Drain failure- causes? Biomat?

[brando913]

I have a 1000 gal septic tank thats about 10 years old. I have it pumped about every 3 years. The info I got from the county says its a 150' chamber system. Problem: This past year its backed up a number of times, makes gurgling sounds, and I've had to pump it twice in the past 6 months. There havent been any obvious reasons for the drain failure. Septic Co says I need to add another 50' to the chamber. They didnt scope the line or anything...just said to add on to fix the problem.
Ive read about Biomat...Is this a possible issue? Are the commercial shock products (NT-Max, Biosafe-One, etc.) effective at all?
Any ideas on how to definitely trouble shoot the problem? Any knowledgeable suggestions or information would really be appreciated.

 

[ddocfletcher]

How many people is the system servicing? Can you say how many gallons of water per day you use? Per week? What area of the country are you in? Knowing these things is critical for me to tell you more than I can in this writing.

Additives which are put in the tank by the toilet or drains do nothing for your leeching field. This is because the field is comprised mostly of aerobic bacteria. Whereas the bacteria in the tank are anaerobic. The biomat layer is in your leeching field. It is a living layer of bacteria and very much needed. The effluent passes through it and the bacteria further purify the water. Then the water has it's final purification as is drains through the soils below. The thinker the biomat gets the more difficult for water to pass through until it gets so think it becomes impermeable.

I would check the outlet pipe of the tank. Make sure it lower than the inlet and not clogged. If your tank is cement Calcium can sometimes build up at the outlet and obstruct flow. Rarely, tanks have been put in backwards. This causes the outlet pipe to be higher than the inlet which will cause backups. There are a number of checks which should be done before adding on.


Where I live (Ct) adding on is not allowed unless there is no other option. The state requires the whole field be replaced, thus bringing it up to the latest code with regard to it's construction.

 

[brando913]

Ddocfletcher,

Thanks for the reply. Let me provide some more information. We live in Ga and have 4 people living here. The home is about 10 Years old and is a 4 bdrm/ 3 bath. All the homes in the neighborhood had the same 1000 gal tank with chamber type Drain lines installed. the tank is cement. I'm not sure of the gal usage but I do know it's gone up some the past 2 years. Seems like the washing machine is running daily.
I did have a running toilet for a number of months that I fixed last fall. I realize that probably had a lot to do with it but it's been 6 months since I replaced the parts. I would have thought that would have been enough time to dry out.
The last time I had it pumped (about 10 weeks ago) the septic guy put a rod thru the chamber about 75' down the line. He poked a hole in it and showed me where the rod was wet proving the drain chamber was backed up and not draining. I would think this means I either have a clog somewhere in the last 75' of drain line or the drain field/leech field.
I do know it's draining, just very slowly. Everything drains fine in the morning but after a day of usage by 4 people (showers, toilets, laundry, dishwasher) its starts to back up by end of day. Toilets are slow to flush or will not go down.
We were on vacation a few weeks ago and the system had a full week of no usage. It only took a couple of days of normal usage again to find the same slow drainage issue again.
Any suggestions on how I can further trouble shoot this?

 

[ddocfletcher]

How long do you plan to stay in the house?

Unfortunately I am no expert. However I would get a 2nd and even a 3rd opinion. Check the septic pros out to be sure they are reputable. If they can't find another reason for the backups you may indeed need the add on. Make sure you get a permit.

Start here... Take the inspection top off the out let side of the tank and look at the outlet. Tell me if the outlet has a vertical pipe attached or if it's just a pipe going out with no other pipe attached. Once I know that we can do a little test. Also see if you have some sort of filter on the outlet side of the tank. If you do it may be clogged.

See if your town allows dry wells for gray water. That's bath and laundry water. If they do divert that water to the dry well. You need to take the load of the field. In a perfect world one would let the field go fallow for 2 or more years so it can recover (the biomass dies and turns to dirt and everything drains almost as new) . Only folks that have 2 fields have that ability.