I'm new to the forums here but because this is your "bread and butter", I figured I could serve you a helping, hoping that you can serve me some advice.
After living in our new home for 14 years, our system has begun to fail. We have the wet leeching field and when it it pumped, the honey wagon tells is the field leaks back into the tank. The tank has never seen feminine products or food disposals but obviously with three kids, laundry and showers are frequent. We have a family of five and I would need to head back to the town to see exactly what size tank was installed but I know it was sized for 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.
I've seen a few Youtube videos and some discussions surrounding the aerobic pump systems and how they can "save" your septic system. I'm a licensed electrician by trade, very handy with construction and repairs but not very familiar with plumbing and obviously septic systems. Can these conversions work and save us $15k? Are there local or state red tape that I need to be aware of? Can I simply do this on my own?
Thanks everyone~
A traditional system has a septic tank where primary treatment occurs. These are almost always 1000 gallons and full of anaerobic bacteria that eat slowly to decompose the separated sludge and scum. The tank only provides primary (the first stage) treatment of separation. It works by providing time for the separation to occur. The 1000 gallon size is 4 or 5 days residence time between deposit into the tank and being pushed out into the drainfield. I doubt that your septic tank is the problem here unless you have never had it pumped in 14 years or you have some rare habits like 5 bathtubs every night.
Once the somewhat clean liquids leave the tank they go to the drainfield which has two functions. One is to dispose of the liquid by soaking into the ground. The ground MUST have a fast enough infiltration rate to accept the effluent from the tank and keep the drainfield dry on the surface and way at the bottom below the pipes and gravel. You actually need unsaturated soil beneath the pipes. Because of this unsaturated environment there is oxygen available for the aerobic bacteria to provide the second function of the drainfield which is to quickly eat whatever funk made it out of the septic tank. Healthy aerobic bacteria here eat up the funk and keep the funk from plugging up the soil surface under your drainfield. Also the funk needs to be eaten before contaminating the ground water beneath.
One special consideration is lint. Synthetic lint doesn't separate well in the tank and isn't eaten by the bacteria so it is important and usually required to have an effluent filter on the outlet of your septic tank to keep the lint from floating out into the drainfield. It is slow, but the accumulation of the synthetic lint can cripple the drainfield. The effluent filters also are a backup system to keep sludge and scum from leaving the septic tank if you fail to pump it frequently enough. They have been required on all new installs in WA for many years.
Assuming your system was built properly in the first place, assuming normal water use in the home, and assuming you've had this tank pumped a couple of times in the time you've owned it, the problem most likely originated in your drainfield. Either high groundwater levels, physical damage like a break/plug, or soil that was too tight to accept the sewage like clays. Somehow you ended up with a saturated drainfield that can no longer accept your sewage fast enough. This is the worst possible news a septic system owner can get. You are almost forced to abandon the drainfield and build a new one in the "reserve" area since the saturated drainfield will have killed the aerobic bacteria and now the funk from your septic has developed a matt of funk at the soil surface below your drainfield pipes that will prevent it from ever working right again. I have seen some folks resort to a technique that is a bit like fracking to break up the matt and allow the sewage to once again soak through. They call it drainfield rejuvenation and some success has occurred at about 20% the cost of a new drainfield assuming groundwater levels are not a problem.
You can't DIY anything. Legally. But I might be inclined to try a rejuvenation service without getting any permits. At least talk to the guy.
The most common underground aerobic system has a regular septic tank, with regular anaerobic bacteria for separation, but then the effluent flows to a second tank with air injection where aerobic bacteria eat the funk to provide secondary treatment just like your drainfield would. There is often a UV light in the second tank before the outlet to do a little polishing before it goes out to the drainfield. In this case, the drainfield is really just a disposal field and the sewage is pretty dang clean. Some locations even allow surface sprinklers for this. The aerobic systems are needed when the soils are too tight, the groundwater too high, or space is too limited to provide the aerobic bacteria function of a regular drainfield.
A second type of aerobic system uses a mound of sand above ground level (so it's dry) where the effluent from the septic tank receives secondary treatment before running off onto the ground surface.
Aerobic systems are much more expensive than a replacement drainfield if you have some ground somewhere that is good enough for a traditional replacement drainfield.
Your system has failed. You are polluting the groundwater and you risk having a backup into the home. Your dog and kids will play in the surfacing sewage. It won't get better if you ignore it but you can probably get through the summer by reducing water usage a lot while you plan for a replacement. You won't be able to sell your house as-is.
The bigger the paper trail for the complaint the better the lawyer said. She also suggested the tv route once the complaints are established. The issue I need to be sure to bring to light is the size difference of the same spec'd plan with the new guidelines. And that all the others involved are doing their work gratis.
