Septic Problems

[fishersofmen]

We started having some septic issues a few weeks ago. Started hearing gurgling in the drains and slow flushing of the toilet. The septic guys came out and found that the tank was full and not draining into the drain field. When they pumped the tank liquid started pouring from the drain field pipe back into the tank. They said the drain field may be froze up and also that we may be using too much water? We have a family of 5 and I don't feel like we are reckless with water consumption. Also we have lived here for a year and this is the first issue. They said it maybe took this long for the drain field to become over saturated or something. No 2 days ago the same thing happend and they had to pump the tank out again. They said other people have been having the same issue and are having to get their tanks pumped every 2 weeks or so. Anyone had this issue before? Could it be that it is froze up somewhere?

[BobT]

Could be. Is this a new system and if so, was it properly sized?

[WaveWacker]

More details needed. You state "drainfield" so I just want to clarify that it isn't a mound system. It also sounds like the treatment area (drainfield) is gravity fed. How old of a system? Given all the snow, freezing shouldn't be an issue but the tanks are full in a couple of days? How many tanks/size are they?

[fishersofmen]

We rent the house so not sure exactly what was installed but when we moved in the owner did say the septic was replaced a few years ago. What that means I'm not sure, will have to talk with him more about it.

WW yes it is gravity fed I believe and not a mound system. I think there is 1 tank and all I know is the septic guys are pumping out 1500 gallons so I would assume that is the approximate size of tank. They said the pipe from the house comes in at the top on one side and the exit pipe leading to the drain field sits a foot or 2 below that level on the other side of tank and is supposed to drain out. Was around 2 weeks when they were out last time until it filled up again. I think the average family of 5 uses around 5,000+ gallons of water a month so we must not be doing too bad.

[Ice Wolf]

Well here is what I know. When a house is built the size of the septic system is sized for how many people and or bed rooms that are in the house. So if your in a basic 3 bed room house and later someone built 2 more bed rooms Down stairs the septic system may be sized for 3 bedrooms. 5 people may be too many for this system. As far as it froze it happens and you can get it jet steamed or wait till spring thaw. Up north in tower where I have a cabin frozen septic system happen on years when there is a lack of snow cover in the first half of winter. For me this year for the first time my water line from my well pump to the house froze. Who would of thunk it?

[Tom7227]

How old is the house? Have you checked with the city to see if the system was replaced? If the system is 15+ years old it could be past it's useful life. Who is paying for the pumping? Seems to me that if you rent the place the problem belongs to the landlord. They have a duty to provide you with habitable conditions and this doesn't seem to fit. I might start looking for a new place if I were you as you can't put up with this until the ground thaws.

[PurpleFloyd]

A few things to look out for. If you have soil that has a high clay content the drainfield will not work as well as sandy or black soil will.You have to watch what gets flushed down the stool. If the wrong things get flushed down there(kids will be kids) then you can get blockages too. Also, as was said, if the usage is really high you just might have taken a while but are operating in excess of the system's capacity. They will only do so much in a certain period of time. Go over that amount and eventually you hit critical mass and you will not be able to get rid of everything that you are flushing down there.

There could also be a defect in workmanship. My in-laws ran into that problem and it was from the drain tiles getting crushed by something so they had to be replaced.

[fishersofmen]

The landlord is paying for the pumping fortunately. Was just wondering if there was anything I could do but it doesn't look like it. The most we can really do is be extra careful about water consumption but the tank will keep filling up regardless until the ground thaws or they have to dig things up and find a solution. On the one hand I feel bad for the owner but on the other hand there have been so many problems since we moved in I can't even keep track anymore. I have heard horror stories from landlords about renters but it goes the other way too. Even though we rent we treat the home as if its our own and left our last house in better shape than when we moved in. Every time there has been a problem here he sends over one of 3 handy men that do hack work on everything they touch. Initially he sent a handyman over for the septic issue and the guy said the drain vent was frozen on the roof and it would take care of itself lol.

[basslkjohn]

You didn't mention snow depth over the drainfield. It is critical that traffic over the drainfield is prohibited. A few years ago, a neighbor's kid and his friends ran snowmobiles over my drainfield area, compacted that snow and caused a partial freeze-up of my system.

[paceman]

Not much you can do until the drainfield thaws out. At least you are not paying for the tank pumping. Next fall it would help to leave the grass a little taller over the sysyem, perhaps pile leaves and straw over it as well...

[Musky Buck]

My dad has issues, he stated the issue is a screen in there when they put the new system in a few years back, will talk to him and get the official what's wrong but screen related for sure he said.

[WaveWacker]

The screen Musky Buck refers to is an effluent filter and they are installed for the most part as an option to the landowner. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that there isn't one installed with this system. If there is, it would be located on the outlet end of the tank and you would have to find the PVC riser (or actual manhole if there is one on the outlet end) to find it.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Is something always running that could be filling up your tank faster than normal? Like you said, glad it is not your bill

[harvey lee]

Sounds to me like the owner needs to send a qualified septic man out to diag the issue. Could be numerous issues.

I was lucky enough to have a well qualified septic guy that did my service work. If there was an issue, he figured it out the 1st trip evey time.