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How to Report the Results of a Septic Loading & Dye Test InspectAPedia®  -

• How to report septic test results
• Septic Test warnings and pitfalls

This chapter provides details of how to report the results of a Septic Loading and Dye Test. Septic System Loading and Dye Tests often requested by certain lenders, involve flushing a special dye down a toilet or other drain combined with a known quantity of water sufficient to put a working load on the absorption system. If waste water leaks to the ground surface (an unsanitary condition indicating serious septic failure) one may find dye in that water provided the septic system is flowing at common rates.

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HOW TO REPORT SEPTIC TEST RESULTS - & Test Conditions - What is the Minimum That A a Septic Test Report Include

A septic loading and dye test does not guarantee detection of all failing conditions. However it can make a meaningful reduction in the risk of an imminent costly septic failure, if the test is performed and documented properly. For a test to be meaningful, it is critical that reasonable test procedures be followed, such as described above, and that the procedures are documented.

A professional inspector is expected to provide sufficient documentation of the procedure followed and results obtained that an experienced third party could review that information and agree that the test provided was acceptable, regardless of the outcome. Finally, proper documentation at the site and during the test makes writing the septic report much easier.

The meaning and reliability of any test procedure is obscure unless the consultant records the test parameters and conditions. For example, a "dye test" was performed by an inspector who placed a single dye tablet into a washing machine drain line, followed by running 50 gallons of water at an upstairs plumbing fixture.

The lack of aggressiveness of the test, inadequate dye amount, minimal volume of water run, and failure to confirm that the fixture operated actually placed water into the septic tank all would have been more obvious to both the inspector and the client had this date been reported. Instead, the inspector wrote that he had "performed a septic dye test" and that there was "no evidence of a problem."

In an often-occurring anecdote, the morning after the new building owner moved into the home, sewage effluent had flooded the yard behind the home. When the septic contractor opened the tank it was evident that the tank was totally packed with solids. Litigation followed. This sounds like an extreme example, but it's all too common.

Essential documentation of septic loading and dye test procedure and conditions includes at least the following:

• Administrative details: Inspector's name and contact information, client name, property address, inspection date, time, and pertinent weather conditions
  
  
• Safety: Observations of visually obviously unsafe conditions at the property such as the presence of cesspools, bad tank covers, open pits, subsidence or collapsing equipment.
  
  
• Test Limitations: Observations of conditions which limited the test or which added risk of the septic test having been subverted: recent application of bleach, damaged tank (low liquid levels), or reported maintenance history of the system
  
  
• Pre Test Conditions: Observations before attempting the test: odors, wet conditions, grass color, rocky site, etc.
  
  
• Plumbing Fixtures Operated: Location and identity of plumbing fixtures operated during the test, for placement of dye and for placement of the test volume of water into the system.
  
  
• Septic System Components: Observation of or reported type of septic system components: tank (concrete, steel, reported size), reported absorption system type (drainfield, mound system, pump up system), presence of pumps (single vs. duplex), alarms.
  
  
• Components not tested: such as drywells or other components which are known to be present or for which there is strong suggestion of their presence (such as graywater lines leaving building locations at points remote from or below the elevation of the main drain.)
  
  
• Septic Test Parameters: Estimated total test volume of water used. Details may include fixture flow rates and flow duration. This information should include confirmation, or inability to confirm, that the test water entered the septic system.
  
  
• Indications of septic system failure:
• Presence of effluent or dye surfacing or breakout at the yard surface during and after the test.
• Marked change in the wetness or softness of ground over the suspected leach area (as compared with that observed at the start of the test)
• Septic odors
• Discharge of septic effluent or graywater to the surface or to a nearby pond, lake, stream, drainage ditch, etc.
  
  
• History: Information regarding the system history and maintenance if such were reported to the inspector by the seller or realtor or another party
  
  
• If there was historical, visual, or test results that indicate or strongly suggest that the system is in-failure or that it is in very questionable condition, the report should include an explanation of these site observations, system history, and test results such that the client has an opportunity to understand the significance of the findings and reasonably probable need for repair.
  
  
• Conclusions: there was or was not visual or historical evidence of the need for septic system repair or replacement. Other recommendations for maintenance or further investigation (such as tank pumping and inspection, D-box exploration, etc.)

An example field data recording sheet which includes a section on Dye Test Procedure Used (fixtures operated, total volume run, confirmation of flow into septic) and pre and post-test Observations such as and evidence of dye breakout is provided at Level 0 - Basic Septic Inspection Worksheet

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SEPTIC SYSTEMS HOME
SEPTIC SYSTEMS ONLINE BOOK
SEPTIC DYE TEST PROCEDURE
HOW TO PERFORM A SEPTIC DYE TEST
WHAT TO DO BEFORE
OUTSIDE SEPTIC INSPECTION
  IMMEDIATE FAILURE EVIDENCE
  LOOK FOR COMPONENTS
  DIFFICULT SEPTIC SITES
  RECENT SEPTIC WORK
  SEPTIC SAFETY
STEP BY STEP SEPTIC TEST
  INSIDE SEPTIC TEST STEPS
  WATCH FOR INSIDE
  OUTSIDE SEPTIC TEST STEPS
  SEPTIC FAILURE SPOTS
  SPOTTING SEPTIC BREAKOUTS
SEPTIC TEST VOLUMES & DYE AMOUNTS
  SEPTIC TEST WATER & DYE TABLE
  SEPTIC TEST FIXTURE FLOW RATE
  HOW TO SET THE SEPTIC TEST VOLUME
REPORTING SEPTIC TEST RESULTS
PUMP THE SEPTIC TANK
SEPTIC DYE TEST WARNINGS

• Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, for permission to use illustrations from their publication, The Illustrated Home which illustrates construction details and building components. Carson Dunlop provides home inspection education, publications, report writing materials, and home inspection services. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.

More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

• Return to the septic system textbook: Inspecting, Testing, & Maintaining Residential Septic Systems
• The Septic Information Website
  
  
• Safety Warnings to Septic System Inspectors
• Testing Water for Real Estate Transactions - Water Test Cheating Warnings for Home Buyers and Home Inspectors.
• Home & Outdoor Living Water Requirements
• Septic Tank Capacity vs Usage in Daily Gallons of Wastewater Flow calculating septic tank volume and septic tank size required
• How Big Should the Leach Field Be? - table of soil percolation rate vs. field size
• The Home Buyer's Guide to Septic Systems
• Material Safety Data Sheet MSDS for Red Septic Dye from Tramfloc.
• MSDS for Septic Dye Tablets from Tramfloc.
• MSDS for Septic Dye Liquid from Tramfloc.
• Septic Dye Technical Data Bulletin from Tramfloc.
• Tramfloc, Inc. source of septic system testing tracer dyes
• Bright Dyes Inc. source of septic system testing tracer dyes
• Pollard Water source of septic system testing tracer dyes

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