Septic Issues

I'm new to the forum. Sorry for the long winded first post.

I had a house built 3 years ago on a 10 acre lot. Unfortunately, in an attempt to save a few bucks my builder did not build my house up high enough and I am now paying the price.

Due to the elevation of my house they were forced to put my septic field in a low area of my property. If my house would have been raised up 12" or so then the septic field could have went in another area less prone to saturated soil.

Any time the soil is saturated, mainly in the spring and fall I have problems with my septic system. The field gets saturated so my septic tank gets overwhelmed and it then clogs the filter and I have to "fish" out the filter and clean it.

The builder knew that the area for the septic field was low because the county required him to put a curtain drain around the perimeter of the field to carry off excess water. It obviously is not adequate.

I've been in contact with the person that installed the septic system and he came out and dug a 500' swale to help redirect surface water from the field. This cost less than $1000, but the builder should have addressed this. It proved to be somewhat effective as I no longer have standing water around the field except for a couple of hours after a heavy 1.5"+ downpour.

This still is not enough, however, as I still find myself having to clean the septic filter at least monthly in the spring and fall. I talked to the installer again and he told me the next time that it clogs he wants to come out and check things out. I think he wants to just make sure that I'm not abusing my septic system, which I most definitely am not. I am overly cautious and try to minimize water usage during wet times.

He suggested installing a less restrictive filter which is obviously just a bandaid for a bigger problem.

I know I am going to need to lawyer up to get anywhere with this and I'm not looking for legal advice, I was just wondering if anyone has dealt with a similar issue and what the outcome was.

Thanks.

1st: The filter is on the outlet pipe of the septic tank. The amount of cleaning has nothing to do with the drainfield.
2nd: If you have an area that can use for the drainfield, but at a higher elevation. You can put in a pump chamber & pump it up.
3rd: Good luck suing the builder.Just take the money you would pay the lawyer & get a pump chamber & new drainfield installed.

Thanks for the response. What I think is happening is whenever the field is saturated and cannot take any additional liquid, any waste that is produced in the house cannot flow out to the field so it just overflows in the tank and then clogs the filter.

If the tank is sized properly, and the inlet & outlet are installed properly, solids will settle out, and grease will coagulate and float to the top, during the journey from the inlet to the outlet.

MD410 said:

Good luck suing the builder.Just take the money you would pay the lawyer & get a pump chamber & new drainfield installed.

Click to expand...

Now, that's sound advice. Ask me how I know ...($$$)...

phishfood said:

If the tank is sized properly, and the inlet & outlet are installed properly, solids will settle out, and grease will coagulate and float to the top, during the journey from the inlet to the outlet.

Click to expand...

But...

If the drain field is completely saturated and causes slow drain of the tank to the DB, solids can float longer/higher (or their level is higher) causing the constant fouling of the effluent filter, correct?

The problem is in the drain field, not the tank or install (still to be proven).

Luckily, the raised tank level has caused no backflow into the house...

GCLL said:

I had a house built 3 years ago on a 10 acre lot. Unfortunately, in an attempt to save a few bucks my builder did not build my house up high enough and I am now paying the price.

Due to the elevation of my house they were forced to put my septic field in a low area of my property. If my house would have been raised up 12" or so then the septic field could have went in another area less prone to saturated soil.

Any time the soil is saturated, mainly in the spring and fall I have problems with my septic system. The field gets saturated so my septic tank gets overwhelmed and it then clogs the filter and I have to "fish" out the filter and clean it.

The builder knew that the area for the septic field was low because the county required him to put a curtain drain around the perimeter of the field to carry off excess water. It obviously is not adequate.

I've been in contact with the person that installed the septic system and he came out and dug a 500' swale to help redirect surface water from the field. This cost less than $1000, but the builder should have addressed this. It proved to be somewhat effective as I no longer have standing water around the field except for a couple of hours after a heavy 1.5"+ downpour.

This still is not enough, however, as I still find myself having to clean the septic filter at least monthly in the spring and fall. I talked to the installer again and he told me the next time that it clogs he wants to come out and check things out. I think he wants to just make sure that I'm not abusing my septic system, which I most definitely am not. I am overly cautious and try to minimize water usage during wet times.

He suggested installing a less restrictive filter which is obviously just a bandaid for a bigger problem.

I know I am going to need to lawyer up to get anywhere with this and I'm not looking for legal advice, I was just wondering if anyone has dealt with a similar issue and what the outcome was.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

This is interesting.

When the permit(s) were applied for, the permit dept had to know the drain field(s) was too low (I would think) (did it perc properly?) or was an amendment made to the original plans to move the originally intended DF to another area w or wo permit approval?

IMO (as if it meant anything), the builder should be held accountable as well as the installer as the installer should have realized the leach field would be located in such an area, also possibly requiring relocation and possibly requiring a pump.

If you call out the AHJ health inspector, his call may be not be who's at fault but the need for immediate correction ($$$).

Well I think we are on the same page now on what the issue really is. I did call the county shortly after I started having problems and according to the inspector all codes were met and it did pass the perc test. My installer actually has a very good reputation in my area so it is very possible that things were never really "inspected" and instead were just signed off on.

Even when things do meet minimum code that doesn't necessarily mean that it's right or going to work as it should. I had another issue with freezing pipes that were run in a exterior wall. In order to meet code they had to build a double wall. It obviously didn't work and I ended up having to surface mount the plumbing in my laundry room to avoid freezing.

You see my builder and my septic installer both have good reputations, but things definitely got screwed up here.

GCLL said:

Even when things do meet minimum code that doesn't necessarily mean that it's right or going to work as it should.

You see my builder and my septic installer both have good reputations, but things definitely got screwed up here.

Click to expand...

It happens more than you think, and you are not alone.

GOOD LUCK with it...

MD410 said:

1st: The filter is on the outlet pipe of the septic tank. The amount of cleaning has nothing to do with the drainfield.
2nd: If you have an area that can use for the drainfield, but at a higher elevation. You can put in a pump chamber & pump it up.
3rd: Good luck suing the builder.Just take the money you would pay the lawyer & get a pump chamber & new drainfield installed.

Click to expand...

we pump the a water from the tank up hill all the time.

if you need to install a drain field at a different elevation you can

the water will not run back into your tank because a ck valve is installed

....................

Thank you for the pictures. I'll keep you guys posted on this.