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Step 1 of the Septic Loading & Dye Test - Before Starting the Test InspectAPedia®  -

• What to do before starting the septic loading & dye test
• How to perform a septic loading & dye test, step by step

This chapter provides details the first step of the Septic Loading and Dye Test procedure for testing the function of septic systems, focused on condition of the effluent disposal section, also known as a leach field, seepage pits, drainfield or drainage field. 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.

Also see The Septic Information Website - and see Septic Systems Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance online book on inspecting and maintaining septic systems, of which the document is a chapter. Technical review by industry experts has been performed and is ongoing - reviewers are listed at "References." Comments and suggestions for content are welcome.

Use of this information at other websites is prohibited; reproduction in electronic or printed form is prohibited.

© Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links 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.

WHAT TO DO BEFORE - the Septic Inspection and Test

• Septic Inspection Safety: Review Safety Warnings to Septic System Inspectors in our main text: "Inspecting, Testing, & Maintaining Residential Septic Systems.
  
  
• Questions To Ask the Property Owner About the Septic System
• Where are the septic tank and other system components located? (For help locating septic tanks see Tank Location - How to Find the Septic Tank)
• What is installed? (Steel tank, concrete tank, drain field, seepage pits, drywells, galleys, etc.)?
• What is the maintenance and repair history of the system? (Last pumped, what repairs have been done, pumping history and frequency, backups, etc.)

These questions are deliberately a bit vague and open ended to permit a property owner to volunteer what information they may have about the condition of the septic system. Because an owner may not recall the septic system maintenance history or may not be familiar with onsite waste disposal terminology, the inspector and client should obtain and consider but should not blindly rely on simple oral statements about the type of equipment installed.

These questions can be given to the inspector's client well before the site inspection, to permit the client or real estate agent to present them to the property owner, particularly if the owner is not going to be at the site at the time of the inspection.

• Obtain Permission: by informing the real estate agent and through agent an owner, or if owner is present, ask the owner's permission before performing this test.
  
  
• Do Not Pump the Septic Tank Before the Test - an owner who offers to provide this service for a prospective buyer may be (inadvertently) preventing a valid septic loading and dye test. We want the system to be in-use or at least the septic tank to be at its normal level of liquid and waste (its normal condition) at the time of testing. More details about the problem of septic tank pumpouts as a cover-up of a septic problem or failure are at Don't Pump Before Testing Septic Systems: warnings for home buyers about septic tank pumping.
  
  
• Confirm that the septic tank has not just been pumped before starting a loading and dye test, by visual inspection and by asking the septic system maintenance history. If the inspector sees fresh excavation in a likely septic tank location it is possible that the tank was pumped recently. If the system has not been used sufficiently since pumping the septic loading and dye test should be postponed until the tank has first been filled. Otherwise the "loading test" is simply filling the tank rather than pushing any liquid test volume into the drain field.
  
  
• Septic system records: Are there written records of septic system installation, repair, or maintenance? Home inspectors performing a septic loading and dye test are not required to review written records nor to perform offsite research at a health or building department facility. Some inspectors may elect to offer that service for an additional fee.
  

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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.

SEPTIC SYSTEMS HOME
SEPTIC SYSTEMS ONLINE BOOK
SEPTIC DYE TEST PROCEDURE
HOW TO PERFORM A SEPTIC DYE TEST
WHAT TO DO FIRST
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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