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Septic System Location & Maintenance Videos InspectAPedia®  -     Videos show how to find the septic tank, how to locate the drainfield Videos show how septic tank alarms and septic pump alarms work Links to complete septic system care & maintenance guide

Here we list videos that assist home owners, home inspectors, and septic contractors in the basic tasks of septic system inspection and septic tank location or septic leach field or drainfield location. Also see InspectAPedia.com Video Guides. 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 invited and are listed at "References."

© 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.

Septic System Videos Describe How to Find the Septic Tank, Drainfield, and Septic Pumping Station

• Septic 101 part 1: Video on How to find the septic system. (How to Find the Septic Tank) Daniel thinks out loud while walking an 18 year old homesite in northern Minnesota while searching for the septic system and its components. Simple visual observations tell us where the septic tank and fields might be, where they are unlikely to be, and where they certainly would not be expected to be found. We find the septic tank, its cleanout port, and we see an electrical box which means that a septic pump installed. We begin discussing what kind of septic system is likely to be installed at a lakefront homesite.
• Septic 101 part 2: Video on Where could a Septic Drainfield Possibly be Located? (How to Find the Septic Drainfield) Daniel continues commenting about the meaning of site observations as we follow the site back to where the drainfield might or might not be.
• Septic 101 part 3: Video on Deciding the Septic Drainfield Location. (Deciding the Probable Drainfield Location by Visual Inspection) Based simply on visual site observations and the age of the home, we conclude the almost-certain location of the septic drainfield for this lakefront property. (The property owner later confirmed that we were correct.)
• Septic 101 part 4: Video on Why the Septic Drainfield is Not in the Front Yard. (Noticing where we would not expect a septic tank or drainfield to be located) Daniel explains why, even though it looks like a good area, the septic drainfield would not be installed in the front yard of this home. Spotting the well casing.
• Septic 101 part 5: Septic tank and pump alarm video: What does a septic tank alarm or septic pump alarm look like, what does a septic pump alarm sound like, and how do septic alarms work?

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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
HOME BUYERS GUIDE to SEPTIC SYSTEMS
SEPTIC SYSTEMS ONLINE BOOK
INTRODUCTION
SEPTIC SYSTEM SAFETY WARNINGS
SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN BASICS
SEPTIC TANK PUMPING SCHEDULE
SEPTIC FIELD INSPECTION
SEPTIC TREATMENTS
SEPTIC TANK SAFETY
SEPTIC VIDEOS

More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

• The Septic System Information Website home page for this topic
• Septic Systems Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance- online textbook. Detailed how to inspect, maintain, repair information


• The Home Buyer's Guide to Septic Systems
• SEPTIC TANK PUMPING SCHEDULE When, Why, How to pump the septic tank
• Septic Tank Pumping Procedure step by step photo guideline of how to pump and clean a septic tank - septic tank care
• Tank Location - How to Find the Septic Tank, how deep will the cover be, how to document its location
• Home & Outdoor Living Water Requirements
• Septic Tank Capacity vs Usage in Daily Gallons of Wastewater Flow, calculating required septic tank size, calculating septic tank volume from size measurements
• Septic System Design Basics: Choosing Septic Tank Size, Absorption System Size
• 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.)

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