Dye for plumbing issues

[Fordguy1964]

Has anyone used dye to find plumbing leaks?

Issue I'm having is that the drain used for our sump pump was routed to the same drain as the washing machine and the utility sink in the basement. I know that my father did the work and was sometimes known for doing things "not quite up to code or up to snuff." I think there was discussion sometime in the past that he had buried 2 55 gallon plastic drums in the yard that were filled with gravel to use as a "filter" for the soap etc. The water went in the top of the first then out the bottom and into the bottom of the second and out the top of the second. The waste water then went out at a ground level drain that ran to a nearby ditch. Since dad was known to tell "stories" I am concerned with a number of things.

1.) The drain for the sump pumps ARE running slow which causes the water to come up out of a floor drain in the basement.
2.) The barrels, if they actually exist, may be the culprit and are backing up with the fats, solids, etc from the clothes washing process.
3.) The water if not going through the "barrel system" may be actually running to my septic system and backing it up. (Although I have not seen any evidence of this in any of the other system of the house.)

I would like to find out if my clothes washer is actually draining to the ditch and get this fixed if this is the case.

I would like to solve the slow draining floor/sump pump drain and allow for the high flow of water.

If I use a plumbing leak finder type dye how much of this is needed to show up? If I use this and the water IS going to my septic system will it ever "percolate to the surface in the yard if the system is working correctly or will I never see it?

The real solution is stopping the water from getting into the house in the first place but that is a next summer project because the ground is too saturated now to do anything about it but bail like a madman! The plan is for a drain tile to be installed around the entire upper portion of the house foundation.

Thanks. I look forward to your answers.

 

[Bondo]

I would like to find out if my clothes washer is actually draining to the ditch and get this fixed if this is the case.

Ayuh,.... Have ya found where the pipe daylights into the ditch,..??

If ya have no clue where the waters goin', usin' dye ain't gonna help,....

You'll never see what goes into the septic, unless ya pull the cover,....

 

[Badattitude]

When was the last time your septic was pumped? Might be worth doing if not done in the last few years or so.

Do you know where the septic tank clean out is? If so, open it and run the washer. You should hear free flowing water running when the washer is on the drain cycle.

If the ground is that saturated, the high water table may have exceeded those barrels ability to drain. As Bondo mentioned, you need to locate the drain for the barrels and be certain it's open to daylight and flowing water. It better be if the ground is as saturated as you said. If not, find out why and get it opened up asap.

One last comment: if your septic design has a buried leach filed, you better hope dye doesn't percolate to the surface. If it does, you have bigger problems than you think...meaning $$$

 

[Fordguy1964]

That is one thing I was afraid of. I'm not sure where the line daylights but I have an idea. With as much rain as we have been getting lately I can't be sure if the line I am looking at is a gutter drain or the washer/sump pump drain that he disguised as one. I would rather have it run correctly but can't afford to do it all in one shot. I am thinking that I don't want to make it obvious so that the city comes out and makes me fix it immediately. I can afford one bit at a time but all at once is a tough pill to swallow. I am grandfathered into keeping the old septic system because if I had to run to the city sewer I would have to install a pumping station. Everyone else on the street was hooked up. I don't want to have to go to that expense if I can avoid it.

 

[kbs2244]

A box or 2 of grocery store food dye dumped into an empty washing machine "small" load
will work

BTW, I would not worry about routing the washing machine to the septic
Millions around the country are done that way.
There is some argument on whether the soap helping keep the field clean offsets the extra water load.
But I have never seen a problem if the septic was installed to code.

 

[truckman5000]

a utillity sink pump is cheap. Why dont you pump it to you main drain, and cap the drain thats problematic.

 

[Fordguy1964]

The problems are many unfortunately. The area where the leak is happening is in an "addition" room that my father built. It is a concrete floor, cinder block walled and flat concrete roofed room. The top being a porch. The water that hits the top of the porch runs to the joint between the original cinder block back wall of the house and the joining cinder block wall of the new addition. Part of the water is running down between the 2 walls due to a failed caulk joint at the top deck surface and also unfortunately on the uphill side of the wall joint. This water is coming in along the foundation of the addition and seeping in at the base of the wall. If I cap this drain, the water that normally ran across the floor to the drain during heavy rains would now have nowhere to go. This is an unfinished room which was used for storage only (for obvious reasons) and I think as I said earlier the solution is to stop the water from getting into this area in the first place with foundation drains. With the wet ground right now though this is not possible until next summer. If the house didn't have so much sentimental value to me I would have never bought it when my father passed away. Even given the description of all of the problems of this house, it is hard to believe that this was still a step UP from the house I owned before this one. It does have problems but this is the worst of it.

 

[kbs2244]

You need to take care of the deck leaking.
Correct the slope with light weight concrete.