Thanks for any input you may have!!
Gariee
COMMUNITY FORUM
Hello. I am a new homeowner, 1974 house, with a septic system in my backyard. Drained when I moved in, but i have seen and smelled somethings over the winter and summer that have me perplexed. In the winter (new england) we had a rough winter and lots of freezing, deep thaw lines, etc... so any ran that came in between snow basically just ran right across the top of the snow and ice. When this happened my front yard smelled like a restroom (looked like I was getting water running in my front yard from my neighbors back yard , they also have septic)Could I be getting run off/overflow from their full tank? Could their leech(spelling?) filed run into or be under some of my front yard? Oddly enough that side of my front yard is constantly moist and wet, it does have alot of shade, but even a week of warm , dry weather, that part of the yard stays wet and moist (and my septic is in my back yard no where near this wet area?)
Maybe you have more than 1 tank,or a drainfield someplace you are unaware of.
How far away does your neighbor live?I'd highly doubt that if theirs was full it would do this,they would need a whole (excuse the pun) **** load of flushing and heavy usage in able for it to make it to your yard.
Call up your local sewer guy that pumps you out and for a small fee im sure he can try and locate a 2nd tank.
Maybe the tank you got pumped out was just a small holding tank or run off tank,the guy you had pump your sewer should be able to tell you how many gallons he took out,it should of been at least 900-1500 gallons.
How he finds the tank is with a small stabbing rod he jabs in the ground to find a lid.
How far away does your neighbor live?I'd highly doubt that if theirs was full it would do this,they would need a whole (excuse the pun) **** load of flushing and heavy usage in able for it to make it to your yard.
Call up your local sewer guy that pumps you out and for a small fee im sure he can try and locate a 2nd tank.
Maybe the tank you got pumped out was just a small holding tank or run off tank,the guy you had pump your sewer should be able to tell you how many gallons he took out,it should of been at least 900-1500 gallons.
How he finds the tank is with a small stabbing rod he jabs in the ground to find a lid.
Thanks. I will look into the second tank theory.
Neighbor is about 40 yards away, most of that 40 yards is part of my yard, their house is only about 10 yards from the small stone wall between our yards. I assume their system is also in their backyard as they have almost no front yard, etc... Unforunately all the lab rolls/slopes towards my house/yard.
I am not sure a second tank or drainage point would be in that area, as it is about 10 feet higher than my backyard where the main tank/leech field is for my septic, but then again I don't know anything about it , so who knows.=)
Thanks again.
Gariee.
Hello. I had a few problems like the one you are describing. I give you my input, take it for what it's worth.
1974 House: you should have a 1000 gallon concrete tank, but you might have an old 500 gallon metal tank. If you have the cement thats great, if you have the metal it could be rotted and leaking.
It sounds to me that your leech field needs replacing. Usually leech fields last about 30 years, depending on how much **** is flushed down. When a leech field goes bad the water comes to the top and smells bad. Not really a hard problem to fix; backhoe to dig 3 trenches that Y off your tank about 2 feet deep, some stone, perforated pipe and felt and then more stone and cover. Check your local zoning laws, might need a permit.
1974 House: you should have a 1000 gallon concrete tank, but you might have an old 500 gallon metal tank. If you have the cement thats great, if you have the metal it could be rotted and leaking.
It sounds to me that your leech field needs replacing. Usually leech fields last about 30 years, depending on how much **** is flushed down. When a leech field goes bad the water comes to the top and smells bad. Not really a hard problem to fix; backhoe to dig 3 trenches that Y off your tank about 2 feet deep, some stone, perforated pipe and felt and then more stone and cover. Check your local zoning laws, might need a permit.
