Septic issue

[Whiskeymike]

Happy Easter!

As with most good holidays it seems, something around the house decides to break, just to ensure it interrupts family time and relaxation. House is 21 years old, we are second owner for last 8 years, has septic, and never have had issues beyond clogs inside.

This morning, daughter noticed puddle outside home next to large pipe, thankfully she told me. I went out to look and it’s a septic access point, maybe 3-4 inch PVC. The cap which has the square screw off lid, had come off the pipe. There was a slow flow of water coming from the pipe, some toilet paper with it. I grabbed the cap and looked inside and there are no signs of pvc glue, which is odd to me, not sure if that’s normal. I pushed the cap over the pipe and pushed it on. The pressure of the water hasn’t pushed it off in about two hours, and we are still flushing toilets, etc…

A couple questions -

1. Could this be coincidence, or does this mean my tank needs to be pumped? It was pumped when we bought the house, but not since. Other issue causing this? Should I glue the cap on later?

2. I’m guessing 4-8 gallons of water/sewage leaked around pipe. Is there something I should treat this with to disinfect or reduce issues? I’ve disposed of the paper that came out.

Thanks helping with the off topic issue. If anyone has suggestions on where to get help on home maintenance issues, would gladly take suggestions.

Mike

 

[Whiskeymike]

Here’s a pic of the cap/pipe.

 

[Toolfool]

Call a septic company ASAP. Stop flushing toilets, running water. Happened to us last week. Pumping cost me $550, Repairs to an improperly designed system with a malfunctioning float
plus risers so we don't have to dig it up next pump-out, $1500 more.

 

[loganb]

8 years since pumping...yup likely full. As mentioned get the septic company called and limit the water usage immediately as if it backs up into the house you have a much larger mess on your hands.

Sent from The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[niget2002]

I'm a recent owner of a sceptic system, but was told to expect to have it pumped every 3 to 4 years. I'd say you're past due.

Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk

 

[matt_i]

I'm guessing that the cap is between house and tank due to the appearance of TP.

Easy thing to do would be to schedule a pumpout for the tank. Then you could inspect the condition of the tank, and give time for the drainfield to "rest". While the access ports are open you can flush toilets (etc) to visualize the flow. Potentially snakes and or cameras could be used at that point as well.

If there was no glue on a PVC flange its possible that it pushed off over time and that's all you are facing.

 

[eacmen]

The county we live in has an emvironmental fund that will pay you like $300 every three years to have your tank pumped. Check with your county to see if they have a similar program.

Pump it every three years. If you have alot of people living with you maybe every 2 years.

 

[Bubba Fett]

It needs to be pumped asap. Call a few places and see who has the best price, and who can do it sooner. Septic tanks need to be pumped every 3-5 years, depending on the size and number of people making deposits.

Some tips:

Do not flush disposable wipes, even if they say they are flushable and septic-friendly. They will not dissolve, and will clog the system. Septic service companies also charge more if they have to deal with a lot of them in the tank (guess how I know). Also make sure your toilet paper is septic-safe. This generally means thinner ply and not as soft, but that's how it goes.

Treat the septic system from time to time. Rid-ex is the most common option, but Roebic has a few options for septic system maintenance, drain field maintenance, etc. I think their products are better. Just follow the directions on the package. They are basically bacteria and enzymes which break down the solids and deal with nasty stuff. It's more expensive, but way cheaper than repairing/replacing a septic system.

One more thing: Do not drive vehicles over the septic leach field. Especially if the ground is wet from rain. You really don't want to spend $10,000 replacing that.

I have been dealing with my own septic issues, but mainly from excessive rain, which flowed backwards from the leech field into the tank. I am working on a French drain system and a sump pump to alleviate the rainwater in my yard. By keeping it dry, I can keep the septic system flowing in the right direction.

 

[yeldogt]

Sometimes the cap is not glued -- often with friction it's tight and you can still screw off the cover. They do this in case it needs to be adjusted after the ground settles or you need to add dirt. Easier to add subtract pipe.

Obviously .... you had enough water pressure to pop the top so to speak. As others have said ... you should have had this looked at prior to this. Now you have a fully flooded tank -- you may be lucky and the outlet filter is clogged and not allowing enough water flow out as you are putting in. This would be if that pipe is between the house and tank.

If it's after the tank ... you have bigger problems. that would indicate field problems. the field not able to now take the flow from the tank -- house.

You need to get the tank pumped. If this port is before the thank they will inspect the filter ... they will also pump all the chambers if it has more then one. If it's the other side -- they will still pump everything. But, will require more inspections to see what is up in the field.

Personally -- I would never add anything

 

[pcmeiners]

I'm a recent owner of a sceptic system, but was told to expect to have it pumped every 3 to 4 years. I'd say you're past due.

Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk

Agree with the time frame, way beyond the usual

 

[jkeyser14]

8 years? You should be pumping every 2-3 depending on the size of the tank. Hopefully you didn't kill your drain field by flooding it with solids.

 

[CJ7VFR]

Has there been any change to the ground around/near the leaching field, such as a big truck running over it, or some type of trees or other items planted in the area? Have you done any digging in that area?

How about the pump that pumps the water/sewage from the tank to the leaching field? Is it still working properly?

A septic system should not just fill up to the top with water/sewage, and start spilling that water/sewage out of the leaching field pipes unless there is some type of problem that is causing the system not to be able to pump the waste water/sewage out to the field so it can be absorbed into the ground, or if the leaching field pipes have become clogged or damaged.

Depending on the size of the tank, and the number of people in the house, the amount of years you need to go to have the tank pumped can vary by years. Most of the time what gets pumped out of the tank during the septic companies visit to your house are any solids that do not break down over the course of the natural cycle of the system. And that is usually what is left over in the first tank/stage of the process.

As others have said, get in touch with a septic company, perhaps the one you had to use to inspect the system as part of your home inspection when you were buying the house, and get them out there to check the whole system.

You have issues that need attention now, and not later. The next step that can happen if you leave this go is that the sewage will start to back up into the house, and then your really in trouble!!

Jim

 

[Showkey]

Ha

How about the pump that pumps the water/sewage from the tank to the leaching field? Is it still working properly?

Jim

There are many variables in the OP situation most depending on the system design and setup. As Jim mentioned could be as simple as the effluent pump failed ( if used) ......that fix is about $1000-$1500 plus pumping fees in most areas. If its gravity flow system things will get more complicated quickly.

My effluent pump failed after 23 years......$700 for the new pump install and $250 for the pump. Mine did not flood the main tank, the high water alarm rang in the second tank.

The pump guy said do not expect to get 23 years of service on the new pump. They do not build them like that any more........it was 1/3 HP weighed 80# and draws 12 amps.

As mentioned in another thread our area has mandatory tank pumping every 3 years at about $250.

 

[Sumboodie]

I did 5 years on mine and it could have gone a bit further.

I measure sludge levels with a Sludge Judge.

 

[Toolfool]

Every last one of the septic installers I used in WA was against adding treatments to the system. They said these treatments will kill off the natural bacteria the system was designed to work with (human waste). Once you start adding treatments, you might be permanently committed to adding them on a regular basis.

 

[SARG]

Or could it be the time of year and high water levels.

 

[Wrench97]

Probably not glued on by design, I'd rather have the cap pop off then the lowest point inside the house flood.

Have you had a lot of rain in recent days?

 

[CombatNinja]

A properly functioning septic system can go the life of the tank without being pumped. I have been in my house 14 years and never once pumped it. Zero issues. All these people saying it has to get pumped at intervals are not treating the system properly: too much food into the disposal, too many harsh chemicals down the drains, too much toilet paper, too many 'female products', baby wipes flushed regularly, etc.

That said, I think you have an issue if you have toilet paper coming out of your cleanout. I have spoken to several septic pump truck drivers and they said the surest indicator of how often a septic system needs pumped is the number of women of "child-bearing age" living in the house. Take that for what you will.

 

[johninct]

Is that cleanout between the house and tank or past the tank? Do you have a pump system? Throw the garbage disposal away. NEVER flush any wipes, etc. and use only septic safe toilet paper.

 

[jkeyser14]

A properly functioning septic system can go the life of the tank without being pumped. I have been in my house 14 years and never once pumped it. Zero issues. All these people saying it has to get pumped at intervals are not treating the system properly: too much food into the disposal, too many harsh chemicals down the drains, too much toilet paper, too many 'female products', baby wipes flushed regularly, etc.

That said, I think you have an issue if you have toilet paper coming out of your cleanout. I have spoken to several septic pump truck drivers and they said the surest indicator of how often a septic system needs pumped is the number of women of "child-bearing age" living in the house. Take that for what you will.

That's just not true. What do you think happens to the solids in your waste? They just dissappear? The bacteria makes them vanish? Because you are cheap and don't want to spend $200 to pump your tank every few years you will eventually be hit with a $10k+ plus septic repair.

 

[TheOtherChris]

A properly functioning septic system can go the life of the tank without being pumped. I have been in my house 14 years and never once pumped it. Zero issues. All these people saying it has to get pumped at intervals are not treating the system properly: too much food into the disposal, too many harsh chemicals down the drains, too much toilet paper, too many 'female products', baby wipes flushed regularly, etc.

This has been my experience as well.
Over the last 30 years I have lived in houses with simple septic systems (no pumps, floats or other electric devices). I have also gotten to know a couple of pumper truck owners.

Lived in the previous house for 20 years. Once I had the inadequate drainfield replaced it ran smooth. Sold it 15 years after that and had it pumped then for the new owner. It STILL looked good and hadn't been touched in all that time.
When I moved into my current house (with septic sewer installed in late 70's I called the local pumper guy to take a look. He said the levels looked very good then pumped it out and sprayed it down. Tank is oversize for the size of the home and said "If you feel the need you can call me in five years and I will take another look to see how it does for my family."

Not flushing, grinding inorganic material makes a HUGE difference.

However I have no experience with those new fangled 'engineered' systems.

 

[walta]

I had similar symptoms with my 4 year old system, it turns out my county requires new system to have a filter that should be cleaned every 6 months. It seems unlikely on a system as old as yours.

Are you in a position to afford to but in a new system?


Walta

 

[TheOtherChris]

A properly functioning septic system can go the life of the tank without being pumped. I have been in my house 14 years and never once pumped it. Zero issues. All these people saying it has to get pumped at intervals are not treating the system properly: too much food into the disposal, too many harsh chemicals down the drains, too much toilet paper, too many 'female products', baby wipes flushed regularly, etc.

This has been my experience as well.
Over the last 30 years I have lived in houses with simple septic systems (no pumps, floats or other electric devices). I have also gotten to know a couple of pumper truck owners.

Lived in the previous house for 20 years. Once I had the inadequate drainfield replaced it ran smooth. Sold it 15 years after that and had it pumped then for the new owner. It STILL looked good and hadn't been touched in all that time.
When I moved into my current house (with septic sewer installed in late 70's I called the local pumper guy to take a look. He said the levels looked very good then pumped it out and sprayed it down. Tank is oversize for the size of the home and said "If you feel the need you can call me in five years and I will take another look to see how it does for my family."

Not flushing, grinding inorganic material makes a HUGE difference.

However I have no experience with those new fangled 'engineered' systems.

 

[HoosierMark]

My tank has a filter in the tank before the effluent goes to the distribution box and on to the leach lines. It needs to be cleaned every couple of years. I simply bounce it on the ground to shake the small particles out of it or I could wash it with water. One of the things I did when installing the septic tank was to use plastic risers to allow access to both sides of the tank easily. I would suggest you consider this when you are solving your problem. Not expensive and access is simple by removing about ten screws per lid.

 

[Jinks]

A properly functioning septic system can go the life of the tank without being pumped. I have been in my house 14 years and never once pumped it. Zero issues. All these people saying it has to get pumped at intervals are not treating the system properly: too much food into the disposal, too many harsh chemicals down the drains, too much toilet paper, too many 'female products', baby wipes flushed regularly, etc.

That said, I think you have an issue if you have toilet paper coming out of your cleanout. I have spoken to several septic pump truck drivers and they said the surest indicator of how often a septic system needs pumped is the number of women of "child-bearing age" living in the house. Take that for what you will.

I've lived with septic systems for over 40 years. Two tanks the first time, a cottage with a small tank, & our current home with two tanks at first, but replaced with a large single tank 15 years ago during a complete remodel of the house. In all that time I've had to have one tank pumped in the first house. That was caused by a tree service dropping a big chunk of tree on the outflow pipe. It couldn't be repaired until the tank was pumped. There was 3 to 4" of sludge in the bottom of that tank after about 15 years of use, not a big deal.

When we first moved into a house with septic I decided to find out how to use them. The simple rule is "nothing goes into the septic that didn't go through one of us first". No "female products", no ground up anything! All that goes in trash baskets & out with the garbage.

I helped a friend do the inspection on a house he was buying down the street. When we went for the inspection the seller was forcing banana peels, orange peels, & apple cores down the garbage disposal. My friend & I just looked at each other & shrugged. We both knew he would have to have the septic serviced. When he had it serviced after buying the house it took the tanker all day to loosen & pump the sludge in the tank. We were all amazed he didn't loose the drain field.......

 

[CombatNinja]

I kind of view people who think that all septic systems need to be pumped at regular intervals the same way some people think cars just "break" after around 100,000 miles. All part of our 'disposable' consumer culture. Everything is made with plastic and has planned obsolescence built in. You need a new cell phone every 2 years, why not get your septic system pumped just as often? I have an 'old' system at 30 years with no fancy pumps or filters or alarms or electronic anything. Works fine for me. That said, the neighborhood is at that age where a great many systems are starting to get replaced due to poor usage practices.

 

[RADcustom]

Whiskeymike,

Check all of your toilets to make sure one isn't leaking at the internal seal. Just because you can't hear water running doesn't mean it isn't. You can put food coloring in the tank and see if it ends up in the bowl without flushing. It might take a bit for it to show up, be patient.

Having it pumped out is cheap insurance. Better to know for sure there is no problem than to find out too late that there is.

I'm in the "no additive" camp. Save that money and set it aside and have it pumped when you have enough.

 

[niget2002]

Meh.

I look at having the tank pumped every few years like changing the oil in the car. It might not need it, but what does it hurt?

 

[58Yeoman]

My parents had a septic tank installed in the mid 50's, with six of us living there. She had never had it pumped once in all the time she lived there until she died in '74. I've lived here with only two of us for over 12 years, and have never had it pumped. YMMV.

 

[larry_g]

Put me in the camp with no regular pumping. I've lived 65+ years in houses with septic tanks and now care for a couple of properties with septic. I can only remember a few times having tanks pumped. Three of those were to replace failed steel tanks that rusted through. Like one said above, only body waste and washing water go into the tank. All kitchen waste goes to the chickens. Chicken waste goes to the compost pile, compost goes to the garden and flower beds. Eggs go to family or the food bank.

Our little circle of life.


lg
no neat sig line

 

[volleyball]

It is impossible for any of to know how often you should pump. So many variables. One thing I do know is don't glue the cap. There should not be enough pressure in a working system to blow it off.
When people on on a sewer, they don't worry about what goes down, it is someone else's problem. When it is septic it is yours.
You can pump it every year or you can be mindful and do things that will extend the period between pumping.
Things you cannot easily change is tank size and probably how may are living there.
Things more easily changed are how much and what you flush.
Condoms don't break down so trash or get a vasectomy. No baby wipes down there either and getting snipped will solve that problem in the future. How much toilet paper do you buy? You know where it goes so you may be overloading that way. Or even high water usage will not allow stuff to break down before it is pushed through.
Leach field repair is far more expensive.
If you got a disposer, best to remove it.
If you have a germaphobe then you suggest they cut back on chemicals or resolve yourself to pump. These cleaners kill the stuff feasting on your ****, literally.
I go 10 years and each time I am told I could have gone a lot longer. But my system is 3' down to the tank and I dig it out and I may be getting old enough that I won't easily be able to do it so I will just let it go as it won't be my problem then.

 

[nicholsmf]

A properly functioning septic system can go the life of the tank without being pumped. I have been in my house 14 years and never once pumped it. Zero issues. All these people saying it has to get pumped at intervals are not treating the system properly: too much food into the disposal, too many harsh chemicals down the drains, too much toilet paper, too many 'female products', baby wipes flushed regularly, etc.

That said, I think you have an issue if you have toilet paper coming out of your cleanout. I have spoken to several septic pump truck drivers and they said the surest indicator of how often a septic system needs pumped is the number of women of "child-bearing age" living in the house. Take that for what you will.

I agree with this. My dad's septic tank is 45 years old and has never been pumped.

 

[steve308]

Because people (Like me) didn't have our tanks pumped when we should our county now requires proof of service every 5 years. I didn't have an issue but when the septic company opened the service lid it was a flush or two away from floating the top off!. A couple of months after the pump out we had an earthquake that fractured my distribution box causing a couple of the lines to be overwhelmed and fail. Cost 6 grand to fix and ruined 50% of my Zoysia lawn.

 

[volleyball]

Is it septic? I don't know when septics came into play. In different parts of the country it would have varied.
And now a lot of places won't accept what we know as a standard septic system

 

[CombatNinja]

A couple of months after the pump out we had an earthquake that fractured my distribution box causing a couple of the lines to be overwhelmed and fail.

Earthquake? Soviet Socialist Republic of California?

 

[volleyball]

I agree with this. My dad's septic tank is 45 years old and has never been pumped.

Is it a true septic system?
They can go that long but at that age it probably isn't

 

[Dustball]

Is it septic? I don't know when septics came into play. In different parts of the country it would have varied.
And now a lot of places won't accept what we know as a standard septic system

Is it a true septic system?
They can go that long but at that age it probably isn't

A 40 year old septic system would have been installed in 1981. Septic systems have been installed wayyyy before 1981.

 

[MongoTA]

Septic tanks are typically located no closer than 25' from the house. My experience in the states I've lived in. If that PVC pipe is closer to your house than 25', or if you know the location of your tank and that PVC pipe is between the tank and the house, That's a good indication that the outflow on your tank is clogged.

That's a good thing, because the alternative is that the PVC pipe is at the end of one of the runs in your leaching field. If water (and toilet paper as you saw) is flowing out of that, then raw effluent can be overflowing the tank's internal baffles and your leaching field may have failed. That's a very bad thing.

All remedies start with having the tank pumped. Do be careful, if the tank is indeed full and you dig out to gain access to the tank's ports, depending on effluent level, when the lids are moved then effluent water may gush out.

Do use safety measures when inspecting the tank. Our town's sanitarian got knocked out 4, maybe 5 years ago, when he stuck his head inside a pumping port to try to get a visual on a filter. The homeowner dragged him away for fresh air.

 

[PelicanPines]

Ours is 16 yrs old... uhm... 17. We get it pumped every 5 years... my guy laughs because there is hardly anything to pump out. We don't flush anything that's not supposed to be flushed.

We all eat a lot of fiber.

We do dump a ridex in every 6 months... Many say don't... but it works for me and I'm often told I'm full of **** sooo...

If I saw what you saw... I would panic my septic guy to come over ASAP and pump my tank. Your field might be clogged.

 

[tdkkart]

That's just not true. What do you think happens to the solids in your waste? They just dissappear? The bacteria makes them vanish? Because you are cheap and don't want to spend $200 to pump your tank every few years you will eventually be hit with a $10k+ plus septic repair.

IF your septic is working correctly and isn't over loaded with the wrong materials the bacteria consumes the solids in the tank, and if the baffles are not damaged only liquid will go out to your field.

When we bought our place in 2008 we made the seller pump the septic, just to have it looked at to be sure it was working OK, they and the septic service both said it had not been pumped since new, in 1976, 32 years.
We've now been there 12-1/2 years and it's still working fine.

My parents had a new tank installed(old metal tank rotted, but was still working, just after I graduated high school in 1983. Hasn't been pumped since.