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HOME BUYERS GUIDE to SEPTIC SYSTEMS
  1-INTRODUCTION
  2-YOU NEED TO KNOW AND DO
  3-SEPTIC SYSTEM COMPONENTS
  4-WHAT GOES WRONG
    4-1 TANK FAILURES
    4-2 PIPING FAILURES
    4-3 LEACH FIELD FAILURES
    4-4 OTHER SEPTIC TROUBLE SIGNS
  5-HOW TO INSPECT & TEST
  6-FINAL OVERVIEW
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Septic piping failures - an expert can find clues and perform tests that reduce risk of a costly surprise

Septic tank piping failure diagnosis & repair guide
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Chapter 4-2 Diagnosis & Repair of Clogged Septic or Sewer Piping

Advice for buyers of a home with a septic system - what to do

Our site offers impartial, unbiased advice without conflicts of interest. We will block advertisements which we discover or readers inform us are associated with bad business practices, false-advertising, or junk science. Our contact info is at InspectAPedia.com/appointment.htm.

This chapter discusses how to diagnose and repair clogged septic systems or piping. Septic backups, failures, breakouts, odors: This document provides advice for home buyers who are buying a home with a private septic system: homes using a septic tank and drainfield or similar soil absorption system.

Chapter 4 in this file outlines what goes wrong with septic systems and their various components. Chapter 5-recommends and describes septic inspection and test methods in more detail, explains how to be sure your septic inspection and septic test are conducted properly, tells you where to get more septic system information about a given property, and warns of unsanitary or dangerous site conditions.

© Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use the links at page left to navigate this document or to go to Other Website Topics. Green links at left show where you are in our document & website.

4-2 PIPING FAILURES - Septic Piping Failures

Septic Main Drain or Municipal Sewer Piping Failures

Distribution piping connects the house drain to the septic tank, running between the building and the tank inlet. More distribution piping connects the septic tank outlet to the distribution box and from there to the leach field. Distribution pipes can settle (especially in new construction), break, become blocked or clogged, or become invaded and blocked by tree roots or soils as shown in the first photo above. Clay pipes also break and have a tendency to become blocked by tree roots at their joints as happened here.

Older "orangeburg" pipes which look like black asphalt-soaked cardboard (they are) crush and deteriorate with age. You won't know what kind of piping is installed until it is excavated, but the age of the property may be a clue.

Homes built from the 1970's on, certainly from the 1980's on, use cast iron or more often plastic ABS or PVC piping for these connections, as shown in the second photo above where we were replacing a root and mud-clogged clay sewer line with a new plastic line.

See "Drain Line Replacement diagnosing a clogged drain leads to drain line replacement" for a step by step photo-illustrated guide to diagnosing failed septic piping (or sewer line) and the subsequent drain replacement procedure.

Septic Distribution Boxes

Distribution boxes serve as a connection point to distribute effluent which arrives from the septic tank outlet and is to be sent into two or more individual leach field lines. Distribution boxes ("D-Boxes") can settle or tip.

A damaged or tipped D-box will fail to divert effluent uniformly among the effluent receiving drainfield lines, causing flooding of one leach line. If you see depressions suggesting that there are four leach lines at the property and the end of just one of them is producing wet soil or surface-breakout of effluent, we'd suspect a tipped D-box. (Photo courtesy U.S. EPA)

Septic Drainfield Distribution Piping

Drainfield piping is usually constructed of perforated pipe buried in gravel-filled trenches. It receives effluent from the D-box and allows it to percolate or

seep into the soil around the trench where added filtering and bacterial treatment occur. Like the distribution piping discussed above, individual drainfield pipes can become crushed, shifted, or clogged by tree roots or other debris. More general clogging and failure of the leach field is discussed below. A broken or clogged pipe, once it has been located, may be

much less costly to repair than a complete leach field replacement, so this possibility needs to be considered during diagnosis of a "failed" septic system.

We have more to say about septic distribution piping failures in the next section 4-3 where we discuss Leach Field Failures.

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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.

HOME BUYERSGUIDE
1-INTRODUCTION
2-YOU NEED TO KNOW AND DO
3-SEPTIC SYSTEM COMPONENTS
4-WHAT GOES WRONG
    4-1 TANK FAILURES
    4-2 PIPING FAILURES
    4-3 LEACH FIELD FAILURES
    4-4 OTHER SEPTIC TROUBLE SIGNS
5-HOW TO INSPECT & TEST
  5-1. ASK ABOUT THE SYSTEM
  5-2. VISUAL INSPECTION
  5-3. LOADING & DYE TEST
    WHAT'S A DYE TEST?
    TEST LIMITATIONS
    FLOODING TESTS
    PROBE TESTS
  5-4. PUMP THE TANK
  5-5. ADDED INVESTIGATIONS
  5-6. ASK OUTSIDERS
  6-FINAL OVERVIEW
  SEPTIC FAILURE LAWSUIT

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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.

Original Source Credits

Portions of the original text were provided by the CT Department of Public Health and Addiction Services. Daniel Friedman (web author) has made extensive edits and content additions to the original file.

More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

Diagnosing Clogged Drains: A First Step for Homeowners
Drain Line Replacement diagnosing a clogged drain leads to drain line replacement
Don't Flush these things into a septic system
What Goes Wrong with Septic Systems? in the Home Buyer's Detailed Guide to Septic Systems - Buying a Home With a Septic Tank
SEPTIC FAILIURE CAUSES in our Online Septic Book - Details Address: How Does Each Septic System Component Fail? - What to Look For During a Septic Inspection - Step by Step Diagnosis
Sewer Line Replacement diagnosing a clogged drain leads to drain line replacement - step by step photo-illustrated guide to drain replacement
Swimming Pool Clearance distance to septic components

The Septic System Information Website
Directory of Professional Inspectors available via Internet (Some of these inspectors offer septic system testing and inspection)
Diagnosing Clogged Drains: A First Step for Homeowners
Performing a Septic Loading and Dye Test - How to perform this test (separate document)
Septic Tank Pumping Guide: When, Why, How to pump the septic tank
Table of Required Septic Tank Sizes: Septic Tank Capacity vs Usage in Daily Gallons of Wastewater Flow & How to Calculate the Size (in gallons) of a Septic Tank.
How Big Should the Leach Field Be? - table of soil percolation rate vs. field size
Home & Outdoor Living Water Requirements
Table of Required Clearances: Distances Between Septic System & Wells, Streams, Trees, etc.
Septic System Inspection Methods and Procedures, - online illustrated class for building and septic inspectors
Septic Systems Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance- online textbook. Detailed how to inspect, maintain, repair information

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The Mold Information Center: What to Do About Mold in Buildings, When and How to Inspect for Mold, Clean Up Mold, or Avoid Mold Problems

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