i have a tank about thirty years old and with just a good rain the drain fields back up and back fill the tank. i took top off distribution box and poured a container of roebic brand emergency repair down each of the three drain field line. i dont anticipate success so what do you recomend and exactly how much do i put down each line. also should i try to flush the lines after applying the solution. thanks so much !

Septic tank should be nice to as this contain all waste water and other wastes which comes with water in it and for health and other point of view this should be proper and for getting it proper there should be proper maintenance and cleaning between 2 to 5 years interval so that it works properly.

Hello Grizz

Thanks for your report. I have found it very helpful thus far. I'd love feedback on my situation if possible. We moved into a house almost three years ago (and were under the impression that the septic had been dumped prior to out moving in - not the case!) Anyway, getting the septic cleaned out was on the list of things to do when we noticed that the washing machine discharged and came through the downstairs shower and toilet (thankfully it was washing machine water!) Anyway, we had a plumber come out. He snaked the line and got out very little. We were able to get the line to back up again by turning on all of the water (3 showers, 7 or 8 faucets). If we only ran a few things we couldn't get it to back up. We made an appt to have the septic cleaned out which happened today. I was at a meeting, but my wife assured me that it was overfilled (apparently it's been 10 years and we were misled :( ). Anyway, they were saying that they think our leech lines are clogged (probably are). I wasn't there, but they were throwing around ideas of removing fences, digging up lines, etc.

I'm thinking after reading your deal that at most I'm probably wanting to try is jetting the line. As we don't smell anything and it only had a minor backup once, it seems to me that it still must be leaching a bit (not sure). I'm thinking of going one of two ways:

1. Ignoring the situation, trying to dump something in the system (what would that be?) to rejuvenate it and keep an eye on if it backs up again. I'll have it pumped again in two years if I notice no problems. Would this be a foolish approach? If we did notice a problem, we'd go to option 2 immediately.

2. Have someone come out and try jetting the line.

Am I missing something or is there where I should start?

Please advise and thank you very much for your consideration!
Chris

Hi Grizz
I just wanted to say a big thank you for the enormous amount of research and tireless in-putting on this subject. My problem hopefully is not as bad as yours. My septic tank needed to be pumped out back in March. I've lived here for 13 years and never had to have it done and the previous owner lived here since it was built in 1980 and he never had it pumped either. We added a holiday let to the system, being used about 26 weeks of the year with up to an additional 6 people living in it. Another thing was, I redirected a surface water overflow into the tanks to overcome a blockage in another soakaway at the front of the house. Prior to having it pumped I fished out a heap of wet wipes and all sorts of thicker tissue type stuff which didn't look any different from when it was new, apart from being dirty, so whoever says this stuff is biodegradable is having us on. I even fished out a plastic carrier bag, other smaller plastic bags and even a chicken bone, would you believe. The crust wasn't so thick and the sludge at the bottom wasn't so bad either. I assumed, therefore that the blockage was caused by this other nasty stuff and the effluent had got into the 2nd chamber and down the pipes.
The tanker came and pumped out the tanks and then jetted the main pipe out of the 2nd chamber. It appeared to do the job until just recently the house was surveyed due to selling. We sit on about 1 acre with several old block outbuildings and a concreted yard. It used to be part of a farm. So the cesspit is laid across the yard and in places under one of the block buildings and then out into the field. It was at that far end, approx 25 mtrs from the tanks we found an area of dirty water. A builder friend came and had a look and suggested we consider digging up the earth at the far end but that may cause problems due to the pipes going under the block building. I decided however to do a bit of research and we also came across the sewage worms. After hours of reading, we sort of decided to go for them. But then we had contact from the purchasers of our home, having received the surveyor's report, wanting us to have the tanks pumped out again and inspected. I, of course, was somewhat reluctant as we had made up our mind to go for the worms. My thought was also that the blockage had probably been building up for several months. AND I realised that the additional storm water going down into the tanks was probably causing an excess and overflow of the effluent into the 2nd tank!
So whilst I will have to agree in having the tank emptied and inspected, I'm hoping that the worms will do the trick....what do you think?