Re: Clogged Septic Field Rejuvenated Inexpensively

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? Tweet