experience inquiry

[adrnmrnda]

Have been in our home for 5.5 years. Home built in 1974. during our time (5 yrs) we have experienced blockages in our septic lines, our clean-out line would over flow with water and solids. Purchased a septic snake and would punch the pipes to clear the blockage, our clean-out pipe would be clear and dry. Recently after many clean-out procedures the clean-out pipe has had water pushing out. question for the experience members. Previous backups would result in solid and water coming from clean-out pipe, currently only water coming out of clean-out pipe. Does this sound like the tank needs to be cleaned out or might there be a bigger problem, no wet spots in the yard. Please ask any questions regarding anything I might be overlooking. Thank you.

 

[Twowaxhack]

The outlet of the tank may be clogged or the drain field may be saturated.

One of the two or both.

 

[adrnmrnda]

thanks, informed questions to talk with plumbers about. What might be the best way to ask about these? are there tests, would a camera be appropriate or are these types of failure obvious after draining the tanks?

 

[MicEd69]

A tank outlet clog would be rather easy to determine. The drain field being saturated can be determined by performing a "percolation test". As the field is approaching 50 years old, that could very well be an issue.

I was involved in a court case where a seller indicated "a new drain field" had been installed on the house's septic system in the disclosure documents. The new home buyer had raw sewage in their backyard after only a few weeks in the home. The seller had pumped out the septic tank and only added a 50' single pipe run to the drain field. A percolation test revealed that the 60-year-old drain field had become saturated. The drain field was at the bottom of the sloping property, and the only solution was to provide a pump station to pump the septic system outflow to a new drain field located higher on the property. The buyer sued the two realtor companies involved in the sale, the previous owners, and the previous owners' realtor agent (who told the previous owners to basically lie on the disclosure document). The trial lasted 4 days, and just before deliberation began, the suits against all but the seller's realtor company were dropped. The jury ruled in favor of the buyer and awarded the buyer an amount of money where they could install the pumping station, a new drain field, and projected operating costs for 15 years. They also awarded them punitive damages which made their home purchase basically free. I'm not sure, but I think the seller's agent got fired.

 

[adrnmrnda]

Thanks for all of the input and knowledge.