A shitty job

[FlyingPenguin]

Toilets were starting to back up, and I know the septic tank was pumped 2 years ago, so I figured it was the filter. These tanks didn't used to have filters on the outlet to the drain field, but now they're required by law, and they usually clog up every few years.

I have riser hatches on my tank so it's easy to get in there and I've seen the septic guys pull the filter before, but the manhole was full of water to the top and I couldn't see the outlet or the filter.

So I had to jury rig a hook using a 1 x 2 with a screw in the end to act as a hook. Rooted around for a while until I managed to find the drain and hook the filter, and pull it out. Soon as I did, the tank drained down to normal, and yeah, the filter was totally clogged.

Well at least I saved myself a service call from the septic company.

That orange thing in the drain is the top of the filter. It just pulls straight up.



W

[Executioner]

Pretty smelly I would assume?

[FlyingPenguin]

Actually, no. If you've never opened a septic tank, you would be surprised that the smell isn't bad at all. The smell is in the solids, and they settle to the bottom. Now, if you stir that tank up - like when a septic company comes out to pump it - then yeah, the smell hits you like a wet blanket.

I also don't have a problem with that kind of smell. I'd probably have made a good septic tank technician in another life. I've had plumbers toss their cookies in front of me over smells that didn't faze me in the least.

I have more of a problem with not wanting to touch the water or get splashed when cleaning the filter. There's also a bit of paranoia about falling into the tank.

The septic tank techs apparently get over that part of it really early in their careers. Most of those guys couldn't care less if they get splashed. They're more concerned about warning me to back off because they don't want me to get hit with anything.

[reno]

glad we didn't have that filter in are old homes septic . it been a pain in the ass's .seeing are clean out with riser is under are rear deck . there we had wood Lattice that we unscrew and place to the side . then they come with a long hook and slide the cement lid off the riser and after sucking all the crap out reinstall it . it great when you see these guys standing by there truck and eat a bag lunch . first time we about loss are cookies when we see them do that.

[Pugsley]

Something is not right with my system. If we get alot of rain and the ground gets saturated the toilets in the house will back up... but strangely the water level in the bowl can reach the brim but you can run the tub and the water will go down... I don't understand how that's possible... but the way to get things working again is to pull the pipe 6" pipe out of the ground behind the house and partially submerge a sump pump and start pumping it out.

When I first moved in there was noting in the barn but a sump pump with about 5' of pipe and a T at the top that had a foot of pipe sticking out of each end and one end was just capped off and the other went to a hose. 2 years later I figured out what it was for and how to use it. What happens in the corn field behind the house sits higher than my property and there is a swale along one side of the property that when it rains hard will fill with water and flow out front to the ditch and go down hill. all that water goes right over my leach field and must back fill to the tank and over flows it to the point the toilets wont flush. Some times after a a few hours things go back to normal but if we have snow melt or its been raining for multiple days it will stay stopped up for days.

The only fix I can think of is to either fill the swale in and put in drainage... but that's a lot of dirt and shit... or move the septic to the front yard near the ditch. But for now I just live with it as the house is not in the best of shape an I don't want to put major money into anything as I plan to build a new one once prices come down and then remove the old one. Fix all the yard issues and everything all at one and probably create some unforeseen new ones.

[FlyingPenguin]

Yah, sounds like your drain field was not located properly.

[reno]

you said its a farm house wounder if your tub maybe hooked up to a leach field by its self and not your septic tank and field , the old owners may of set it up so it attached to a 55 gallon drum or 250 plus old oil tank someplace else on your property . seen it before when we lived in Michigan. they have a gray water tank and field .and then a septic tank for solids . its not legal but seen it. even seen guys run gray water to a ditch and then a septic tank and field . there know there no one near them and they get away with it for years. until lots are sold around them then for subdivisions or private homes . these new folks have city and county inspectors coming around and /or they report it .
fyi pugley my old home in michigan was built in 1935 and we bought it in about 1987 -or 1988 are field and septic was never touched other then having the tank empty about every 3 -4 years and it was a small 500 to 750 gallon tank . we did replace are well once around 2010 or 2012 when are 2 inch well gave out and had to have a 5 inch well drilled to meet code for the time .sucked to as it went out at Christmas week and we had no warning . it was fun trying to fine a well digger the week between Christmas and News Year . most of them go on vacation that time of year .
anyway the new owner of my home. still using the same septic and field today. we never used the stuff they advertise or sell in the store that clean your septic. we were always told they keep a bit of your old tank load in the tank to work on breaking down the crap your putting in it. may sound crazy but yogurt kind of the same way they use a small amount of a old batch . to make a new batch of yogurt

[reno]

one more tidbit -in my town up in Michigan it was semi rural . if they bring in city water and sewer down you road . you are force to attach to city sewer if your septic fails you have to hook up to city sewers and remove your old septic tank at that time . also your well can only be used irrigation and you have to pay for sewer along with every home owner on your street. it also had to payed off before you could sell your home . even if it taken out at the closing of the home . you can't pass the bill on to the new owner . glad they never did bring sewer and water into my sub . we had new owner every so many years look into getting it. plus they get the idea of wanting to pave are dirt roads . but they find the cost per home and drop the idea . it did help that we were a small community and are sub's design would of require the insulation of grinder pumps to get the waste up to the main line . we lived in a lake community and was only 3 road in it . we were also kind of a gully we sat below the main road but above the lake .

[Pugsley]

No its a prefab house... I refer to the 30x40 detached garage as a pole barn or just barn.

I have been under the house and all the plumbing goes to the same place which is why I don't understand how the toilets can back up but the shower still works... Maybe the water level is high enough in the pipe to cause a air lock on the toilets and not the shower.... but whatever it is it was not disclosed when I bought the place.

[FlyingPenguin]

Another example of a septic tank filter location. Had to clean this one today at a house we rent out. This tank pre-dates filters, but it had a new drain field installed around 7 years ago, and code requires a filter to be installed so in this case it's installed in a separate box connected between the tank and the drain field. Right now this one is just buried with a small concrete cover over it. To make it easier to access, I'm going to put an irrigation valve box over it.

[Losbot]

Looks like a lot of good, wholesome fun.