New to septic systems please help. (Garner: house, inspector, maintenance)

[98tib]

My wife and I recently moved to south raleigh (more towards Garner) and purchased our first home. it has well water - which we got used to fairly quickly - and a septic system that we are still trying to learn about and get used to. our land is about an acre in size and has a large slope downwards toward the house on the right side, we are looking to grade/level the land as flat as possible to make more use of the yard altogether. the problem i have is that the grader came today to take a look at what needs to be done and he siad it looks like the drain / leach field is some where ib the center of the side yard (this is solely based on the very green grass in one area of the yard - and according to him.)

now in my back yard i have the septic take and it has 3 covers, i popped all of them open to have a look inside and all look to be full? not sure if thats suppossed to be or not? andi was wondering is one of them was a drain tank? IDK.

would there be a drain field on a completely different end of the property than the septic itsself with lines running thru the whole yard and would the drain field actually be UPHILL like the grader thinks?

does anyone know where i can get actull copies of the layout of the system?


can someone educate me on this. i have searched here and thru the net trying to find my answer but keep hitting dead ends.

any and all help is greatly appriciated.

-Jason

[SunnyKayak]

The layout would be probably in the possesion of the prior owner or the installer possesion. YOu might need just a pump but sounds like your system needs to be pumped out or a new system all together.
I would have someone professional come out to look at it and pump out the system. It needs to be done relative every 3 to 5 years depending on the house hold.

DO NOT LET ANYONE drive over the field that the line lays it will damage it with the weight. YOu should by now unless you irrigate your yard have an outline of where the line lays due to the greener grass it will probably snake up and down your yard.
I have seen alarms installed on the pump with the actual bell part of the alarm installed inside the home and when the bell goes off it a warning to stop flushing and get someone out asap

For maintenance after this is fix read this thread very informative.
Dummies guide to septic tanks..

[sacredgrooves]

Wake County Dept. Of Health, ask for the "septic plat" This is the layout of your system including the fields.
I highly recommend getting a septic inspection/pumping as it gets very costly when the fields back up and solidify.

[VickiR]

CALL Wake County Permits...856-7400 and ask for the layout of your septic tank and fields. It usually takes them about 3 to 5 days to get it to you by fax. They do not charge for it.

As Sacredgrooves said, get the septic inspected. It would have been a good idea to do that before you purchased but better late than never. The inspector can tell you if the septic needs to be pumped. If you need the name of the guy that I use, let me know.

Vicki

[WeLuvNC]

Another thing that Mom told me years ago - not sure if this is true...but I have always 'babied' the septic field.

Which means, don't do laundry on the day that you have run the water a lot...and instead of 'laundry day', do a load of laundry every day - or only on days where folks aren't taking 6 showers or 3 baths...I was told the reason was to not overflow/stir up the holding tank and push 'solids' into the fields.

So, if I have company, I tend not to do loads of laundry, and I tend not to do laundry on the weekends when everyone is home and flushing. Over the 20+ years I have been on a septic (both in the Northeast and down here), I've never had a problem.

So...to those who have knowledge of septics...is this urban legend or was my Mom right? <grin>

[Janecj]

Septic tanks need to be pumped when solids reach 18" in depth. You can get a copy of the layout of the septic field through the Wake County as the OP stated.. depending on when your house was built. If your home is older, then you may not be able to get this.. but from what you describe (you say 3 lids) that sounds rather new to me. Septic fields can go uphill, but you would have to have a pump station - which you don't mention (a lid with a Red light on it). These type of systems must be watched and maintained so not to fail (the pump).

[98tib]

thanks guys. the house is only 7 years old and i had the septic tank inspected before we bought it and it was also pumped out 3 weeks before purchase. thats why i was kinda curious that all three tanks looked full, not sure if it should be that way.

i was just curious as to why "drain field" lines would run uphill? that makes no sense to me. kinda opposite of what should be, no?
nevermind about that, i guess i do have a pump station, well at least according to janecj, i do have one of those tanks with a red light next to it. is that one supposed to be full too? i know i keep saying full and all but its not overflowing or anything but no where near empty either.

as far as the layout i will call the health dept and see what they say, and the old owner was a complete a$$ and very spiteful old man, so even if he did have the layout he wouldn't give it to us anyway.

like i said i am looking to grade the land flat, is there anyway to move the drain field? is that an option or not worth doing? can i just lower it from its current depth to below the new grade?

anyone have any ideas on that?

[98tib]

so i just called the number vicki gave and that s was way easier than i thought 3-5 days and they will fax over the info i need. thanks!

now does anybody have an answer to my question about lowering the drain field.....?