Septic System Problem

[sylvester436]

Hi everyone. Just wondering if anyone has any input.

I had a new septic field in a new house put in 4 years ago. Every year during our deep freeze in February, my septic field froze. I kept thinking it was the line going from the tank to the field that froze. But after having a company come out to thaw the front header and steam it, we found deeper issues.

The chambers are completely full of mud/clay and of course thats why its freezing up as the water has no where to go or be absorbed. The chambers are full of clay up to a few inches below the top.

Can anyone provide any input on why this happened?

Attached are photos of the install and then photos of the chambers full of mud and ice.

These are the pictures of the install:
Micon Septic - Google Photos

And these are the pictures of when we dug the chambers up:
Micon Septic Opened Up - Google Photos


As you can see, they are completely full of clay

 

[FishScreener]

The half pipe bays are typically installed over washed gravel, and the bottom of the half pipe sealed with geotextile felt to prevent fines for migrating back into the galleries. Looking at your construction photos I don’t see that it was done, and the fines have migrated up into your galleries.

You are chasing the horse after it has left the barn, but I would recommend you hire a Licensed Professional Engineer to examine your current system and develop a design based on the soils you have.

And if you are in cold country, you may need to be very careful about using antibacterial detergents.chlorine bleach and even the Oxy products. All of them can kill the bacteria in your system. And if you have high efficiency Natural Gas or LPG furnaces be sure the condensate lines are fgoing through the marble chips if the condensate is run to the waste system. The beneficial bacteria in aseptic system want a pretty neutral environment, with a pH between 6 and 7.5. if the acid from the condensate is sent to the waste system without being buff3red by the marble chips, it can kill off your bacteria and teh system will quit digesting the solids, and will then freeze up.

 

[JG plumbing]

That is nowhere near a type of leach field that I've built. In my opinion this was done severely incorrectly.

 

[SHEPLMBR]

That is nowhere near a type of leach field that I've built. In my opinion this was done severely incorrectly.

These type are popular in some areas out here.

 

[JG plumbing]

These type are popular in some areas out here.

Looks like it didn't work.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Improper installation most likely. Ground doesn’t look like it perc’s well either

 

[Zanne]

Did they put the end caps on the chambers? I had a similar installation and mine had two runs of Infiltrator systems chambers like that. No gravel or anything underneath (as perc test showed soil drained well enough without) and they had end caps. I don't see any end caps put on the chambers in your installation.