Sewer Line Replacement Procedure - time to make other piping or septic tank repairs InspectAPedia® -
Why we make other septic tank or piping repairs during sewer line replacement
How to determine that a sewer line needs replacement
Step by step main drain line replacement, house to septic tank (or sewer)
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This article describes when, where, how, and why a sewer pipe or "drain line" is replaced. The line which was replaced in this photo-illustrated
case runs from the building exterior to a septic tank located downhill from the home.
We present an actual case study, illustrated with photos of each step in the diagnosis and replacement of a blocked
sewer line.
This is a chapter of Inspecting, Testing, & Maintaining Residential Septic Systems an online book on septic systems. Also see Backups and Clogged Drains diagnosing septic backups and septic system failures versus clogged drains.
Making Other Septic Repairs During Sewer Line Replacement
Later discoveries during excavation made us glad we'd decided to replace the entire
drain line.
Not only was the sewer
pipe broken in several other places, also we found and were able to repair a problematic
leak at the entry of the drain pipe to the septic tank.
We found that the connection of the waste line to the septic tank had been leaking
ground water into the septic tank in wet weather.
The nature of this into-septic tank leak
problem was quite evident when it rained during our project as water ponded at the
entry to the tank.
We confirmed that the tank had been flooded by opening the tank inspection
cover at the intake baffle where we saw that sewage had flowed over the baffle top.
(Flooding a septic tank can result in early clogging and failure of
the drain field.)
The "fix" in this case was a simple and expedient if crude
concrete "seal" at the pipe entry to the septic tank to reduce the chances of water
collecting and entering the tank at that point again.
Are you Wasting Money on sewer line and drain line cleaning attempts when a new drain is what's needed?
The cost of this attempt to unblock a clogged building drain was several hundred dollars
to pay the workers and for use of the power snake machine.
While it was disappointing to
have spent this money only to discover that what was needed was a drain replacement, we considered
it the fair cost for a confident diagnosis of what work was needed. In hindsight, we could
have assumed that the drain replacement was needed based on the age of the home and
gone directly to hiring the excavator, but most experts would consider that a rash step
since there are plenty of instances of blocked drains that do not need to be replaced.
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Thanks to Thomas Gleason, excavators, Poughkeepsie, NY 845-454-3730, for the excavating work at the project photo documented here in September 2006
Thanks to Cleveland Plumbing, the prime plumbing contractor, Staatsburgh, NY 845-485-7700 for the plumbing work and drain clog diagnosis work documented here in September 2006
Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-161, Septic System Failure: Diagnosis and Treatment
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