Conventional Septic issues, advice? (long read)

[Silvey]

Pump installed in second tank forces water out when at a certain level, through a check valve . No more problems.

[Kmiles84]

Are you in a rural area where you can get away with working outside of the rules a bit?

My system on the house I bought is complete garbage. Soil quality is way too poor for a conventional system and it def was not a pro install. Front yard was always flooded from coming out the clean out. I used to work in septic install and maintenance and said i can fix this problem. I ordered a $100 pump like goes in an aerobic system and dropped it in the last tank with a float switch. Dug lines for 2 sprinkler heads. Done. It works like a champ now. So basically I ghetto converted my conventional system to an aerobic. I'm not an expert on the matter but about the only difference in my ghetto system and a real aerobic is a compressor pump that supplies air into the tank to help grow bacteria to break down solid matter.

A healthy system pretty much never needs to be pumped. What kills a system is when your laundry and dish water go into the system. If you use a bunch of anti bacteria soaps, its killing the good bacteria in the tanks that is needed to break the poop down....i think.

You mentioned the water in the clean out being higher than the water in the tanks. That sounds like a clogged line before it dumps into the tank to me. Then you snaked it out. If it keeps happening, I'd assume you have a root or other obstruction that paper is hanging on and forming a dam.

Without a compressor you are basically discharging raw sewage and creating a health hazard so I would advise against that method, not to mention it could lead to citations from the health department.

[LeanMachine]

Without a compressor you are basically discharging raw sewage and creating a health hazard so I would advise against that method, not to mention it could lead to citations from the health department.

There he is. Theres the guy. Im not encouraging anyone to do anything. Im just letting folks know what will work....exactly like an aerobic. The "treated" waste coming out of an aerobic is a joke.

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[Kmiles84]

There he is. Theres the guy. Im not encouraging anyone to do anything. Im just letting folks know what will work....exactly like an aerobic. The "treated" waste coming out of an aerobic is a joke.

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What your talking about is no where close to an aerobic system

[merlin]

You need to do several things, as mentioned earlier: divert as much gray water off your system as you can, especially washing machine; install risers on the tanks and build up dirt to divert rain water away from them; build berm to divert rain water off your lateral line. Would be a good idea to dug up your leach line about 100 feet from tanks and inspect it

[warrington]

Just Thad the same problem at the ranch. Had to put in aerobic

[Palmetto]

Are you in a rural area where you can get away with working outside of the rules a bit?

My system on the house I bought is complete garbage. Soil quality is way too poor for a conventional system and it def was not a pro install. Front yard was always flooded from coming out the clean out. I used to work in septic install and maintenance and said i can fix this problem. I ordered a $100 pump like goes in an aerobic system and dropped it in the last tank with a float switch. Dug lines for 2 sprinkler heads. Done. It works like a champ now. So basically I ghetto converted my conventional system to an aerobic. I'm not an expert on the matter but about the only difference in my ghetto system and a real aerobic is a compressor pump that supplies air into the tank to help grow bacteria to break down solid matter.

A healthy system pretty much never needs to be pumped. What kills a system is when your laundry and dish water go into the system. If you use a bunch of anti bacteria soaps, its killing the good bacteria in the tanks that is needed to break the poop down....i think.

You mentioned the water in the clean out being higher than the water in the tanks. That sounds like a clogged line before it dumps into the tank to me. Then you snaked it out. If it keeps happening, I'd assume you have a root or other obstruction that paper is hanging on and forming a dam.

I had considered doing this on a system I had once, but I was going to put a simple chlorinator on my pump tank.

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[LeanMachine]

I had considered doing this on a system I had once, but I was going to put a simple chlorinator on my pump tank.

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Adding a chlorinator isnt a bad idea. A chlorinator is just a fancy way of saying a tube with chlorine tablets inside of it. As water exits the 2nd tank, it runs over the chlorine tabs as it enters the final tank. That's it. Im not sure a lot of magic is happening in that 1 second that each cup or so of water is in contact with the chlorine tabs. When i serviced systems i found that most homeowners didnt bother using the tabs. Why? Because there is no change in the quality of discharge. Its gonna smell like a septic tank when the sprinklers are on either way.

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[Kmiles84]

Adding a chlorinator isnt a bad idea. A chlorinator is just a fancy way of saying a tube with chlorine tablets inside of it. As water exits the 2nd tank, it runs over the chlorine tabs as it enters the final tank. That's it. Im not sure a lot of magic is happening in that 1 second that each cup or so of water is in contact with the chlorine tabs. When i serviced systems i found that most homeowners didnt bother using the tabs. Why? Because there is no change in the quality of discharge. Its gonna smell like a septic tank when the sprinklers are on either way.

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Chlorinators are only used as a disinfectant that accounts for 3% of the treatment process after wastewater leaves the ATU, something a conventional system does not have. All information can be found in Chapter 285 of the Texas Administrative Code.

[LeanMachine]

What your talking about is no where close to an aerobic system

What im talking about is almost identical minus a compressor and chlorinator. A compressor does not make dischage any "safer". It expedites the break down of any solid material that may enter the 2nd chamber/tank. The chlorinator exposes water to chlorine tabs for a split second as it exits the 2nd chamber and enters the 3rd. If by aerobic system you mean a system in which oxygenated bacteria is used to expedite the breakdown of solid waste, then yea what i described is not that. If by aerobic you mean the lay persons definition of what would be in a lateral line being, instead, dispersed by sprinkler heads....id argue that what im talking about is indeed similar.

There a people that are forced to live within set guidelines. I get that 100%.

There are also people who are not. There are also people who are like well i have a problem here. My front yard is a swamp with turds in it. I believe i can come up with a solution. Proposed solution is deployed and does indeed solve the problem with zero new problems created as a product. Then that person who has been relieved of siad problem may desire to share the potential solution with others regardless of what the internet police might think.

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[Kmiles84]

What im talking about is almost identical minus a compressor and chlorinator. A compressor does not make dischage any "safer". It expedites the break down of any solid material that may enter the 2nd chamber/tank. The chlorinator exposes water to chlorine tabs for a split second as it exits the 2nd chamber and enters the 3rd. If by aerobic system you mean a system in which oxygenated bacteria is used to expedite the breakdown of solid waste, then yea what i described is not that. If by aerobic you mean the lay persons definition of what would be in a lateral line being, instead, dispersed by sprinkler heads....id argue that what im talking about is indeed similar.

There a people that are forced to live within set guidelines. I get that 100%.

There are also people who are not. There are also people who are like well i have a problem here. My front yard is a swamp with turds in it. I believe i can come up with a solution. Proposed solution is deployed and does indeed solve the problem with zero new problems created as a product. Then that person who has been relieved of siad problem may desire to share the potential solution with others regardless of what the internet police might think.

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The compressor does make it safer as it creates the aerobic bacteria that treats and breaks down the wastewater at a must faster rate than the anaerobic bacteria in a conventional septic tank.

[armadillophil]

Had same issues last spring on my lakehouse. It was really wet and I thought it was drain field. Turns out I had belly in line right outside house. Camera was only thing that found it. Fixed and no problems since. I would scope it

[friscopaint]

The compressor does make it safer as it creates the aerobic bacteria that treats and breaks down the wastewater at a must faster rate than the anaerobic bacteria in a conventional septic tank.

So......air pumped into system makes **** water in my pasture safer yet my horses can dump in the creek or right next to it headed straight to a lake......sounds reasonable

[friscopaint]

Add air pump to solids tank, pump with float switch from harbor freight to second tank pump wherever you want problem solved

[scotth89]

Add air pump to solids tank, pump with float switch from harbor freight to second tank pump wherever you want problem solved

Bingo. Done deal as stated earlier in the thread. By all means add a chlorine at some point if it makes you feel better. It’s not rocket science.