage is the only thing we can do to resolve the issue. Any other tips?

1) These tenants have been living in the property for three - four years respectively, and no one new is living there. The water usage has never been a problem before this year.

2) There are washing machines, but they don't drain into the septic, they drain into a storm drain (probably not a good thing either, but was like that when I bought it, I'll deal with this later).

3) The tenants swear there aren't any leaks, running toilets, excessive showers, etc.

I'm thinking the only thing I can do now is replace all toilets, faucets, showerheads, etc. with 'low flow' alternatives to reduce the water usage, and then ask the side with two adults and two kids to move out (or evict - they are overdue on rent now) and replace them with less people.

so, for the BPers,

1) Any tips on water usage?

2) If there is a health restraint of the number of people that can live in the house, can you use that for screening purposes (I don't discriminate against families with kids, but can I set a limit of only two people in the unit)?

3) Any drain field related solutions I may not be asking about to the companies I'm working with?

Thanks in advance!

Andrew V.

Tammy Mason · Answer

@Andrew Varney heres some pretty cheap tips that might help:

-Install some efficient low-flow shower heads/faucet aerators.-Keep your dryer hoses clean as well as the lint trap. Check your clothes when they are drying to see if they're dry instead of waiting for the timer.

Pat L. · Answer

My bet is the excessive grease has infiltrated & started to clog the bottom of the leach field seriously reducing its capability to absorb the excessive water usage & prevents effective drainage. IE: water cannot perk.

Clint on the issue of gray water I found one of my neighbors had it flowing directly into the leach field bypassing the septic tank & it seemed to absorb well. Not sure if its code kosher but an interesting redirect.

Bjorn Ahlblad · Answer

@Andrew Varney yes by all means try to reduce the water usage through low flow and fewer people. In the meantime you can increase the frequency of pumpouts.

Greg Scott · Answer

Seems like the company that engineered the system didn't realize you have duplex.  Most consider the legal occupancy limit to be 2 people per bedroom so I assume you have more than 2 bedrooms.

Leaky toilets can cause a lot of excess usage.  I'd look to installing low-flow toilets and shower heads.  We saved 55% on our apartment water bill that way, but we had some 3 Gallon flushers.  You can find some 0.8 or 1.2 gallon flush toilets that work well and won't leak.

Colleen F. · Answer

The filters need to be hosed off every 6 months, sometimes more.  Get the toilets down to 1.2 /gallons flush or even 0.8 that will be alot of relief on the system.  Add Low flow showers too. Is everyone home all day every day now? That may be your issue. I see alot of increase in water use from the work from home system.  If you have a well you can install a water meter on it and take readings to see use. Cheap for a  mechanical one.  Look at what your gallons/person/day is and see if that is out of whack with published typical water use. If so you have a leak somewhere. You are in florida, do you have a sprinkler system?  Where is you grey water going, is that saturating the ground too or going into the storm system (no allowed here). If it goes into the ground do you have High efficiency washing machines.  It doesn't sound like you have a pump system but you can check that if it applies. Also with a well I specify no car washing outside water use etc.

Joe Splitrock · Answer

2) There are washing machines, but they don't drain into the septic, they drain into a storm drain (probably not a good thing either, but was like that when I bought it, I'll deal with this later).

^^Deal with this now. You are putting soap down the sanitary sewer, meaning you are draining it into water ways. This is harmful to wild life and the environment.

Clint Shelley · Answer

Something isn't right with the perc test. Either the soil was reported wrong or the depth to water, or something. Tank size is based on the number of bedrooms. A duplex with 320' seems fine but I would need to see the report. The design was to be based on flawed data somewhere, or a change in conditions. You may have to install a mound system to give you some more filter. The gray water into the storm is a big no no. You have problems, because gray should going into the field too. Have you talked to the local health department rep? Neighbors will sue you over this is it gets onto their property. I've had to map these poop puddles for court.

Clint

Marc Desrosiers · Answer

@Andrew Varney

The “d-box” is short for distribution box. A normal on-site wastewater treatment system or OWTS around my area is called an Eljen system and the d-box is located after the outlet of the septic tank and is where the branches of the leaching field start. Leaching field is the same as a drain field

The water in is a pretty good indication of output though

What about the designer though? They should also guarantee their work.

Andrew Varney · Answer

Thanks for the tip Marc.

This is my first ever property with a Septic / Drain Field, so I'm a little ignorant on some of the details. When you say flow test at the D-box, are you asking about the water input into the property? It's on a well, and I did have a meter installed to check on the usage and that's where I got the ~15K Gal of usage a month at this point. If that isn't what your asking, can you dumb it down to 099 for me? :-)

I have had the original company out as they warranty their work, plus two others. All of them say it's installed fine, but due to the layout of the property + a 10 foot easement by the gov't, it couldn't be made any bigger. I'm told it was actually an upgrade from what was there before. (I believe) They said the drain field had been 300 sqft and is now 320 sqft after they installed the system last year, hopefully I have the nomenclature right. With the elevation and slope of the land, my understanding is this is the only place it can be.And yea, it's a 4/2 duplex - 2/1 each side. Four adults and three kids total. Thanks again for clarification!

Problem with Septic / Drain Field - any experience?

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