Septic tank without drain field?

[egallo]

Florida house, circa 1979, not out in the sticks, in a neighbourhood with hundreds of other houses of similar age and presumably similar designs.

Last few years the tank has not seemed to drain well, tank itself has been checked and seems in great condition (no roots, holes, etc). Ok, so maybe the drain field is failing... I dig up the outlet side, the pipe goes down a foot or two, then... nothing. It doesn't connect to anything. It seems that around an inch under the pipe is a hard gravel layer.

I'm expecting this pipe to go to further pipes, or a distribution box that then goes to further pipes but so far I haven't found any other pipes (initial thought was I'd dug into the top of a distribution box that had failed, but no evidence of this).

Is the water really meant to drain into this gravel layer? And nothing else? I can't find any info on this kind of design. (Though until a few years back it _was_ working fine - with 3-4 years between pump outs).

 

[Twowaxhack]

It most likely has a drain field that’s been disconnected because it failed.

All that’s water under the bridge now.....

You need a perc test and a system designed based off that perc test.,

Get ready to spend between 5-10k

 

[Twowaxhack]

If city sewer is available without the use of pumps, I’d connect to city sewer.

In some locations if city sewer is available they will not issue any septic repair permits or septic permits. It’s required you connect to city sewer.

 

[egallo]

Yeah, no city sewer here. It's also never been disconnected under my watch I've been here 8 or so years and it's been fine until 2020 ish, so if it was disconnected it's been doing a good job for a while.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Yeah, no city sewer here. It's also never been disconnected under my watch I've been here 8 or so years and it's been fine until 2020 ish, so if it was disconnected it's been doing a good job for a while.

The house is 43 yrs old and you’ve been there 8.

I think it’s time for a new drain field.

Goodluck with it.

 

[Mardo]

If your system was working until recently, then the area of absorption, however small, was adequate to your needs. Unless your usage has changed, something went wrong with the absorbing ability of your field. You might be interested in the kind of device that changes an anaerobic system to an aerobic one.
One certainly worked for my sister's failing system (wet area and odor in the yard, backups in the basement). It is just a little airpump, and tiny airline into the tank (buried a few inches so the lawnmower doesn't eat it), and a couple of things that look like a big bottle brush in the tank. You can read about them here:
https://www.aero-stream.comThere are other manufacturers/suppliers, I assume. That's the brand I bought and put in (which is very easily done). It was effective within a few weeks. No more odor in her yard, no more backing up. It's been in use for over ten years. It was a $1000 gamble taken because she had been quoted tens of thousands for a septic system replacement.

 

[egallo]

Thanks for the replies both of you!