Help! Drainfield Failing - Any ideas? Thanks

[Ken A.]

We have a drain field on 60 year old home that is "failing".  Everyone's solution is "get a new one" - wow..genius.  Anyway, any other ideas?  House for 60 years didn't have a drain field problem.  In advance, ANY ideas, etc is greatly appreciated. 

[Adam Johnson]

Ummm, I think the advice given by @Joe Cummings was tongue in cheek.  One of the worst things you can do is plant any kind of tree near the drain field.  I'm assuming that you are referring to the leach field in the septic system, by the way.

If the system lasted 60 years, it has had a very good life.  Just like roof's, furnaces, and water heaters, leach fields have a life span.  Depending on how well they are taken care of, this life could range from 5 years for poor or no maintenance with trees nearby, to 40 or even 50 years with regular pumping and care not to dump grease down the drain or use of Draino-type products.

Time to face the music, it very likely is time for replacement if you are experiencing problems.  After replacing it, have the septic tank pumped at least every 2 years, more frequently if you have a smaller tank or a large (or multiple) family using it.  When it is pumped, the pumping contractor can tell you if you might be able to lengthen the interval or if you should shorten it.  If you haven't been pumping it regularly, you could be the reason it failed.

A septic system is fairly simple.  The sewer leaves the house and enters a settling tank.  In the settling tank, grease floats and solids settle.  There should be a baffle that prevents grease from floating down the line out to the leach field.  Excessive grease build-up at the top will allow grease to begin leaving the tank.  Excessive sludge build-up at the bottom will allow sludge to leave the tank.  Both scenarios are bad news for the leach field.  In a properly operating system, only effluent, or liquid waste leaves the septic tank and enters the leach field.  Sludge and grease plug lines and reduce the ability to disperse this water.

Maintenance should also include keeping bushes and trees from growing near the system.  It should also include regular mowing of grass over the system.  Contrary to popular belief, most of the water/effluent that disperses from the leach field does NOT go into the soil, it evaporates into the air above the system.  If you don't mow it, it reduces the performance.  As already mentioned in other replies, roots will destroy the system very quickly.  This is true for city sewer lines too, by the way.  I once dug up a city sewer line that was backing up.  We had to use a chain saw to remove the root that was growing down the line from the house into the sewer main.  The root was 5" in diameter!