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PLUMBING SYSTEM INSPECT DIAGNOSE REPAIR

SEPTIC SYSTEM INSPECT DIAGNOSE REPAIR
  Septic Guide for Home Buyers or Owners
  Septic or Sewer Connection?
  Septic System Design
  Septic System Designs Master List
  Septic Inspection Testing
  Septic Maintenance Repair
  Septic Component & Product Suppliers
  Septic Videos

ADDITIVES / TREATMENTS for SEPTIC SYSTEMS
AEROBIC SEPTIC SYSTEMS
ALTERNATING BED SEPTIC SYSTEMS

BACKUP PREVENTION, SEWER LINE
BIOLOGICAL POLLUTANTS
BIOLOGICAL POLLUTANTS in the HOME - EPA
BOOKS, RECOMMENDED SEPTIC
BOOKSTORE, SEPTIC SYSTEMS

CESSPOOLS
CESSPOOL SAFETY WARNINGS
CHECK VALVES
CHEMICALS & TREATMENTS for SEPTICS
CHLORAMINE / CHLORINE Tests
CHLORINE IN DRINKING WATER
CHLORINE IN SEPTIC WASTEWATER
CISTERNS

D BOX TROUBLESHOOTING
DEFINITIONS OF SEPTIC SYSTEM TERMS
DIFFICULT SEPTIC SITES
DISTRIBUTION-BOX INSPECTION, SEPTIC
DRAINFIELD FAILURE DIAGNOSIS
DRIVING or PARKING OVER SEPTIC
DRYWELL DESIGN & USES

FILTERS SEPTIC & GREYWATER
FLOOD DAMAGE ASSESSMENT, SAFETY & CLEANUP
FLOODED SEPTIC SYSTEMS, REPAIR

GARBAGE DISPOSAL vs SEPTICS
GRAVELLESS SEPTIC SYSTEMS
GRAVITY/SIPHON DOSING SYSTEMS
GREYWATER SYSTEMS

HOME BUYERS GUIDE to SEPTIC SYSTEMS
HOME SELLERS GUIDE TO SEPTIC INSPECT

LAGOON SEPTIC SYSTEMS
LEACHFIELD FAILURE DIAGNOSIS

MEDIA FILTER SEPTIC SYSTEMS
MOUND SEPTIC SYSTEMS

NOISE / SOUND DIAGNOSIS & CURE

ODORS & SMELLS DIAGNOSIS & CURE
ODOR DIAGNOSIS CHECKLIST
ODORLESS CHEMICALS / GASES: CHECK FOR?
ODORS, PLUMBING SYSTEM
ODORS, SEPTIC or SEWER
ODORS, SULPHUR SMELL SOURCES

OUTHOUSES & LATRINES

PLANTS & TREES OVER SEPTIC SYSTEMS
PRESSURE DOSING SEPTIC SYSTEMS

RAISED BED SEPTIC SYSTEMS

SAND BED SEPTIC SYSTEMS
SEEPAGE PITS

SEPTIC & CESSPOOL SAFETY

SEPTIC AUTHORITIES

SEPTIC BACKUP PREVENTION
SEPTIC BACKUP REPAIR
SEPTIC BOOK, ONLINE
SEPTIC BOOKSTORE
SEPTIC BIOMATS

SEPTIC CARE INSTRUCTIONS
SEPTIC CLEARANCE DISTANCES
SEPTIC CODES & REFERENCES
SEPTIC CONSULTANTS

SEPTIC D-BOX INSPECTION

SEPTIC DRAINFIELD FAILURE DIAGNOSIS
SEPTIC DRAINFIELD INSPECTION & TEST
SEPTIC DRAINFIELD LIFE
SEPTIC DRAINFIELD LOCATION
SEPTIC DRAINFIELD RESTORERS?
SEPTIC DRAWINGS

SEPTIC DYE TEST PROCEDURE

SEPTIC FAILURE LAWSUIT
SEPTIC FAILURE SIGNS
SEPTIC FIELD INSPECTION
SEPTIC FILTERS
SEPTIC FLOOD RESPONSE

SEPTIC INSPECTION BOOK
SEPTIC INSPECTION & TEST GUIDE
SEPTIC LIFE EXPECTANCY
SEPTIC LIFE MAXIMIZING STEPS

SEPTIC METHANE GAS
SEPTIC ODORS

SEPTIC PUMPS
SEPTIC PUMPING REPAIR

SEPTIC REFERENCES

SEPTIC & CESSPOOL SAFETY
SEPTIC SUPPLIES & PARTS
SEPTIC SYSTEM DEFINITIONS

SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN ALTERNATIVES
SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN BASICS
SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN MANUAL - Online

SEPTIC DYE TEST PROCEDURE

SEPTIC FAILURE LAWSUIT
SEPTIC FAILURE SIGNS
SEPTIC FIELD INSPECTION
SEPTIC FILTERS
SEPTIC FLOOD RESPONSE

SEPTIC INSPECTION BOOK
SEPTIC INSPECTION & TEST GUIDE
SEPTIC LIFE EXPECTANCY
SEPTIC LIFE MAXIMIZING STEPS

SEPTIC METHANE GAS
SEPTIC ODORS

SEPTIC PUMPS
SEPTIC PUMPING REPAIR

SEPTIC REFERENCES

SEPTIC & CESSPOOL SAFETY
SEPTIC SUPPLIES & PARTS

SEPTIC SYSTEMS, HOME BUYERS GUIDE to

SEPTIC SYSTEM INSPECTION & TEST GUIDE
SEPTIC SYSTEMS INSPECTION COURSE
SEPTIC INSPECTION TYPES & LEVELS

SEPTIC SYSTEM ODORS
SEPTIC SYSTEMS ONLINE BOOK
SEPTIC SYSTEM PUMPS
SEPTIC SYSTEM SAFETY WARNINGS
SEPTIC SYSTEM TYPES, MASTER LIST

SEPTIC TANKS
SEPTIC TANK BAFFLES
SEPTIC TANK COVERS
SEPTIC TANK, HOW TO FIND
SEPTIC TANK GRASS or SNOWMELT
SEPTIC TANK INSPECTION PROCEDURE
SEPTIC TANK LEAKS
SEPTIC TANK LEVELS of SEWAGE

SEPTIC TANK PUMPING SCHEDULE
SEPTIC TANK PUMPING PROCEDURE
SEPTIC TANK SAFETY
SEPTIC TANK SIZE
SEPTIC TANK TEES
SEPTIC TESTS: DYE & LOADING TESTS
SEPTIC TREATMENTS & CHEMICALS

SEWAGE & SEPTIC CONTAMINANTS
SEWAGE BACKUP, WHAT TO DO
SEWAGE BACKUP TEST & CLEANUP
SEWAGE BACKUP PREVENTION
SEWAGE CONTAMINATION in buildings
SEWAGE CONTAMINANTS in FRUIT / VEGETABLES
SEWAGE EJECTOR / GRINDER PUMPS
SEWAGE LEVELS in SEPTIC TANKS
SEWAGE NITROGEN CONTAMINANTS
SEWAGE PATHOGENS in SEPTIC SLUDGE
SEWAGE PUMPS

SEWER BACKUP PREVENTION
SEWER GAS ODORS
SEWER LINE REPLACEMENT

SINKHOLES, WARNING SIGNS
SMELL PATCH TEST to Track Down Odors
SOAKAWAY BED FAILURE DIAGNOSIS
SULPHUR & SEWER GAS SMELL SOURCES
SUMP PUMPS

TOILETS, INSPECT, INSTALL, REPAIR
TOILET ALTERNATIVES
TOILET FLUSHOMETER VALVES
TOILET INSTALLATION PROCEDURE
TOILET OVERFLOW EMERGENCY
TOILET PLUGS, SEWER BACKUP
TOILET REPAIR GUIDE
TOILET TYPES
Toilet Types, Flush Methods
TOILETS, DON'T FLUSH LIST
TRAPS on PLUMBING FIXTURES
TREATMENTS & CHEMICALS, SEPTIC

VIDEO GUIDES: Septic Videos
WASHING MACHINES & SEPTIC SYSTEMS
WATER SOFTENERS & CONDITIONERS
WATER SUPPLY & DRAIN PIPING
WASTEWATER TREATMENT BASICS
WATER, WELLS, WATER TANKS: TESTING GUIDE
WATER PURIFIERS

WATER QUALITY TESTS, CONTAMINANTS, TREATMENT
WATER QUANTITY IMPROVEMENT
WATER QUANTITY USAGE GUIDE
WATER, WELLS, WATER TANKS: TESTING GUIDE
WETLAND SEPTIC SYSTEMS

WINTERIZE A BUILDING

More Information

Septic system collapse and truck rescue (C) Daniel Friedman

Do not drive over Septic System Components
InspectAPedia®  -         

  • Is it ok to have septic piping or a septic tank under a driveway or parking area?
  • Can we drive over septic piping or tanks?
  • Can we drive over the drainfield?
  • Can we build, pave, or put astroturf over a septic drainfield?
  • Questions & answers about drainfield damage due to vehicle or equipment traffic

This article explains the problems that occur if septic components are located under a drive or parking area. We explain why you should not drive cars, construction equipment, or other heavy machinery over the septic drainfield and in some cases also not over the septic tank.

InspectAPedia offers impartial, unbiased advice without conflicts of interest. We will block advertisements which we discover or readers inform us are associated with bad business practices, false-advertising, or junk science. Our contact info is at InspectAPedia.com/Contact.htm.

Our page to photo shows a big effort underway to pull a dump truck out of a seepage pit. Luckily no one was injured but the cost of extracting the truck and repairing the septic system was significant. Readers should also see SEPTIC & CESSPOOL SAFETY.

Citation of this article by reference to this website and brief quotation for the sole purpose of review are permitted. Use of this information at other websites, in books or pamphlets for sale is reserved to the author. Technical reviewers are welcome and are listed at "References." This is a chapter of Inspecting, Testing, & Maintaining Residential Septic Systems an online book on septic systems.

© Copyright 2012 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use page top links to major topics or use links at the left of each page to navigate within topics and documents at this website. Green links show where you are in a document series or at this website.

Do not drive over the septic tank, septic piping, or septic drainfield.

PHOTO of a septic seepage pit collapse when a truck drove over it.

Unless special provisions have been made such as protection of sewer piping and septic tanks from damage, vehicle-rated septic tank covers, or similar steps, do not drive vehicles over septic system piping or septic tanks.

Driving over septic tanks, septic piping, or drainfields risks costly damage to the septic system and may also be dangerous.

The bulldozer in our photo (left) was called to help remove a truck which drove over septic system components leading to a surprise collapse.

A property owner may not immediately recognize a septic system problem when piping has been run below a driveway, as crushing and blockage of the line may not happen until a heavy vehicle enters the driveway (such as the loaded septic pumping truck arriving to pump the septic tank). Or a septic line may be broken, permitting soil or roots to enter to complete the clogging process.

How do we run a sewer line under a driveway to get to the septic tank?

Photograph of new septic line house to tank

If a septic line must be run under a driveway, for example to pass from a building to the septic tank, the line must be protected by choice of materials (schedule 40), or placed in a covered and protected trench at adequate depth (such as with concrete covers over the trench) to avoid damage to the piping.

Our photo (left) shows a new sewer line being installed down a hillside, connecting a house to its septic tank.

The original terra-cotta sewer line lasted for decades until the building owner (DF) hired a landscaping company to mow the lawn. The fourth time that a heavy lawn mower drove over the original sewer line it was crushed and broken, leading to a costly sewer line replacement job.

The new sewer line was bedded in sand and protected from damage.

If a sewer line is run below a drive or parking area without proper choice of materials, protective measures, etc. it is an improper installation likely to fail. Also see CLOGGED DRAIN DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR.

Can a septic tank be located safely below a drive or parking area?

Photograph of  rusted out and dangerous steel septic tank

If a septic tank is to be located below a drive or parking area, it too must be properly designed and protected from collapse. The tank must be constructed of proper materials and provided with a cover rated to withstand the weight of heavy vehicles.

If the septic tank is steel, site-built, home-made, or even pre-cast concrete but lacking a cover rated to withstand vehicle traffic, driving over the tank risks collapse and even a potential fatality.

Our photo (left) shows a rusted-through collapsing steel septic tank cover that nearly led to a fatality to a home inspector.


Photograph of a collapsing, impacted, failed home made septic tank.

Home made or "site built" septic tanks often have a cover made of wood or other flimsy materials, and depending on the tank construction (dry-laid concrete blocks or stones) the sides may also be likely to collapse if exposed to the weight of even a small vehicle.

The site-built septic tank shown in our photo (left) was collapsing as well as impacted with solids.

Driving even a lawn mower over this tank was likely to lead to a catastrophe.

Can a septic drainfield be located below a parking area, pavement, driveways, patios, decks, or other structures?

A septic drainfield should not ever be located below a driveway or parking area.

Driving or parking on a drainfield will prevent proper drainfield operation due to soil compaction and also due to loss of proper evaporation of moisture through the surface, as well as almost certainly leading to crushed broken piping. In sum, driving over the leach field in any vehicle larger than a child's bicycle is a bad idea. Heavy vehicles may actually crush buried leach field lines, or they may compress the soils around the leach field, either of which leads to failure. Driving on or parking on leach fields will destroy them.

Paving over a drainfield, or installing patio stones or astroturf or any other material that blocks proper soil transpiration interrupts the evaporation of moisture from the drainfield, interfering with its ability to dispose of effluent. Furthermore covering a drainfield may result in inadequate soil oxygen, thus inadequate bacterial action, thus inadequate treatment of septic effluent, thus leading to ground water and possibly local well contamination.

LARGER VIEW of this
costly surprise caused by building a swimming pool over the drainfieldBuilding any structure over a drainfield risks damage to the drainfield from:

  • Vehicle traffic during construction
  • Broken drainfield pipes due to excavation for piers, footings, or other structural supports
  • Covering the soil, blocking transpiration and oxygen
  • And construction over the drainfield may make it impossible to later repair it when needed.

Our photo shows what happened when a swimming pool was constructed over the edge of a septic drainfield in Poughkeepsie, NY. The gray water shown leaked from the drainfield onto the pool perimeter when the homeowners did their laundry.

Questions & Answers regarding this article

Questions & answers about drainfield damage due to vehicle or equipment traffic

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Technical Reviewers & References

  • InspectAPedia.com® - Daniel Friedman - Publisher & Editor.
  • InspectAPedia Bookstore lists recommended books, organized by topic & available for purchase. Most of our articles also include a list of recommended books for the specific article topic as well as other references, and information sources.
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Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

DRAINFIELD FAILURE DIAGNOSIS
DRIVING or PARKING OVER SEPTIC

  • Thanks to J. D. Fuller, an ASHI member and professional home inspector in Texas for suggesting clarifications on this information.
  • Table of Required Septic & Well Clearances: Distances Between Septic System & Wells, Streams, Trees, etc.
  • Ten Steps to Keeping a Septic System Working, suggestions from the U.S. EPA, edits and additions by DJF
  • Pennsylvania State Fact Sheets relating to domestic wastewater treatment systems include
    • Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-161, Septic System Failure: Diagnosis and Treatment
    • Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-162, The Soil Media and the Percolation Test
    • Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-l64, Mound Systems for Wastewater Treatment
    • Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-165, Septic Tank-Soil Absorption Systems
    • Document Sources used for this web page include but are not limited to: Agricultural Fact Sheet #SW-161 "Septic Tank Pumping," by Paul D. Robillard and Kelli S. Martin. Penn State College of Agriculture - Cooperative Extension, edited and annotated by Dan Friedman (Thanks: to Bob Mackey for proofreading the original source material.)
  • ...

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

  • Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.
  • Inspecting Septic Systems: Online Book, Inspection, Test, Diagnosis, Repair, & Maintenance: our Online Septic Book: Septic Testing, Loading & Dye Tests, Septic Tank Pumping, Clearances, details of onsite waste disposal system inspection, testing, repair procedures.

  • Advanced Onsite Wastewater Systems Technologies, Anish R. Jantrania, Mark A. Gross. Anish Jantrania, Ph.D., P.E., M.B.A., is a Consulting Engineer, in Mechanicsville VA, 804-550-0389 (2006), Advanced Onsite Wastewater Systems Technologies. Outstanding technical reference especially on alternative septic system design alternatives. Written for designers and engineers, this book is not at all easy going for homeowners but is a text we recommend for professionals--DF.
  • Builder's Guide to Wells and Septic Systems, Woodson, R. Dodge: $ 24.95; MCGRAW HILL B; TP; Quoting from Amazon's description: For the homebuilder, one mistake in estimating or installing wells and septic systems can cost thousands of dollars. This comprehensive guide filled with case studies can prevent that. Master plumber R. Dodge Woodson packs this reader-friendly guide with guidance and information, including details on new techniques and materials that can economize and expedite jobs and advice on how to avoid mistakes in both estimating and construction. Chapters cover virtually every aspect of wells and septic systems, including on-site evaluations; site limitations; bidding; soil studies, septic designs, and code-related issues; drilled and dug wells, gravel and pipe, chamber-type, and gravity septic systems; pump stations; common problems with well installation; and remedies for poor septic situations. Woodson also discusses ways to increase profits by avoiding cost overruns.
  • Country Plumbing: Living with a Septic System, Hartigan, Gerry: $ 9.95; ALAN C HOOD & TP; Quoting an Amazon reviewer's comment, with which we agree--DF:This book is informative as far as it goes and might be most useful for someone with an older system. But it was written in the early 1980s. A lot has changed since then. In particular, the book doesn't cover any of the newer systems that are used more and more nowadays in some parts of the country -- sand mounds, aeration systems, lagoons, etc.
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