Septic Field Treatment
 

My septic field (30+ years old) is starting to seep. I can accept the comment of "put in a new field", but I do have a little trouble with the price of $9000 or so. We put in a new Septic Tank c/w pump out to the field last summer because the dividing wall in the original one had failed, and we had been pumping everything out to the field for an unknown period of time.

I have searched on the internet and it seems that south of the 49th it is very common to treat the field with "enzymes" and "bacterial cultures" to eat the biomat created, thereby adding to septic field life.

My questions are:
1. Has anyone here tried a treatment?
2. What was it, and did it work?
3. Why shouldn't I try a treatment like this (for about $400) as a first step to see if I really need a new field?

Thanks;

Vic

A few years back I had a septic field (mound) put in. We used the existing tanks, just a new field and piping to it, the cost was around $11,00. So $9,000 for a new field doesn't sound bad. However I would be very interested in hearing how treatments work and if they extend the life for you.

I'm no expert but I've been told that throwing a dead cat in your tank does wonders for it. I've got a brown trout lagoon that I throw the odd coyote in to keep it going. I guess it works kind of like a stomach. I'd try to not use bleach as well because it kills the bacteria. You can buy septic starter that you flush down the toilet. I prefer cats because wife seems to think they are hoardable. I think the are expendable. Lol

I heard the same thing except use a chicken.

Heard of chicken as well. Don't know if feathers will break down. Hard to come by to. Cats are readily available able and it does everybody a favour. When I first bought my place the sewer lagoon would stink a little if wind and temperature were right. Since I've been been throwing a coyote a year and all the felines I can shoot without getting caught I've never had a problem.

septic field
 

You can purchase the enzymes from any hardware store. Septonic or Septo-bac. They are a powder and you simply pour it down the sink.

They are designed to keep the tank working properly, if you are having problems in the field you may have bigger problems than needing enzymes.

Last year mine started the same thing. I was told that it was just that the ground around there was saturated which made sense to me. I figured I could just put in a new field at big bucks.

I decided that first thing this year I will have the tanks pumped - hadn't done it for a few years. I don't know how long it will take for the tanks to fill again but it may be long enough for the field to dry a bit.

septic field
 

might be a little late to do what I did but I used to make home made beer. The yeast etc. that you get from making beer dumped into your system really make a septic system work . And then there is the fringe benefits

The guy that cleans out our tank, says that fish guts work the best.

I just went to a workshop about septic systems.
We were told (guy from AMA) that dead chicken/cat/fish doesn't work as well as septo-bac and all that stuff either.

Steps to do would be:
1.) get it pumped and checked. There should be 2 - 4 in of sludge on the bottom of the tank to be efficient. New tanks or tanks lacking sludge need a couple of years to build some.

2.) get your septic field checked. Dig and see how saturated the ground is. That might be a problem and there is not much they can do apart from redoing it or setting up a new one. Might be the water table being higher now than it was.

3.) check your usage vs system capacity. Older systems are too small for nowaday use. Especially with big bathtubs etc. (Hot tubs and pools should never drain into septic system.) If your demand i.e. amount of waste water is too much for the existing system, you would need to work on that. Equalizer tank, bigger tank, bigger field etc.

4.) check if your tank is still sealed. If rain water/snow can get it... not good. Reseal or replace.

That's what I learned :-)

When we have our tank pumped we have the truck back flush our field at the same time it opens all the perforations in the pipes that have been plugged over the years. You may have to phone around to see who does it.

Thanks for all you input. We went to a local plumbing shop that recommended a liquid bacteria-type product they had, to buy a case of 6-1.5L bottles, and put 2 in the 2nd compartment right away, and run water in the house to make sure it is pumped out to the field. Do the same thing a week later, and they the week after that.

We will also arrange to have some hand digging done by a local licensed installer to determine what condition the field is in, but that will have to wait for the snow to be gone and the ground somewhat thawed. I should know if the septic product worked by then.

Vic