Help!! Septic problems, Part 2
BlankAnd the saga goes on .... (Quick recap: We have been getting huge amounts of rain here and our leach field has been under standing water for some time, resulting in very slow drainage from the toilet, bath tub, etc.) We finally caved and had the septic guy out today to empty the septic tank. It's a 1200 gal tank, and his truck holds 1500 ... and he ended up pumping out 1500 gallons because water was back-washing in from the leach field while he was pumping. So he filled up the truck and water was *still* gushing in from the leach field. I don't know if the leach field water finally filled up our septic tank again or not because he put the top back on and went his merry way. I am reluctant to take the top off and look, one, because my husband has a bad back and that is one heavy lid! and two, because I'm afraid we won't get it seated properly again. (BTW, he noted that there was very little sludge in the tank, probably because we had it pumped last May. What was there was almost all water.) So while he was working on it, he sucked the accumulated toilet tissue, etc out of the outflow line, and I flushed our toilet a few times, and that got that going okay. We had standing water in the bath tub and I asked him what to do about that, and he advised me to plunge it while he was there. Unfortunately, my husband has insisted for years that we didn't need a plunger (don't ask me why, I have never understood his reasoning about that!) so I didn't have one. I figured I would plunge it later and it would be okay. Well ... my DH bought a plunger on the way home tonight and tried to plunge the bath tub and the sink that has standing water in it, but it is NOT working. So how do we get the bath tub and sink to empty properly? I realize that the tank may be full of water again (sigh!), so that might be it. But I am also thinking that maybe there is a clog somewhere along the way, but I don't know enough about plumbing to know where that clog might be and what to do about it. Do we just need a more powerful plunger? DH bought the cheapest one they had, but now we are thinking that maybe the more expensive ones are more powerful or something. Or is it time to get out the snake? Or what? Any helpful ideas on this will be VERY gratefully received! Thanks!! Ann
Dale, we do have an air compressor, as a matter of fact. A very interesting idea ... I will run this idea by my husband. Tonight we managed, by dint of very vigorous plunging, to get the bathtub drain unclogged. (And there was joy in the land! :) However, the bathroom sink and the garage sink are still clogged up, so it remains an ongoing problem. A shot of compressed air sounds like a good possibility! As for fixing the leach field drainage issue, I talked with the septic guy when he came out and he gave me some pointers on how to regrade the land so that the leach field will drain. I want to plow up that field anyway this spring, so I think we will plow and regrade in one fell swoop. I am currently reading a book about landscape drainage and grading, but it seems to be no job for amateurs (more's the pity). So my next task is to find someone who really knows about landscape grading (who won't charge an arm and a leg) and get some really good advice about how to abate this problem. Bill --the whole septic system is only six years old and works like a champ when the field isn't two inches under standing water (i.e., in the winter), so I think I will try to exhaust other means of fixing this before I even contemplate replacing the whole leach field with a mound system or similar. (And besides, I don't know what mound systems cost in other places, but here in $$$ CA they start at $20,000!!!! So that is the LAST option on my list.) Laura -- as for the term "leach field," I grew up with a septic system but never thought much about it, so I really don't know what they call that area back in my native Texas. However, here in CA, you hear the term all the time. I think it is just a handy catch-all phrase to indicate the entire area where the laterals are. The county inspectors call it that too. Thanks everyone!! Ann
days,,aren't you tired of it? I think there is a little confusion here! Three different people have posted questions on this thread. I'm the first one -- the person with the (formerly) flooded septic leach field (thank goodness, it is sunny here and things seem to be drying out now; also my toilet and bathtub are behaving perfectly properly now). Unfortunately I do NOT have any relative who knows a darned thing about septic issues, or you can rest assured I would have gone to him/her first. :) Ann
Just wanted to report that we have finally resolved our drain problems -- thanks to this list and the good advice herein! I went to HD and rented a power auger snake and brought it home. DH said "what is that thing?" and I explained I had read about it here. We tried it out this morning and it cleared out the bathroom lav drain in about 5 minutes. Next time (if there is one, which hopefully will not be anytime soon, since we will be working on our drain field problems this summer) we'll try this option first! Thanks again, everyone! Ann