Leach Field on hillside leaking out of surface. - Diesel Forum

Larry S. · 03-20-2009, 11:58 PM

This is the same house and location as my other post but a different issue. The house and septic tank are located at the high end of the lot. The house is a walkout basement type and the hill drops steeply behind it. It appears that the septic leach field was built on the steep slope below the septic tank. Septic outflow is leaking out of the surface on the hillside where I think the leach field is located. It is becoming a stinky mess on what is supposed to be part of their yard/lawn. They feel the leach field is too close to the surface and want to add dirt to make it deeper. I don't like the idea of a leach field on a steep hillside but definitely don't want to rebuild it. What are the chances of solving the problem with a truckload or two of fill dirt? BTW: They are second owner's of the house. The first owner built it himself and lived in it about 3 years.

checkthisout · 03-21-2009, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larry S.

This is the same house and location as my other post but a different issue. The house and septic tank are located at the high end of the lot. The house is a walkout basement type and the hill drops steeply behind it. It appears that the septic leach field was built on the steep slope below the septic tank. Septic outflow is leaking out of the surface on the hillside where I think the leach field is located. It is becoming a stinky mess on what is supposed to be part of their yard/lawn. They feel the leach field is too close to the surface and want to add dirt to make it deeper. I don't like the idea of a leach field on a steep hillside but definitely don't want to rebuild it. What are the chances of solving the problem with a truckload or two of fill dirt? BTW: They are second owner's of the house. The first owner built it himself and lived in it about 3 years.

The system has failed and requires replacement. Most likely a mound system in some other part of the yard.The system isn't too shallow. The problem is that the water isn't going down into the ground because the system is either overused or has simply failed due to poor soil conditions, algae growth or whatever. I have seen people try to "fix" the problem by adding fill and it's nothing more than a waste of time and money.

Fill will be needed to overtop the old system after you install a new one so you might as well wait until after it's replaced to bring in dirt.

MarkEkberg · 03-21-2009, 09:20 AM

As stated above it nees to be replaced.

Going to cost you about 10K. Maybe more.

amunderdog · 03-21-2009, 09:51 AM

What they said.

OT · 03-21-2009, 05:37 PM

Larry...you may know..anyone look down inside septic tank..is it full or ? But, some Q&A are needed..was the septic system inspected/passed by county, including any perc test requirement? What size is tank? You need expert opinions, not mine. Meantime..leech field has failed, hence Q&A.

btw..if on well water, hopefully it dosent get contaminated.

Larry S. · 03-21-2009, 10:18 PM

I don't know the answers to your questions but the county they live in does require permits and does inspections. Don't know how strict they are. I will be heading out to work on their place in a couple weeks and will check things out. The water well is a long way from the septic system but Virginia apparently is much more lax on sealing the well than Colorado. My well in Colorado was required to have 60 feet of steel casing sealed for the full length. It appears the well in Virginia has PVC casing to the surface.

Larry S. · 03-21-2009, 10:24 PM

A question. Just how do you build a leach field on a steep slope? I would expect the water would flow to the lowest end and over flow. All leach fields I've seen have been flat and nearly level. I suspect this leach field never worked.

Redneck_Steve · 03-21-2009, 10:42 PM

There are a couple things you can check before writing the whole field off. Dig up the distribution box and make sure all the laterals are getting fluid in equal amounts. If the box wasn't installed properly it's possible that one line has saturated without the rest of the field working. You can also check that sludge hasn't clogged the outlets creating the same condition. As a last ditch effort, you can also add enzymes such as Rid-X that might consume some of the sludge that is clogging the field, this is assuming it was constructed properly in the first place. It doesn't always work, but sometimes it does and is a lot cheaper than replacement.

checkthisout · 03-22-2009, 06:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larry S.

A question. Just how do you build a leach field on a steep slope? I would expect the water would flow to the lowest end and over flow. All leach fields I've seen have been flat and nearly level. I suspect this leach field never worked.

They work fine as long as proper soil sampling is done and of course the system works as designed.

Septic systems can and do fail for a variety of reasons. Older pressure distribution systems would have holes that would plug and lead to uneven distribution of the wastewater in the field. An inlet baffle in the tank could have come off because some puetz didn't glue it to the waste pipe, the system may have never been pumped, the system may have been overused, the system might be undersized. You name it.

I should have stated earlier, I would have a pro come out and look at it. It's possible only one leg has failed. They will be able to reccomend the necessary repairs or replacement for probably around $400.00 bucks.

Get the advice of a pro and don't take the word of us internet know-it-alls.

All I know is that effluent coming to the surface is nasty and unsafe.

I am in the process of getting a building permit and had to have my system inspected and the as-built remapped and a reserve area made up. The system is 31 years old and still working great! The effluent still doesn't reach the end of any of the legs and the drain rock is still "clean".

bilbo · 03-22-2009, 10:59 AM

any hillside that is a natural slope can have a LEVEL, with required drop considered, leech field on it, given the material is adequate for trenching.
The field does NOT go downhill with the slope....it goes LATERALLY to the slope.
A bench may have to be cut to allow the trenching by a backhoe, et al.
LATERAL trenching can result in a perfectly installed leech line.
Done it many times.

Redneck_Steve · 03-22-2009, 12:06 PM

To expand a little on what bilbo added, and this is just so you can understand a little how they work, not to explain how to build one, laterals can be at different grades, but must run laterally at near level to distribute the waste water evenly. Each lateral run should have a containment berm to hold the water from that lateral within itself. The water is distributed to the laterals through a series of distribution boxes, each one leveled up so that the water runs to the lateral and to the next distribution box simultaneously. If properly installed, each lateral should receive equal amounts of water. They can be installed into a hillside, and the hill will look terraced afterward.

I should have added in my first post that covering the leak will only hide it, not solve the problem that caused it in the first place. Septic systems are designed to allow a certain amount of evaporation as well as percolation and covering the filed with additional material will slow the evaporation process.

Quote:

Originally Posted by checkthisout

Get the advice of a pro and don't take the word of us internet know-it-alls.

Not for nothing, but the whole point of these message boards is to bring people together to exchange information. Members can be from all walks of life, tradesmen, professionals and what have you. In this case we all have a common interest in Ford diesels, but as you know other topics come up all the time.

I've installed and repaired systems for nearly 30 years, I don't know if that makes me an expert or not, but I have a pretty good understanding of how systems work and am more than willing to share this with someone in need just as many others here have helped me with problems with my trucks. There are a few simple things a handyman can check before having to throw in the towel and spend the big bucks.

bilbo · 03-22-2009, 02:38 PM

God, Guns & Guts made America free

God Bless you, REDNECK!!!

Larry S. · 03-22-2009, 11:06 PM

A little more info. The septic system is at present 7 years old. When my daughter and son-in-law bought the house it was three years old and the seller said that there was some seepage from the leach field and all it needed was a little more material on the surface. The slope where the leak is occurring has no evidence of terracing and it is quite steep. I really suspect it was improperly installed and somehow was slipped past the inspector. When I get there I will do a search for plans or drawings of the system. I would hope the county sanitation department has record of the installation. At this point we have no documentation to find the distribution box(s) or leach field lines. We do know where the septic tank is located since it has a pipe for pumping. If I can find the documentation we should be in a good position to bring in a pro to assess the system.

Redneck_Steve · 03-23-2009, 02:10 AM

In my County, that property would never have been allowed to change hands in that condition. Before a bank will hand out a mortgage they inspect the home and throw dye in the toilet, then search the field a few days later for evidence of the dye. A faulty system would result in no mortgage allowance.

Any chance you can post photos of the field? I'd like to see what you're describing.

checkthisout · 03-23-2009, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larry S.

A little more info. The septic system is at present 7 years old. When my daughter and son-in-law bought the house it was three years old and the seller said that there was some seepage from the leach field and all it needed was a little more material on the surface. The slope where the leak is occurring has no evidence of terracing and it is quite steep. I really suspect it was improperly installed and somehow was slipped past the inspector. When I get there I will do a search for plans or drawings of the system. I would hope the county sanitation department has record of the installation. At this point we have no documentation to find the distribution box(s) or leach field lines. We do know where the septic tank is located since it has a pipe for pumping. If I can find the documentation we should be in a good position to bring in a pro to assess the system.

The county should have the as-built drawing on file with to scale drawings of the location of each component and leg and it's distance from the structure.

My 31 year old system had this but it was simply a hand-drawn "rough" sketch although it was pretty close.

The Septic-Designer that had to map the reserve area, dug up the distribution box and fed a metal wire down each leg and then used a locate to find the wire and sketch out it's location on the surface which they then used a rather expensive surveying device to map out. The county I am from are NAZIs about septic systems but I know the benefits of them being that way.