Re: Where to Get Lime-Sulfur plus Surfactant for clearing HardPan

Grizz1943 - I have seen your posts on a few sites, and you seem very "In the know". I have a house built in 1965, in southern maine. It sits upon ledge, at the top of a pretty steep hill. When I bought the home in 1996, at 26 years of age, I had the tank pumped and inspected. They found the outlet baffle had fallen off. I had it replaced at that time. It is just a 90 degree elbow with a few feet of pipe going down into tank. It just drains down into a leach bed of stone, surrounded by dark soil(old farmland). My tank is a 1000 gallon tank, and 2 out of the last 3 pumpings, it's been full to the cover, tho never have I had a symptom in the house, and there has NEVER been any sign of percolation. I decided to have a company come and hydro jet my single output line, which is a 4" PVC line until about 7' from tank, where it turns to cast iron pipe. They worked at it until the 3" foot hole they dug had filled up with water\sludge, than all of a sudden, something broke free in the pipe, and the hole and pipe emptied in seconds. The jetter guy suggested it was buildup from when the outlet baffle had fallen off, and the build up I had added over the years. I live alone in this 3 room house, so almost NO load, and all my appliances are low water useage. Sitting on a hill, the outlet pipe has at least a 45 degree angle downwards, causing a major gravity flow. He then ran my garden hose for 10 minutes into this section of pipe, and not one bit backed up. He said I had absolutely NO drainage problem, it was just build up from the fallen baffle. My 1.28 gal flush toilet wasnt gonna do what the wide open hose could do. He suggested I put 1 gallon of cess-flo in for 4 days in a row. Seeing it was that deep, I installed a "T" that comes up within 2" of the soil surface, so I can do this without digging. I did that for 4 days, as directed. My tank is still not full, but almost there, after about a month. Today, I put 5 lbs of sodium Percarbonate 99% in 6 or 7 gallons of hot water, and poured it down the "T" on outlet side of tank, based on what I've read from a few of your posts. It certainly had some reaction, as even the little spillage on the surrounding soil was foaming like yeast. This gravity system is 50 yrs old, and the guy was amazed it didnt back up under full force of garden hose, but then again, like I said, its a steep decline, and no clay. In your opinion, should I put the sodium percarbonate in again for the next few days, to just help eat the sludge up in the stone? That is my plan. I'm not even sure You will see this, but it's worth a shot. Im told my drainage is surprisingly good. Then I added 4 days of a gallon of cess-flo, and now the sodium percarbonate. I'd like to rest easy knowing I am reversing some of the buildup from over the years. I did notice that where I spilled a bit while pouring, the ground was MUCH softer, like its more aerated. That has to be a plus. Any advice, pointers? Thank You so much! Mike Tweet