OT: Septic Remediation products anyone?

Stephen R. Horton (TX) · Apr 21, 2009

Hi folks,
A bit off topic, but does anyone have experience with any of the new 'septic remediation' products out there? These typically consist of an air pump and aggressive aerobic bacteria that you can add/attach to your tradition leach line septic system. I guess the idea is that the new bacteria fueled by the oxygen will digest the slim in the tank and the leachfield and get things working like new again (without tearing up the yard). Anyone have first hand experience with something like this? I'm wanting to know if it works. A real nice family (2 adults, 6 kids ages 13 and under) just moved into my rent house. House has 2 250 gallon tanks that go out to the leachfield. Leachfield is now overloaded and making a mess. Gray water is already routed off elsewhere. Septic man is telling me to install aerobic ($7k). Plumber is telling me he would add additional leachline ($1500). And the Internet is showing me these new products that say they will make the existing system work better ($1500 and up). What to do?
-stephen

Anonymous-0 · Apr 21, 2009

No first hand with anything other than leachfield type.Have neighbors with arobic systems and all of them are pleased.Never heard of what you described.I would think it would have to disperse some water above ground to take any load off laterals as in ground saturation problem.

super99 · Apr 22, 2009

Work better, not good as new? I'd think your best $$ spent would be to extend the line on the leach fields. Not an expert, just doubtful of the claims. Chris

Tx Jim · Apr 22, 2009

Stephen,
The county I live in for a while did make new septic systems have to be aerobic but found out that the aerobic kind weren't that great. I wouldn't like having to PAY someone to come service an aerobic system every year plus having to replace electric pumps and pay for electricity to operate it. I fought for a conventional septic system in 2001 and it works great. It has a leach line that the pipe isn't really pipe it's a open bottom dome(Quonset) shape. It's was installed in trench with NO washed stone and back filled. It's been a drought here since '07 and I see no green grass growing outlining the area it is as it does on a perforated line & with stone in trench. As far as a chemical one can put Ridex or yeast used to make bread will help.

cannonball · Apr 22, 2009

always use yeast in septic systems, or pour old milk down...yeast needs to be used once a month, more often till things work good.. you did not say how long leachfield is...how many trees are around it....where in TX, low area's i would go aerobic..but 7000 seems high...

MAY GOD BLESS THE USA

Spook · Apr 22, 2009

8 people on a 500 gallon system is a serious overload. I don't think extending leach lines, or installing some gizmo is gonna cut it. The system is way undersized.

JDknut · Apr 22, 2009

If they're 250's, they are way too small, even if there is two of them. Probably the leachfield is too small, too. You are overloading the crap out of it (pun intended). You need at least a 1000 gallons of septic capacity, maybe even 1500 or 2000. And a leachfield to match. And you better hope you dont have tight soils or a high water table. if you do, you might be barkin' at an alternative system such as a mound system or a package plant, in which case the cost will really go up. With that many users, you are whaling on that system with sledgehammers, so to speak. Better to spend up front on a right sized system, then it shouldn't need any gadgetry to make it work. I'd put the money already quoted for the "system boosters' into a new properly designed system. just my $0.02.

S.Crum · Apr 22, 2009

I installed my own state approved system 23 years ago. The state required a 1000 gallon tank and I had to have a 6 run leach field with 50' runners. Raised a family with this and didn't have a problem for 19 years. Then the leach field started backing up. Had the tank pumped (like is supposed to be done every 3 years) And dumped a bottle of the Robick K-57 septic tank treatment (available at TSC, Lowe's etc). And "so far, so good" 1 1/2 years later. Yeast, milk or other 'things' liquid and with active biodegradable cultures certainly won't hurt, but the K-57 will give the system the kick it needs right away.

Dennis (VA) · Apr 22, 2009

Isn"t the malfunctioning septic system the land lords problem? I believe he is required to lease a habitable place. Under current conditions, I don"t think he"s meeting his obligations.

Stephen R. Horton (TX) · Apr 22, 2009

Thanks folks for the replies. BTW, I am the landlord; I wanna do the right thing and am planning on keeping the house up right. But, the $$ are huge right now. Just trying to see if there's a reasonable alternative.

ohiojim · Apr 22, 2009

your 250 gal. will work if pumped on regular basis, like every 3 years, your problem now if you didn't pump is all the sludge has you plugged up, you'll need new leach lines,..might want to look into airiater system if available in your area,,..i think it's to late for the biotics...but worth a try for the cost you're about to pay..

buickanddeere · Apr 22, 2009

If there is no bathwater, dishwasher, laundry, sinkwater or water softeer draining into the septic system. It should limp along with that load if pumped every year.
As previously stated. High water table and clay soil will halt any system.
Among other things, the yard surface run off was re-routed here to prevent flooding out the weeping bed.

buickanddeere · Apr 22, 2009

Just had a bad thought. Are these tenants up to anything that may involve disposing non-bathroom waste down the drains? Solvents, paints, dope manufacturing, anti-freeze etc?

davpal · Apr 22, 2009

Go to www.thenaturalhome.com and check out the systems they have on there. May be a couple ideas you can learn a bit from. If you can you may want to rent a backhoe and do the work yourself.

El Toro · Apr 22, 2009

Thats 8 people flushing the toliets numerous times each day plus 8 baths each day. Then there's the laundry for 8 people. If possible you need to be connected to the town sewer system. You could deduct the expense on your taxes. That's probably over 100 gallons of sewage each day being put into your sewage system. Leech fields don't work well in rainy seasons. Hal

JDemaris · Apr 22, 2009

Are you saying two 250 gallon tanks, or one 2,250 gallon tank?

Around my area, a 1200 gallon tank is the absolute minimum for a family that size, and bigger is better up to a point. Can't be so large that there is not enough bacteria to keep it from freezing in very cold temps. If you only have a total of a 500 gallon holding area, it's way too small. And, do they both have proper traps to stop solids from plugging the leach field?

Also, when you say your leach field is overloaded - overloaded with what? Plugged up with solids and slime, or can't handle the water?
If it's water, your ground is saturated or the leach field is too small.

Something does not sound right. The holding tank is supposed to be sized for the size of the family. Leachfield is sized the same, and can't leach unless the ground it's in can drain as it should.

A normal cesspool or setpic system already has all the bacteria it needs as long as it's gets used often and you don't pour harsh chemicals into it. That's why there's a freeze-up danger with systems that don't get used in seasonal homes. Bacteria activity gets low, heat is then low, all turns to almost pure water and can then freeze.

From what I've read, just about all those septic additives are hype, and nothing more.

Anonymous-0 · Apr 22, 2009

If you're up for it you can run a perforated hose into the leach lines and pipe air into the system yourself. Take the system over to aerobic from anaerobic.

Have the tank pumped by a seasoned honey truck driver. He's probably seen a 1000 failures and a variety of fixes that worked.

If you have the space in the leaching field I'd add some rows. Either between existing lines, extending lines or outside initial field.

Ask your tenants how many loads of laundry they are doing a day. Check for a collapsed feeder pipe or plugged distribution box as well.

If it were me I'd take a shovel and see what the soil types are near the failure. If you don't drive on the field put some of the wide plastic chambers (infiltrators) in. A DIY job if you have the time.

Stephen R. Horton (TX) · Apr 22, 2009

Thanks to everyone who has replied. The family living in my rent house are real good folks--just a large family and deserves to have a working septic. Their last water bill shows 8000 gallon used last month--that's 265 gallon per day, which is way too much for the two 250 gallon tanks. Btw, the house is up on a bit of a hill; water table is not high, but soil is Texas black gumbo (clay). My original question was about aerator type systems that would essentially convert it from anaerobic to aerobic. Sounds like a few of you are familiar with such systems... Anyone care to recommend a company for purchasing such a pump (online or mailorder)?? Now my other big question: its cheaper for me (and I have the room) to add leach lines to the system to handle the additional water, but will this be doomed to fail in the long run since the two tanks aren't big enough?? That is, I don't want to spend money on additional leach lines and possibly adding an aerator to the system if its gonna get clogged up again real fast. If that's gonna be the case, I'd rather just do the job right the first time, and I guess that means spending the $7k to rip out what I got and put in aerobic (which is gonna mean a whole lot less tractor toys in my future).
thanks, stephen

jbp · Apr 22, 2009

Just wondering how much bleach is being used in the washer. Bleach kills good bacteria as well as bad. Septic systems need bacteria to function.

buickanddeere · Apr 22, 2009

He says the grey water is being routed elsewhere but I wonder?
If the septic system is only collecting from toilets. And every gallon of sink, bathtub, dishwasher and laundry water goes to grey water. The 500 gallons should limp along with annual pump outs.
When the family moved in they may have went on a cleaning and painting binge. Then flushed cleaning compounds, solvents and paint down the toilets.

Brian Jasper co. Ia · Apr 22, 2009

I have always used Rid-X once a month in the septic systems I have had. Never had a back up. Sounds like they're leaving the water running all day every day.

El Toro · Apr 23, 2009

Some of these top loading washers use a lot of water in one cycle and with 8 people that's more than the septic system will withstand since they're probably washing 3 times a week. Hal

Stephen R. Horton (TX) · Apr 23, 2009

Hi folks,
I really appreciate all of the responses and suggestions. I think I've got a plan that I'm comfortable with. I'm gonna go ahead and extend the leach lines into a kind of leach bed. I think I can get this done for under $1500. At the same time, I'm gonna take the lid off of my second tank and install a filter on the outlet end going to the distribution field. I'm look at the filter from <a href=http://www.gag-simtech.com/index_files/Page566.htm> these folks </a>. That should provide some protection against solids going into the field. And for phase 3, I'm going to search for an aerator to add oxygen to the first tank. From everything I read (and suggestions received), this will speed up the biological action to a) help keep the solids down and the field absorption working, and b) give me breathing room between pumpings (I'm hoping to stretch and be able to pump every 2 years). I found <a href=http://www.septicgenie.com/> these guys</a> and <a href=http://www.aero-stream.com/> these guys</a> from searching on the web, and there's probably others out there (although no one local to me in Texas that I've been able to find).
stephen

Bob Kerr · Apr 23, 2009

Not trying to be sick here, but condoms are the biggest reason for major tank and finger system failure. If flushed, they go where the water is flowing and plug up that hole till another one comes down the pipe and finds the next hole and they don't break down for years in water. Not shure if that has anything to do with yours or not but thought I would mention it. only fix is digging up and removal of tiles and offending "balloons".

buickanddeere · Apr 23, 2009

Doubt they are using condoms judging by the number of kids.

Tx Jim · Apr 24, 2009

I always heard cigarette butts and any paper other than toilet paper were hard on a septic systems.

OT: Septic Remediation products anyone?

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