New home build

Ok so we recently started building a new home here in Minnesota. And we are putting in a septic with drain field. But the problem is that we got so much freaking rain this year it just won't dry out enough for them to start digging in the drain field. They got the septic tanks in, and I can say fairly confidently that it has a 1500gallon tank(believe it's baffled in the center). And a second tank 1000 or 1500gallon as a second tank(it's large as my wife runs an in home day care and that's alot of toilet flushes in a day).

But my question is we are running out of time to get a drain field in as winter is coming and we will have to wait till it dries out... And they informed us that we will has we will have to pump it until they get it in(now I think we shouldn't have to pay but that's a different problem) So I know it depends on usage but how often will we have to pump the tanks with out a drain field for the water in the tanks to drain out?

not understanding. if your soils is not able to perc the rain water that naturally falls on it

what makes you think it will perc rain water and sewage.. has a perc test bee done ?

if your ground is just wet on top. but dry under neith install the system

is your plumber one of those real clean freaks that does not want to get his ice cream shoes muddy ?

They are telling me that it is to wet to get in. I assume that means it won't pass a perc test to get put in. We love in an area where the soil just doesn't drain and dry well it's alot of clay and just had soil. But it passed the counties tests back in July and was approved for the drain field.

Keep in mind we are In the south eastern area of Minnesota and I feel like we have gotten like 5 inches of ran a week for the past 3 months...

There are always alternative systems. But they are very tempermental and you have to be careful not to let certain things go into your drains. One is the puraflo system which uses Bordnamona peatmoss system. check it out. But they are price. There are also drip systems.

What I don't understand is why it was approved to put a mound in by the county. But now the contractor is saying it's to wet to put in.?.?

The contractor is most likely concerned about his equipment getting bogged down in the wet soil. Install now may cause more damage than waiting for the area to dry.

Is drainage correct or is it just a freak amount of rain? If the field is not graded properly, it will not drain properly during heavy rain/snow fall. It may have perked OK when the rainfall was not so heavy.

It may be a blessing as if the leach-field was installed and then you found that the slope/drainage of the field was not correct, you would be in a world of sh!at (pun intended).

The system wouldn't be approved if they haven't done a perc test yet. I don't know how they do things exactly in Minnesota, but that's one of the first things that should be done when planning a new system. The type of soil you have, along with lot size and other factors determines what size and kind of system can go in.

With over 2000 gallons of treatment you'll need a lot of lateral line, especially in clay soil. I think they just don't want to bring in heavy machinery and dig in wet clay. They might get stuck, would probably be miserable, and the shrink and swell of the clay may throw off some measurements or something. Unfortunately clay can hold more water than any other soil type and it also takes the longest to drain and dry.

If you ask, they should be able to tell you the gallons per day of waste from your home they estimated for sizing the system. With that you could estimate more or less how many gallons would go into the system per day and how long it would take to fill up 2500-3000 gallons.

I was informed by someone that they do not want to install on wet clay. Because then it will never dry as it will be statrated forever being it's under the drain field. Which doesn't make sense because isn't it going to get wet anyways being under the drain field?

Have they installed the drainfield yet or are you still waiting?

Yes, it will get wet under the drainfield. At least it should if everything is working properly!

I reread through the posts here and got some clarity on the situation that I guess I had overlooked before.

Mound systems have the lateral lines elevated above grade, with a couple feet of good soil added below the lines. (Do an image search for mound system to see cross-sectional diagrams.) This new soil has the right amount of permeability so the water doesn't drain too fast or too slow. In your case, it will help the water drain faster from the lines until it hits the clay, preventing the lines from flooding and backing up. Mound systems are also dosed, which means the effluent is pumped to the drainfield in timed doses. This allows a specified amount of water to drain at specific time intervals which helps the clay soil from becoming overloaded and giving it time to drain some before the next dose. The new soil below the lines also provides additional storage space for the water and would allow the water to flow laterally as well, increasing the drainage area beyond the area of the lateral lines to some extent.

And then I realized you're in Minnesota, so wouldn't a mound system freeze in the winter? I have no experience with septic systems in places with seasonal freezing, so I don't know if that would be an issue but frozen soil doesn't drain too well