Overflowing Distribution Box...Brand New system

[Krollmarketing]

Hi folks,
Just had a new gravity fed chambered leach field installed. Effluent is pumped up/over to a distribution box that then gravity feeds four lines. All was fine until the installer installed flow levelers to even out the effluent flow to the field. Now whenever the pump pushes water into the d box the d box overflows and floods the lawn. Installer wants to install a ball valve on inflow line to slow the flow from the pump to the d box. I'm worried this " solution" is really a cop out fix for a too small d box and will stress out the pump and shorten its life. What is the best solution to the d box overflow problem?
Thanks

 

[frodo]

call these people up and talk to them about flow control as opposed to flow equalizer

 

[KULTULZ]

...call these people up and talk to them about flow control as opposed to flow equalizer

Can you post a reference?

 

[frodo]

my link disapeared. wth. call the po po...i been link jacked!!!!

officer, i last saw the link yesterday a 2 pm. it was blue writing, i believe the font size was 12 might have been 14

depends is i had glasses on or not. picture? no sir, I have no picture of the link. but if you could brush the donut crumbs off of your laptop

we could pull it up again.

A report!!! no no,,,I dont want a report! I want you to find my link!!!!!

The mayor? what does you not finding my link have to do with the mayor? oh!! THAT mayor. ok I understand. But, just for a week

Then you find my damn link!!!!!!

 

[KULTULZ]

my link disapeared. wth. call the po po...i been link jacked!!!!

officer, i last saw the link yesterday a 2 pm. it was blue writing, i believe the font size was 12 might have been 14

depends is i had glasses on or not. picture? no sir, I have no picture of the link. but if you could brush the donut crumbs off of your laptop

we could pull it up again.

A report!!! no no,,,I dont want a report! I want you to find my link!!!!!

The mayor? what does you not finding my link have to do with the mayor? oh!! THAT mayor. ok I understand. But, just for a week

Then you find my damn link!!!!!!

...ok...

Any chance of your re-posting the link?

 

[frodo]

http://septicsolutions.com/DistributionBoxes/DistributionBoxes.html



, found the link.

 

[KULTULZ]

Just had a new gravity fed chambered leach field installed. Effluent is pumped up/over to a distribution box that then gravity feeds four lines.

All was fine until the installer installed flow levelers to even out the effluent flow to the field. Now whenever the pump pushes water into the d box the d box overflows and floods the lawn.

Installer wants to install a ball valve on inflow line to slow the flow from the pump to the d box. I'm worried this " solution" is really a cop out fix for a too small d box and will stress out the pump and shorten its life. What is the best solution to the d box overflow problem?

I hate to barge in on this thread but I am on a learning curve concerning septic.

The flow levelers are adjustable for desired flow, did he do this?

call these people up and talk to them about flow control as opposed to flow equalizer

, found the link.

Polylok Flow Controller

Is this the product you are referring to or another?

THANX for the link...

 

[frodo]

I hate to barge in on this thread but I am on a learning curve concerning septic.

The flow levelers are adjustable for desired flow, did he do this?

thats true, depends on which one they used, there are 3 types i am aware of

leveler
equalizer
controler

the leveler, is non adjustable, the other 2 are
the op said he installed levelers. .dont know for sure
i am thinking the plumber installed the cheapest of the 3 choices,
and now is trying to sell them a different one

thats why i wanted them to go to a site and get educated on their system.

if it was my system, i would want the controler

i also would not pay them extra to install it.
your contract calls for a complete system does it not?
if the tank is overflowing, it is not complete or working.
making it that way is his responsibility.. imo

 

[Krollmarketing]

Hey guys, the installer put the adjustable flow balances/levelers inside the D box to make sure all 4 effluent lines were getting equal outflow. Those essentially reduce a 3 inch outflow pipe down to 1.75 inches which highly reduces the rate of water flowing out of the D box, hence the overflow of the D box IMO. I'm wondering if the D box is simply too small and should be replaced? The contractor wants to put a simple ball valve on the inflow pipe before the D box, slowing the flow of water to the box. I'm concerned doing so would put stress on the effluent pump in the pump chamber shortening it's life. As an aside, the top of the D box is only a few inches from grade ....should it have been deeper and would that help with the overflow issue?

 

[Krollmarketing]

Btw, not sure how the flow controller would work since I only have one place for the water to go...to the D box. Sort of seems like a ball valve serves the same purpose.

 

[KULTULZ]

It MAY be that the equalizers are not adjusted properly and not allowing the effluent to enter the tubes at a fast enough pace to prevent a backup, especially if the flow rate was correct before the equalizer(s) install.

Here is a tech article which may help you understand the system operation better-

http://inspectapedia.com/septic/Septic_D-Box.php

http://inspectapedia.com/septic/Septic_D-Box_Splitters.php

It did me. Hopefully a more knowledgeable person other than myself will give more information.

 

[Krollmarketing]

Thx K, I have read those articles and they are very good. I suspect my pump is filling the D box faster than it outflow. The 400+ feet of leach field are brand new so I doubt it's filling up. I don't know if one can source line levelers with bigger openings to improve outflow, or if installing a ball valve on the inflow line before the d box is a good idea either. Hoping someone with more experience can ring in on those ideas.
Thx

 

[KULTULZ]

Below is another tech article (ad actually) explaining how to adjust the flow equalizers-

http://www.tuf-tite.com/speedleveler.pdf

I had a tank backup and it turned out to be a blocked dist box caused mainly by the installer not installing an effluent filter. The repair tech then adjusted these after cleaning out the box while I watched and also installed a flow restriction on the box inlet to allow the affluent to access all of the drain tubes w/o overloading/overflowing one or two.

If the box did not overflow before the restrictions installation, it seems to me that they may possibly be causing the flow restriction.

Hope this helps...

 

[Krollmarketing]

Thx, I will recheck the levelers, and see if they are really needed at all. Any thoughts on if use ball valve is a good idea and it's effect on the pump?

 

[KULTULZ]

Thx, I will recheck the levelers, and see if they are really needed at all.

Any thoughts on if use ball valve is a good idea and it's effect on the pump?

I would think the levelers are needed as they will distribute the effluent equally (if adjusted properly) to all drain lines.

Here is another TECH ARTICLE- http://inspectapedia.com/septic/Septic_D-Box_Flooding.php

I don't know if install of a simple ball valve on the feed line will help and/or hinder. It seems (to me) the valve should be accessible through a riser to make needed flow adjustments. The resultant back pressure on the pump would have to be gauged (I would think) and compared to the manufacturers' specs.

I cannot find the flow control system as frodo suggested but it seems to me that a flow control device would be available to vary flow and pressure (with the additional possibility of a depth sensor in the D-BOX) to the D-BOX as needed.

I am not a qualified technician but am interested in learning and the outcome of your problem.

ADDITIONAL INFO-

Excerpt from above page- Worst case scenario.

You could convert to a more-easily sealed D-box but I don't think that's the problem. I suspect that the D-box is too small AND that with the small size, the effluent (it's not graywater) is not being accepted into the drainfield rapidly-enough. The result is the pump is filling the D-box faster than its outflow rate, causing backup and odor complaints.

A much larger D-box, sufficient to receive and then drain by gravity into the drainfields the whole pump cycle volume would be one approach that may tempt you but I don't recommend it.

Rather, you need to look at the inflow capacity of the drainfield - it may be that the drainfield is under-sized, or worse, that it is poorly designed / installed and is flooding, or possibly the line balancing openings in the D-box that balance flow into different drainfield lines are too small.

In sum, if you watch the D-box when the effluent pump cycles you'll probably see that around 125 gallons of effluent are surging into the D-box and overflowing it because the in-flow rate is faster than the outflow rate.

If the D-box overflows only at the very end of the pump cycle you could see if your pumping system rate can be adjusted to send effluent to the D-box more slowly.

 

[MD410]

There is nothing wrong with adding a ball valve to reduce the volume of effluent entering the D-box.
We do it all the time.
Just put the ball valve in the pump chamber that way it is accessible.
Since, your system is already installed I assume that is where they are going to put it.

 

[KULTULZ]

This is a correction to my previous post-

I had a tank backup and it turned out to be a blocked dist box caused mainly by the installer not installing an effluent filter. The repair tech then adjusted these (individual flow limiters) after cleaning out the box while I watched and also installed a flow restriction on the box inlet to allow the affluent to access all of the drain tubes w/o overloading/overflowing one or two.

That statement should read-

...installed a flow diverter (a ninety degree elbow) directly at the incoming line at the D-BOX to slow the effluent entry speed and not allowing the force of the flow to go directly across the D-BOX resulting in just one drain line receiving an abundance of flow while starving the others...

Hope that made sense...

My system is gravity fed and yours having an effluent pump, may need having the flow rate restricted somewhat.

The D-BOX posted below is not mine but an example of how the effluent could overload the field drains without/improperly adjusted levelers and/or no flow diverter. Also notice the lack of a gasket on the incoming line...

The poster mentioning a possibly damaged line @ the deck makes a good point.

 

[Hockiologist]

make holes larger on levelers