InspectAPedia ®

Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, Repair, & Problem Prevention Advice
InspectAPedia
Home
| Air
Conditioning
| Electrical | Indoor
Environment
| Exteriors | Heating | Home
Inspection
| Insulate
Ventilate
| Interiors | Mold
Inspect/Test
| Plumbing
Water
Septic
| Roofing | Structure | Contact Us
Directory of Professionals to Inspect or Test a Building


SEPTIC SYSTEMS HOME
SEPTIC INFO ARTICLES
  Info for Home Buyers or Owners
  Septic System Design
  Septic Inspection Testing
  Septic Maintenance Repair
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
  SEPTIC FAILURE LAWSUIT
SEPTIC SYSTEMS ONLINE BOOK
SEPTIC PUMPING REPAIR
SEPTIC TREATMENTS
SEPTIC CONSULTANTS
SEPTIC AUTHORITIES
SEPTIC SYSTEM BOOKS REFS CODES
SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN MANUAL - Online
SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN BASICS
SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN ALTERNATIVES
List Your Service/Product

More Information

InspectAPedia® Home & Site Map
Air Conditioning & Heat Pumps
Bookstore
Electrical
Environment
Exteriors
Heating
Home Inspection
Insulate Ventilate
Interiors
Mold Inspect/Test
Plumbing Water Septic
Roofing
Structure
Accuracy & Privacy Policies
Contact Us



A septic dye breakout over a septic leach field indicates field failure in this case - an expert can find clues and perform tests that reduce risk of a costly surprise

Home Buyer's Guide to Septic Drainfield Failures
InspectAPedia®  -    

  • Chapter 4-3 Diagnosing and Repairing Septic Drain Field Failures
  • 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 Septic Drain Field Failures. 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 2010 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.

4-3 LEACH FIELD FAILURES - Septic Leach Field Failures

  • LARGER VIEW of this
costly surprise caused by building a swimming pool over the drainfield Building on the leach field: A leach field can be destroyed by other site "improvements" such as this attempt to install a swimming pool atop the leaching area in the photo shown at left.

    This mistaken installation involved multiple errors: placing a pool atop the leaching area which prevents proper oxygenation and evaporation, driving over the leach field which risks damaging buried pipes and compacting the soil, and excavating to remove a portion of the absorption system soil to put in the swimming pool.

    The gray water you see next to the swimming pool in this larger photo was effluent from the failed septic fields.
  • Photo of parking lot
atop a possible drainfield location - likely to ruin the field by compacting the soils.
    Compacted soils due to parking or driving on the septic drainfield
    : driving over the leach field in any vehicle larger than a child's bicycle is a bad idea. Heavy vehicles may actually crush buried leach field lines, or they may compress the soils around the leach field, either of which leads to failure.

    Driving on or parking on leach fields will destroy them. This property actually had no working septic system at all - 100% of its effluent was coming to the surface nearby, brought out by solid rock covered with shallow soils, and running down a steep hill into a local stream.

  • Paving over the leach field
    : a leach field cannot function properly if it is paved-over. Some folks may try this as a way to permit parking over the absorption system. B

    ut paving prevents both evaporation of effluent (a portion of the effluent disposal method) and it prevents oxygen from reaching the soil, thus inhibiting proper bacterial action needed to treat the effluent.
  • sketch of cross section of a drainfield trench
    Clogged soils: The sketch shows a conventional drainfield trench in cross section. As the drainfield line ages the soils become clogged around the distribution piping, starting first at the end closest to the septic tank or distribution box.

    Eventually soils around the entire line are clogged with a thick biomat, or perhaps worse, by grease or salts that should have stayed in the septic tank. At this point the soil absorption system stops absorbing effluent. The soils around the leaching bed trenches have become clogged and stop passing effluent. Sending grease and floating solids into the leach field hastens this failure.

    The biomat which forms below the leaching beds will eventually also become too solid and impacted, stopping soil absorption. In this leach field photo effluent was appearing in the light colored area where the homeowner had begun some exploratory digging in a soggy spot only to see her hole fill up rapidly with effluent.

    In the building drains become sluggish, stop, or back up into the building (unsanitary), or effluent may appear on the property surface when the absorption system can no longer function or where a pipe has become damaged.

Some septic system repairs are comparatively modest, such as replacing covers or baffles. Replacing septic tanks or leach fields is costly. No leach field has an infinite life, but proper septic system maintenance can defer this cost. Because costly septic system repairs may be upcoming, buyers of properties with a septic system are advised to inspect and test the system before purchase.

Share this Article      

...

Technical Reviewers & References

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

SEPTIC SYSTEMS HOME

More Information

InspectAPedia® Home & Site Map
Air Conditioning & Heat Pumps
Bookstore
Electrical
Environment
Exteriors
Heating
Home Inspection
Insulate Ventilate
Interiors
Mold Inspect/Test
Plumbing Water Septic
Roofing
Structure
Accuracy & Privacy Policies
Contact Us

More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

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.

InspectAPedia.comInspectAPedia® Home & Site Map - Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, Repair, & Problem Prevention Advice: In-depth research & advice on diagnosing, testing, correcting, & preventing building defects & indoor environmental hazards. Unbiased information, no conflicts of interest.
GO TO the MOLD and INDOOR ENVIRONMENT INFORMATION CENTER for in-depth advice on avoiding testing for or cleaning up mold and other indoor environmental hazards, odors, gases, contaminants
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
GO TO MOLD TEST KITS: This expert-recommended mold test kit is cheap and yet top performing *IF* you use a competent analysis laboratory!
Use this simple, economical mold test kit
by following our instructions on how to collect and mail mold samples to our lab
GO TO IAQ/MOLD-TEST LAB SERVICES: Mold, Pollen, indoor air quality, field and laboratory services by an expert.Environmental Inspection, Testing, & Diagnosis On-Site IAQ, Gas, Air Testing, Mold Investigation, Sick Building Diagnosis, Lab Services, & Remediation Plan Preparation - indoor air quality testing, problem source determination, supporting lab work, written remediation plan addressing removal of environmental and other hazards and prevention of their recurrence.
GO TO our PRE PURCHASE BUILDING INSPECTION SERVICES: Authoritative information for home buyers and home owners is included with your inspection.
Building Inspection, Problem Diagnosis
, Forensic Investigation & Testing, Repair Consulting

CONTACT Daniel Friedman - Dan is a senior ASHI home inspector, nationally recognized expert on building inspection, building failures, and sick building investigation
Contact Daniel Friedman for website content suggestions or for fee-paid consulting

10/23/2009 - 09/04/1997 - InspectAPedia.com/septic/buyguide4-3.htm - © 2010 - 1988 Copyright Daniel Friedman All Rights Reserved - InspectAPedia® is a Registered U.S. Trademark