Free Encyclopedia of Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, Repair

Ask a Question or Search InspectAPedia

• HOME
• AIR CONDITIONING
• ELECTRICAL
• EXTERIORS
• HEATING
• HOME INSPECTION
• INTERIORS
• PLUMBING
• ROOFING
• SEPTIC SYSTEMS
• STRUCTURE
• WATER SUPPLY

• ENERGY SAVINGS
• ENVIRONMENT
• INDOOR AIR IAQ
• INSULATION
• MOLD INSPECT TEST REMOVE
• NOISE
• ODORS
• SOLAR ENERGY
• VENTILATION
• EXPERTS DIRECTORY
• CONTACT US

How to Spot Unexpected or Odd Septic Drainfield Locations InspectAPedia®  -          Distant drainfields or soakaway beds far from the building Drainfields or leachfields close to lakes or streams Drainfield location? What if there is actually no drainfield at all? Questions & answers about hard-to-find septic drainfields or soakaway beds or leach fields

How to find the septic leachfield or drainfield when it is in an unsual or unexpected location.

This article series and our accompanying septic system location videos explains how to find the leach field or drainfield portion of a septic system. We include sketches and photos that help you learn what to look for, and we describe several methods useful for finding buried drainfield components. (Septic drain fields are also called soil absorption systems or seepage beds.) Also see How to Find the Septic Tank. More videos on septic system location & maintenance are at SEPTIC VIDEOS.

In the page top photo you can see septic effluent running across a rocky surface during our septic loading test. Actually effluent was running across this rock before we began our septic test, but our dye succeed in proving that the wet area was indeed coming from a failed septic system. A conventional tank and drainfield could not work in this location.

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 and content suggestions are welcome and are credited 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.

Surprising Septic System Leachfield Locations

Drainfields may be located very distant from the building and or septic tank

Remember that septic system components can be at an "illogical" or "unlikely" location since people often make expedient or otherwise bad design choices, or may have had no alternative. We've found drainfields that were quite remote from the building and from the septic tank, more than 200' away (downhill).

The reason this is abnormal is that it is expensive and trouble to dig great distances and there must either be proper slope (elevation change) between the tank and drainfield, or a pumping system is needed.

So normally the septic contractor will not put a septic system component farther away from the building or the tank than is necessary. But rocky sites, steeps slopes, ponds, or other site features may mean that the tank or drainfield are located surprisingly far from the building they serve.

Septic Soakaway beds, Leachfields, or Drainfields may be located off of the property they serve and even across a road or highway

We've found leaching beds that were located across a public highway from the house and septic tank. We've found leaching beds that were not on the owner's property at all.

The septic system "drainfield" may turn out to be a nearby stream or lake

Especially at older, unsupervised, or remote rural properties, the temptation to simply route effluent leaving the septic tank to a stream, lake, pond is sometimes overwhelming (though unsanitary and illegal). This is particularly true at sites where the soils into which one would have to put the drainfield are rocky, wet, or where the drainfield has previously failed.

In the photo at left you can see that this septic tank is less than ten feet from a lake.

For example, at properties along Wappingers Creek in Dutchess County, NY, many of the homes located their drainfields downhill from the house and too close to the creek. In times of spring rains the creek floods and floods the drainfield area. These are not working drainfields and are unsanitary.

At a home inspection at one of these properties we found that the previous owner had installed a straight pipe from the end of his failed drainfield right into the creek. Our septic loading and dye test was turning Wappingers Creek a reddish pink!

There may be no septic system drainfield at all at some properties. Here is an example:

We've also found that there was in fact no leaching bed at all - simply a short perforated pipe into the ground next to a septic tank, or worse, an illegal pipe to a storm drain, creek, or to the surface of a hillside.

This farm property, which we were inspecting outside Frankfort, Germany in 1968, had toilets but no working drainfield at all.

Watch out.

Questions & Answers regarding this article

Questions & answers about hard to find septic drainfields or soakaway beds

Recommend / Share this Article            

...

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.
• Critique, contributions wanted: Contact Us to suggest corrections or additions to articles at this website, and if you wish, to receive online listing and credit as a contributor. Particular thanks are due to the many experts and also consumers who read and critique technical articles at InspectAPedia.com.
• Additional technical contributors & reference sources for this article are listed below.

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.

SEPTIC DRAINFIELD LOCATION
  DRAINFIELD PIPE LOCATION, PRECISE
  EXCAVATE to LOCATE DRAINFIELD
  REASONS to FIND THE DRAINFIELD
  RECORDS to LOCATE the DRAINFIELD
  SURPRISING DRAINFIELD LOCATIONS
  UNLIKELY DRAINFIELD LOCATIONS
  VISUAL CLUES LOCATE the DRAINFIELD
  VISUAL CLUES LOCATE the SEPTIC TANK

• Percolation Testing Manual, CNMI Division of Environmental Quality, Gualo Rai, Saipan provides an excellent English Language manual guide for soil percolation testing. Original source: www.deq.gov.mp/artdoc/Sec6art108ID255.pdf
• Soil Test Pit Preparation, fact sheet, Oregon DEQ Department of Environmental Quality, original source www.deq.state.or.us/wq/pubs/factsheets/onsite/testpitprep.pdf The Oregon DEQ onsite water quality program can be contacted at 811 South Ave, Portland OR 97204, 800-452-4011 or see http://www.oregon.gov/DEQ/
• Thanks to reader Michael Roth for technical link editing 6/29/09.
• Septic Tank/Soil-Absorption Systems: How to Operate & Maintain [ copy on file as /septic/Septic_Operation_USDA.pdf ] - , Equipment Tips, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 8271 1302, 7100 Engineering, 2300 Recreation, September 1982, web search 08/28/2010, original source: http://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/pdfimage/82711302.pdf.
• How Big Should the Leach Field Be? - table of soil percolation rate vs. field size
• Septic System Drainfield Absorption System Biomat Formation - what leads to drain field clogging and expensive drainfield repairs
• Table of Required Septic & Well Clearances: Distances Between Septic System & Wells, Streams, Trees, etc.
• 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.
    
    
• Guides for Finding Septic System Components

  SEPTIC TANK, HOW TO FIND
  SEPTIC SEARCH SAFETY
  WHO KNOWS SEPTIC LOCATION?
  FIND MAIN WASTE LINE EXIT
  DISTANCE TO SEPTIC TANK
  POSSIBLE SEPTIC TANK LOCATIONS
    VISUAL CLUES LOCATE the SEPTIC TANK
    WHERE TO LOOK for the SEPTIC TANK
    SEPTIC TANK DEPTH
  SEPTIC TANK LOCATING EQUIPMENT
  SEPTIC TANK LOCATION SKETCH
  
  SEPTIC DRAINFIELD LOCATION

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.