Drain backing up

[foszoe]

Problem with the pressure washer deal if already plugged is that extra water has to go somewhere.

yep. Mine were slow to drain very slow. I just pulsed at it a little at a time.

 

[indyblue]

There should also be a grease trap/junction box just before the septic tank. It could be plugged with hardened grease.

 

[foszoe]

There should also be a grease trap/junction box just before the septic tank. It could be plugged with hardened grease.

Could be. On my house, the grease trap is on the kitchen side of things not on the bathroom side of things.

 

[sapper83]

Man i went through this shortly after moving in here. Don't know if it is your situation but here is what i went through.

This was first time having a septic so i learned alot. Open the tank lid if you can and see the level of water if it is full have it pumped ASAP! Before pumping it find the distribution box and dig it up looking to see if it is full of water too, if it is then the feild has failed. Oh check the baffles on the tank and the effluent filter which is after the tank before dbox.

Our feild had failed, Don't worry it can be fixed!!! I had air pumped into the ground kinda like fracking and it opened up draining again. I had the lines back jetted and treated with a 5 gallon bucket of sodium precarbonate and enzymes which eats the biomat that clogs the field. We haven't had an issue since.

All said and done, it was a less then 2k when so many companies just wanted to replace the field at 15k to 30k! I use roebic now to treat the field.

If need help troubleshooting message me.

 

[Nugget]

There should also be a grease trap/junction box just before the septic tank. It could be plugged with hardened grease.

Was gonna mention this same thing. Depending on age, local regulations, and installer, there's a chance your septic has a filter or trap between the tank and the field or the tank and the dozing tank. Learned that when they came to clean ours out the first time. No one ever told me I should check the filter periodically and hose off the grease. Live and learn (but always the hard way).

 

[sapper83]

Look to see if it's full. Decide the next step when you know.

Bingo! First step is look in the tank! If its not full thats probably a plug and an easy fix!

 

[sapper83]

Was gonna mention this same thing. Depending on age, local regulations, and installer, there's a chance your septic has a filter or trap between the tank and the field or the tank and the dozing tank. Learned that when they came to clean ours out the first time. No one ever told me I should check the filter periodically and hose off the grease. Live and learn (but always the hard way).

The technical term is effluent filter or trap if googling it. They should be cleaned every 6 months to a year at the longest according to the massive research I have done. Lol

 

[Nugget]

The technical term is effluent filter or trap if googling it. They should be cleaned every 6 months to a year at the longest according to the massive research I have done. Lol

Yeah, 6 - 12 mos was what the septic guy said as well. Ours hadn't been done in the first 9 yrs after we built the place.

 

[indyblue]

I’ve never cleaned mine, but I make sure that I never put grease down my drain.

 

[Brandon]

Yup. And a strong stomach.

Alot easier to deal with my own than someone elses.

 

[Creedmoor]

Man i went through this shortly after moving in here. Don't know if it is your situation but here is what i went through.

This wad first time having a septic so i learned alot. Open the tank lid if you can and see the level of water if it is full have it pumped ASAP! Before pumping it find the distribution box and dig it up looking to see if it is full of water too, if it is then the feild has failed. Oh check the baffles on the tank and the effluent filter which is after the tank before dbox.

Our feild had failed, Don't worry it can be fixed!!! I had air pumped into the ground kinda like fracking and it opened up draining again. I had the lines back jetted and treated with a 5 gallon bucket of sodium precarbonate and enzymes which eats the biomat that clogs the field. We haven't had an issue since.

All said and done, it was a less then 2k when so many companies just wanted to replace the field at 15k to 30k! I use roebic now to treat the field.

If need help troubleshooting message me.

With what I have seen in my life, when a septic tank is Full one can see, feel or smell waste water pooling around the tank,or fields. Because normally the home plumbing is above the tank and fields and the liquid will drain down.
And full is relative, the tank has to be almost full for waste water to be able to exit the tank to distribution and then into the drains heading to the fields.

 

[Rookie]

Pull the cover on the tank. If the tank is not full, the problem is before the tank. If the tank is full, pull the trap. If it starts draining relatively quickly, your trap needs cleaned. If it doesn't start draining, the problem is in your finger system.

As creedmoor pointed out, full is relative.

 

[firecadet613]

5 years since the last pump and most aren't recommended getting it pumped?

How often should it need pumped out?

 

[91FXRS]

When you have sewer (main line) problems, and you are on septic you always start with the tank and go from there. Lots of good advice already given, thats just my

 

[foszoe]

5 years since the last pump and most aren't recommended getting it pumped?

How often should it need pumped out?

Really people dependent. I don't know when the last owner did it. I got it done just because I hear to get it done. Had lived here 8 years. Nice thing is mine didn't have a riser, now it does. There's only 2 of us.

I was told mine was fine and with 2 of us would proably never need pumped, but if I wanted to be "safe" maybe every 7 ytears.

 

[Cameramonkey]

5 years since the last pump and most aren't recommended getting it pumped?

How often should it need pumped out?

It depends. Depends on how much you send in, how healthy the bacteria is, etc.

And if you have a garbage disposal, God help you. LOL

Case in point our church was built in 1976. Its septic has never been pumped because the load is so light.

We actually have no idea where it is because its cover is underground because back then code didnt specify the cover had to be at the surface.

 

[firecadet613]

Thanks. The sellers pumped ours when we bought the place two years ago, but we were only here on the weekends for the first year.

We have a separate liquid tank then a pump takes it up to the field. It's a 25 year old system, which I was thinking of getting pumped next year just to establish a baseline and get it checked out again.

For as cheap as it is @Brandon, I'd pump it. All this rain surely isn't helping your field out though.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

Sometimes there is a cleanout on the sewage line outside the house that’s buried a few inches. Might be worth it to poke around the ground where your pipe exits the crawl space.

 

[Creedmoor]

It depends. Depends on how much you send in, how healthy the bacteria is, etc.

And if you have a garbage disposal, God help you. LOL

Case in point our church was built in 1976. Its septic has never been pumped because the load is so light.

We actually have no idea where it is because its cover is underground because back then code didnt specify the cover had to be at the surface.

At my weekend place when I installed septic for the cabin I used two plastic 55 gallon drums and just went strait to two 30? yard fields. its now been almost 30 years now.
But like your church. light use and I've never had it pumped.

Sometimes a tank location "close anyway" will be on the survey plat. Using a dirt probe after a good rain helps to find it.
You can also open up a clean out and shove in a metal fish tape to the edge of the tank and using a wire tracker find it easily.

 

[Cameramonkey]

At my weekend place when I installed septic for the cabin I used two plastic 55 gallon drums and just went strait to two 30? yard fields. its now been almost 30 years now.
But like your church. light use and I've never had it pumped.

Sometimes a tank location "close anyway" will be on the survey plat. Using a dirt probe after a good rain helps to find it.
You can also open up a clean out and shove in a metal fish tape to the edge of the tank and using a wire tracker find it easily.

I have access to a high end utility locator that will receive signals from a flushable sonde. If we decide to actually figure out where its at, I can buy a sonde for $35, flush it, and within minutes, locate the pit.