septic tank advice needed (drain, shower, plumber, toilets)

[carsonks]

One day I noticed that I had a wet spot in my back yard, it seemed to get bigger and bigger when I washed close or took a shower. I though it was the septic tank. I didn't think it was full because I had no problems with anything backing up in the house and my toilets flushed fine. We had someone out and they pumped the tank. Well, its been about a month now and I have started to notice that the wet spot in my yard is back. I know that my tank can not be full after only a month of use. I do not flush anything that I am not supposed to down the toilet nor do i put food or anything else down the drain. We have put Rid-X and Yeast down the drain as we where told to do so by the people that had pumped our tank. I still don't think that would have caused an issue in a month. If anyone has an advice I would really appreciate it. We have had a really bad rainfall year, could that be the cause?

[thriftylefty]

You may need to have your latteral lines clean out , I have a perpetual problem in my yard in addition to the water table being high, and not enough rocks below the suface to draw water away. Some times there are two lines and when one clogs with roots, the other has to do all the work.

[jimboburnsy]

I was thinking along the same lines. I do not have a lot of experience with septic systems, but it sounds like you may have an obstruction in a leach field line or in several and only one is working.

[desertsun41]

Thrifty is correct but they are called leach lines or leach field. When you pumped your tank and the puddle went away it was because the first 500 or 1000 gallons or whatever size your tank is was filling up and no effluent went out to the leach field. Once the tank filled, which is normal operatiing condition, then the water (no solids) went out into the leach field. A leach field is several 4" perforated PVC or ABS piping lines which are burried about 2' under the surface and is surrounded by about 12" of gravel all around it then sand around that. The water leaches out the perforated holes and dispurses or absorbes into this leach field harmlessly.

All septic systems are designed by the layout of your property. The tank is the same but the leach field is of a different design in every home. One of your lines are broken perhaps by roots of a large tree. Maybe it is just clogged. Yes one line can clog and not the others. Maybe the ground in that specific area is just too saturated and can not absorb anymore. Which means you have to remove all the old dirty gravel and sand and put in new.

You may have to dig up that specific area to find the cause. It is not an expensive fix at all especially if you do it yourself. Even hiring a pro it should not be too bad. Materials are minimal.

[Cosmic]

More than likely you have what is known as a head box or distribution box is plugged, it is a pretty common problem.

The flow comes out of the septic tank goes into a box like distribution thingee and then out into the leach field lines. Out of this box is also an overflow line. If the box gets plugged all the flow comes out the overflow, lil goes into the leach field, hence the big wet spot in one area.

Each system is different. Normally they try to run the overflow pipe out to a lower elevation but it is not always possible. You might be able to find the end of it in the wet spot.

Not that much a biggy. Normally you dig up the head box area and clean it out. Lots of things can cause the plugging. Many times you have put excessive flows thru the tank and caused the sludge to be disturbed and stirred up, this causes solids to flow out the tank, a big no-no. Those solids typically get trapped in the head box first and it tends to plug up. One of the functions of the head box is to catch any solids that might get thru, it can be checked pretty easy if you know exactly where it is. Pays to mark it with a brick or something like that buried just at ground level.

Always have the tank pumped before it needs it. The homeowner can learn how to check the tank level themselves, not even close to rocket science. Getting the tank too full at some period is also another source of the head box plugging at some point.

You also need to understand better how the tank works and use good practices. Lots of websites that explain the do's and don't's for septic systems. It is not just the things you put there but if you flush excessive amounts of water thru that can hurt you.

[Gaffer]

DesertSun and Cosmic have pretty much summed it up. My guess is the company that pumped your septic would come back to view your situation and give you an opinion based on your unique situation. Of course they may also say they have to do some digging to give you an accurate analysis, but as the above posts have said, it's not a real expensive ordeal.

[desertsun41]

Originally Posted by Gaffer

DesertSun and Cosmic have pretty much summed it up. My guess is the company that pumped your septic would come back to view your situation and give you an opinion based on your unique situation. Of course they may also say they have to do some digging to give you an accurate analysis, but as the above posts have said, it's not a real expensive ordeal.

I just thought of something else after I noticed all the REPs and thank you DMs.

Many quality plumbers use a tiny camera that crawls down those pipes and the plumber is watching on his little TV screen to find what is plugging it. They are not real cheap. I think some one told me about a hundred dollars. But it might be money well spent and save your back from digging.

[RebeccaLeigh]

We have this problem, depending on how old your leech field is it may need to be moved, or redone. Sometimes it can be an easy fix, if it is just a clog, sometimes it can be a big problem. Don't wait, get someone out to look at the problem right away.

[Cosmic]

Normally the head box is not that far from the tank. If you can locate the overflow line can just shine a very bright flashlight in either the overflow end or the outflow port of the tank. In many cases can see light if the headbox is ok from the other end.

Can also just stick a long handled tool or something like that back up the overflow line. If you feel a void that is good, if you feel mud or the stick comes back out yucky, you are probably in trouble.

Not to worry, you can also dig up the head box itself, once located, they also typically have a cover, pull that and inspect, do the clean out.

I have that on my to To-Do-List. Head box is not very deep can do the puppy with a shovel pretty easy once you know exactly where it is. Couple of feet down at the most. In my case it is within five feet of the tank directly in line with the overflow pipe. Doubt anybody has ever been into mine, get that puppy before it gives a burp and chokes. Better to do in summer than in the winter, Murphy's Law sezs it will quit at the worse time.

First thing to always check is the head box before going to GQ. Again it is something the homeowner can learn to check periodically. Nothing like a nice clean job, should have plenty of help that will quickly rally to your aide. Might have to beat them off with that stick you just used to check the situation. Type of task everybody wants to learn the details.

[carsonks]

Thank you to everyone that posted. We had a company come out and they had to pump the tank again. Then they dug up the distribution box and wow glad I didn't take that job on myself. What they found was also very interesting. There was a nice big cinder block in it. Well I can't say the whole thing. You can tell that it was there a long time because it was just crumbling away when trying to get it out. Still things weren't flowing as they should. They tried to snake the pipe from the tank to the box but was unable too. The thought is that the pipe is collapsed or has tree roots in it. Considering its right down the tree line in our yard. The septic people have to get a permit then dig it up and we shall see from there.

Sorry for the long detailed description and thank you everyone for taking the time to respond to my post.

Have a Swell Day!