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I know we had a very rainy 2018 here in New Jersey but we have problems with back flow from leach field into septic tank. The leach field was replaced in 2009 and there were problems not too long after as well. The system works fine June-Sept/Oct . Even if there is heavy rain in the summer, there is no problem with back flow. Once we get into November and beyond, it back flows after every rain. Is this just a problem with high ground water? Any boby have the same problem and use an alternative system such as an aerobic system. The septic company said a mound system would be better but who wants a mound of dirt in the yard. Any suggestions would be helpful.
I know we had a very rainy 2018 here in New Jersey but we have problems with back flow from leach field into septic tank. The leach field was replaced in 2009 and there were problems not too long after as well. The system works fine June-Sept/Oct . Even if there is heavy rain in the summer, there is no problem with back flow. Once we get into November and beyond, it back flows after every rain. Is this just a problem with high ground water? Any boby have the same problem and use an alternative system such as an aerobic system. The septic company said a mound system would be better but who wants a mound of dirt in the yard. Any suggestions would be helpful.
Lots of variables here. Was the system properly sized to the home to begin with? As an example I have a four bedroom house and a four bedroom system which consists of a 1300 gallon tank and 1000 square feet of disposal bed with eight laterals. If you're trying to put too much water (ie: 4 bedrooms worth of water per day through a 3 bedroom system) whether the leach field was replaced or not, you're going to have problems. I would think this is unlikely provided the County Health Department was in the loop during the replacement, but possible. When you say they "replaced the leach field" what did that consist of? Just putting in new stone and new laterals? What about the underlying soil? How old is the house and the fixtures/appliances inside? Low flow shower heads, toilets, new high efficiency washing machines make a HUGE difference in water usage and can drop your GPD output dramatically.
Regardless, mounds, I'm afraid, are the "new normal" because excessive groundwater levels seem to be the "new normal." Our system was installed in September of 2017 (prior to closing) and it seems like it hasn't stopped raining since. Technically we have mound, but it's built into what was a gently sloping hillside, so the hill is now leveled off with a steep drop at the edge toward the rear of our property so we were very fortunate in terms of the appearance and how it fits in and the fact that we had enough grade from the house to avoid a pump. Given how high the water table is and has been in our area for some time now, I am very grateful that my disposal field sits in 3' of clean stone and is underlain by no less than 8' of select fill.
Don't have septic,never have owned a house with one ,know nothing about them does having your system pumped out help it in situations like this?
Not really. Pumping is part of regular maintenance-septic systems are actually quite simple. Wastewater flows into the tank, which should be sized and piped according to the expected rate of in-flow. How many gallons per day of in-flow is calculated by the number of bedrooms in the house which is used to estimate how many people could theoretically be living in the house, which obviously has a direct correlation to how much water is used (ie: how many people bathing, flushing, washing clothes, cooking, washing dishes, etc...). The tank is sized so that the wastewater flows in and then is held for a period of time so that two things can happen-first, so that anaerobic bacteria can work to break down solid or semi-solid organic wastes into smaller particles and/or liquids, and second, so that what solids are left have time to settle out to the bottom of the tank, which begins to form a layer of sludge on the bottom. This sludge has to be periodically removed. Every two years is a good rule of thumb. Pumping a tank used to be a hassle because the access holes were typically buried. Now N.J.A.C. 7:9A requires that risers be fitted to raise the access holes to grade and that they be fitted with manholes. This way the vac truck operator can simply pop the lid, pump the tank, and close it when finished.
Getting back to the function of the system, after solids are broken down and/or settled out, liquid effluent, flows through a baffle which meters flow and attempts to block any floating solids, and then through a distribution box, or D-box which distributes flow to laterals, long perforated pipes which are designed to slowly introduce liquid effluent into a bed of clean stone where it then begins to percolate down into the soil. The problem that the OP seems to be having is that the liquid effluent is getting to the laterals but that it is not percolating. Soil that is already too waterlogged is often the cause of this. If the soil is waterlogged already, the water from the laterals cannot flow down into the soil. Think of a bucket half full of dry beach sand. If you begin to pour water into the bucket, it will percolate down into the sand and "disappear," and the sand will continue to absorb the water to a point. If you keep introducing more water, eventually the sand will become completely saturated, and if you continue to pour beyond that, the water will just sit on top of the waterlogged sand because it has nowhere to go. As the OP stated, a "mound system" is one solution to this. A mound is a disposal bed located on an artificial mound made of select fill that is above the existing grade, the idea being that the mound will never become as waterlogged as the underlying soil. However, proper tank and disposal field sizing still apply.
Thank you,seems like a lot o work . I'll stick with county water and sewer .
Rural living is not for everyone, but for us who are willing and able to handle our own water and wastewater its a very small price to pay for a very large return in quality of life and freedom to do what we want on our own property.
Rural living is not for everyone, but for us who are willing and able to handle our own water and wastewater its a very small price to pay for a very large return in quality of life and freedom to do what we want on our own property.
I admire that !
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