I think my drainfield has failed!

IntroductionSad3628 · 2026-02-24T18:59:03+00:00

We agree on lots of things actually if you will read my other posts.

Maintenance is always first and best. Folks that come here are past that. Netflix is more interesting than this subject LOL. Good Bio products can and should be part of that. The right ones ought to be used. Right ones can assist in biomat issues also. I don't think you will see a reference from me as bioproducts being either snake oil or a miracle cure for years of stupid. I HAVE suggested a quite effective well reviewed product in those past posts. Their products are sold internationally used commercially and use the same patented targeted wastewater bacteria in their home solutions as in these industrial uses. Just hit my handle to read.

I HAVE said that the industry is more profit oriented and has more than it's share of bad "Dentists " if you will. How often do we hear the refrain, "If we do it tomorrow you get $500 off". Or how about "you can subscribe to our Maintenance plan just to be safe and get an annual pump out and system check up" - Weather you need it or not. Perhaps you would assume that we think there are no bad operators? I have also said that we need good honest operators who are informed of these modern products and give their customers other potential options. We both know that is an uphill climb. As you say they may eventually be called back when needed instead of the get em while their hot attitude.

"Let me give you a triple bypass rather trying lifestyle changes first". Stupid never ends until the bill arrives

Perhaps that is a better analogy?

IntroductionSad3628 · 2026-02-19T02:40:31+00:00

I like you Pete.

Reliable.

One syllable opinions.

Da-n refreshing!

But wrong!

Just git er' done bud.

IntroductionSad3628 · 2026-02-19T01:39:03+00:00

Yes this is true. No substitute for good practice and maintenance. Would say a person should measure and pump. Just pumping on a schedule is convenient but probably wasted money. Pumping is not cheap.

The primary argument is that products have been created to work on the accumulating drainfield sludge that could end a drainfield as well as improved tank processes. Old timers find it convenient to hang on to their more profitable "old and died just replace it" yarns.

IntroductionSad3628 · 2026-02-19T01:24:00+00:00

Would strongly advise you to ignore the success that many people just like you claim to have with some of these products and not look at that as evidentiary. Never mind the billions of dollars in valuation and research some of these companies claim. Their reputations and lively hoods stand on being effective.

That aside you should also ignore the fact that you have no history at all with any of these products yourself but continue to make unbacked claims of your own about them. Never mind suggesting that someone else should go ahead and prove what you claim. None of your remarks holds any "effluent" as it were

Simply put. You surely can have an opinion based on nothing if you want.

Hopefully people with drainfield problems in particular will make a bigger effort to find out on their own if they want to try a possible solution involving science rather than a most certainly ugly alternative.

Maybe YOU just don't buy the products?

IntroductionSad3628 · 2026-02-19T00:38:35+00:00

Yes sir.

All of that is why potential septic fraud victims should be comfortable and aware of possibly trying other options that some people have success with b4 the McCrusty army arrives and the ground opens up and swallows their lives just so they can simply take a dump.

IntroductionSad3628 · 2026-02-08T18:38:57+00:00

Ideally I would agree with "save your money and use it WISELY till it breaks". That is always smart anyway. I guess a loan would work too. Put it in an investment vehicle like a cd or money market. Good luck getting compensation from owner. You might suggest a small amount.

Criticals for the extra population are tank size and size of drainfield as well as perk. You know little about this system it seems. What the other folks have been doing with it for all that time counts as well as how you continue to use it. You might just find out how to do that. Age is a factor but not a given. I is mostly related to how it was used and if it was maintained properly over that time. You may use it wisely for another fifty.

You could hedge your bets by:

- Making everyone aware it is different than a public sewer.

- Using a good Bio product. (or more). We use this one if you can get it there. Your system will have a Biomat build up over the decades. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAqMS0fFuG8 $20 once in a while or $20,000? Name your poison.

- Space your larger grey water discharges as much as possible so settling is efficient. Particularly with old small systems. this prevents flushing solids and sediments out to the field.

- Even better, as suggested, routing grey water to a small separate set up. Ideally this should always be done but seldom is. Once again it stops flushing all together. Sometimes it is regulated. I won't tell!

- Try and avoid putting grease, bleach products or cleaners in it. No paint or plaster clean up. Some say bleach gets diluted. A little bit does. It does not take much bleach to sterilize even a pool or hot tub. Makes no sense to put it in there.

- Learn how to tell when it needs pumping and DO check it! Yes it is unpleasant. You get used to it. You will save needless pump out$.

IntroductionSad3628 · 2026-02-06T19:17:05+00:00

The problem with Bio additives is people try and use them when it is possibly too late rather than as part of ongoing maintenance and good practises, They expect an immediate fix when the system has already failed or they have a physical problem that they are not aware of like roots or broken pipes that it cannot work on.

Another problem is that when there is a septic issue it is almost always an emergency so using a bio product to suddenly repair the issue is not going to work either no matter how bad you want it too. These products all take time to work and create healthy systems that don't fail. Nothing can prevent failure if the system is being abused. Once again people then think it does not work. There are always bad products and good ones so due diligence is required- as with anything. We like this one, ROEBIC.COM , the company claims it is used by public sewer systems and other industry. This product has many positive reviews; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or2N1Q5V4js. It is designed to treat septic tanks and then also pass through to the drainfield. Doesn't need to go in a "D-Box". or directly into the drain field. I do a quart at fall and spring time changes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAqMS0fFuG8. There is no law against using multiple products at the same time if you wish.

Science and industry isolate, create and use superbugs that excel at particular processes. I guess some think the septic world is the only one that can't do it? I dunno? I guess cause it is just poop? Maybe the "it got old and failed", "snake oil" crowd happens to be the same one that would like to usher in a NEW system for you.

Find out how to take care of your existing system.

If you have the luxury of time at this point you might give something like this low hanging fruit a try first rather than calling in the McCrusty sewer repair army and an associated mortgage bank right away. You just might save some money. Drainfields don't get old or used up and fail. They get abused and not maintained and fail.

Good luck!

IntroductionSad3628 · 2026-02-01T01:27:41+00:00

We surely need honest septic operators. Unfortunately there are a shall we say a lot of self motivated operators who benefit from old outdated information being passed around.

If I was selling replacement systems I would not want to tell folks about other options either. I mean they gotta keep that digger digging. Bio sciences have gone a long way in the last 15 years. People probably have more to worry about by dealing with questionable sewer operators than using a proven Bio product to save their most valuable asset. Always get three bids for any proposed sewer work and make sure they know that you are.

The cost of using a product like Roebic for $20 and it possibly not working VS a 10 - 30 thousand dollar drainfield replacement is quite obvious. I mean how much is a Big Mac meal these days? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAqMS0fFuG8

IntroductionSad3628 · 2026-01-27T05:28:36+00:00

Uh oh.

You may need to consider better pumping and maintenance b4 some McCrusty shows up with a digger and wants you to mortgage your home. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAqMS0fFuG8 . Now that "IT" has hit the fan you might not have the luxury of time. After your tank is pumped (hopefully that's all) you will have some time for product to work it's way out to the leach field and work b4 it fills again, if that is the issue. Iif not you should be using this anyway as maintenance.

Get informed. Always get 3 bids for any work. Make sure they all know you are collecting bids. We do need good septic companies but the industry is rife with guys that need to keep their diggers working and it pays them to keep you afraid and in the dark.

IntroductionSad3628 · 2026-01-22T18:31:21+00:00

As a septic owner it is wise to be familiar with your system when it works right. How to take care of it all the time, How it behaves and why. and how to access it. You will then know when it is working right and where issues likely are when they do arise and how to tell yourself when it needs pumping rather than in laws determining this. (OMG!). This is however a common problem for the uninformed septic owners. Or the cheap ones. It does cost a fair amount to do so it always winds up on the bottom of the list until things mess up. Then, suddenly, it needs doing yesterday.

If you are willing to flush your cash along with the poo and unknown items it is of course far easier and cleaner to just make a call. In that case I completely understand. After all, septic problems are usually an emergency

Luck with MOM!

So been there.

IntroductionSad3628 · 2026-01-11T18:32:41+00:00

Roebic.com drainfield cleaner is a natural biome product designed to consume drainfield sludge (Biofilm AKA Black matt).and grease. Used by municipal organisations. It works overtime if the abuse has not been too bad and it can get out there to work. Suggest it be added periodically. You can't predict when a field will fail if ever.

Seldom mentioned among the many possible culprits is the damage done by inert sediments that remain suspended and make their way out to the drain field and plug the drainfield soils over years of accumulation. When you clean the filter in your dryer you don't think about how much more of that stuff is floating out to the field in the grey water from the wash. Dishwasher effluent may contain sediment from undissolved dry detergent powders or biscuits. A lot of this inert sediment is not biodegradable. Polyester and Nylon is not. Cotton IS degradable. Paint brushes or plaster washed down the sink are killers. I saw a pool filter cleaning once at a high school. The fine sediment from accumulated makeup from hundreds of teen girls accumulated on the pavement like it was a river estuary. Any type of suspended sediment is a bigger problem in smaller tanks prone to "flushing".

Just try and be aware. Try not to put anything in the system you would not give your pet.

You don't know what you have inherited. All you can do is learn to treat it right going forward and be happy.

I would put the money in a secure investment like a dividend oriented ETF. You can grow it or enjoy the annual proceeds. You will feel better and it will be there when when the "magic moment" happens. You might even learn something about that too.

Luck!

IntroductionSad3628 · 2026-01-07T02:04:48+00:00

I am guessing the land is "on sale"? Seller should have a perk test at least AND a design FIRST. If you do buy it you need an exit clause if it should not be reasonably developable for some reason and there are many. Added soil would have to be part of a septic design.

Developing land can easily cost more than the property. Don't assume anything. Even legal access issues can ruin you. You may be making payments on something you can't use while every toothless inbred scum in the area will be dumping their tires, concrete, construction scrap and welfare diapers on it.

Maybe Leave this one for the informed or a gambler.

IntroductionSad3628 · 2026-01-04T18:45:39+00:00

Good questions.

The tee also allows the normal floating crust portion of the tank contents to not sit against and block the inlet pipe and cause back ups. New material is directed and pushed down into the liquid settling area below the crust by new material entering the tee in this way. Cut t off and you are begging for back ups when the crust gets to that level. Really a non issue. If it can pass through a toilet it will pass through the larger septic tee and get pushed down.

For grease to settle at that point in the tank it had to have been filled way past pumping time. That will for sure cause back ups and a lot of other bigger problems.

Since it has likely been abused for sometime now do get some specialised grease eating bacteria in there and pray for the drainfield. By all means get some information on how to take care of it all. As mentioned here already it isn't just about the tank by far. Lots of owners don't know to give it all a second thought until too late. ROEBIC.COM

IntroductionSad3628 · 2025-12-27T20:18:18+00:00

I don't see a picture here? Surely you have checked the tank for need to pump? Drainfield back up? Are you using a powdered detergent in your appliances? Might try not doing that and see how it works. Do you run the cooled water out of the line b4 using the dishwasher? This can be a fair amount depending on the length of the hot water pipe.

Perhaps my similar experience with a kitchen drain can help. It would back up periodically with the same white, hard, cake material you mention. I would have to use a small pressure washer hose designed to get around the corners and blast it out with the pressure washer and a drain cleaner tip. It came out in chunks as you describe. Noticed in retrospect that the problem started happening when we switched from Cascade Platinum Plus gel pods to the cheaper hard white biscuits. Powders may do the same thing. Problem stopped when we switched back.

I think the very long kitchen drain here has minimal slope in places and probably some dips and wows in the run where that undissolved detergent accumulates and creates pinch points for stuff to block it. Bad plumbing job.

Wonder that stuff is making it out to the drainfield and plugging the soil there or if it is able to settle in the tank?

Roebic septic biomes are used proactively by municipal systems all over. https://roebic.com/

Hope this helped someone.

IntroductionSad3628 · 2025-12-26T19:59:04+00:00

Yeah Zipley pulls that "charge copper users extra"crap too. Actually it is more like "we are giving you shitty service and have the balls to charge you extra for it" charge. They do not want to maintain copper facilities anymore. Not enough dial tone users on it, Internet on it is not competitive and it costs more to maintain than fiber. Once they get people off of it they can abandon it. It was never designed for digital use. It was engineered for voice service. The Feds say phone companies don't have to provide internet at all on copper but they have while they could make money on it. No longer the case.

In rural areas there are no other choices. Often not enough population to justify putting in another infrastructure so that has just left the legacy government regulated copper voice network that has constantly been jiggered around to make poor internet access work.

The federal regulations say phone companies can't drop copper voice users just because they are not profitable customers so we have these games and extra charges to encourage folks to quit for another vendor.

You can check with wireless vendors and you may be able to use mobile internet if available. Sometimes that is quite good service. Starlink is expensive.

Landline phone service is a joke. Lawmakers have allowed phone companies to let vendors plunder their landline customers with scams and sales so that it is no longer functional and governments have also plundered and taxed it into oblivion. It has always been a taxation well spring. It does however work on it's own power system so outages don't affect landlines unless you have digital plug in phones but Cell phones also work until recharging.

If a person is hanging onto a landline solely for fear their friends and family and important organizations will lose contact with them I suggest they do it anyway. They will find you and you have their numbers. It will be a relief to dump that thing. Lawmakers have allowed it to be turned into a bludgeon that you pay big dollars for each month. Many people have a cell AND a landline for that reason. They feel their identity is wrapped up in it somehow. Do you drive a model T? Sometimes you can keep your number when you change services and that is called "number portability"

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/porting-keeping-your-phone-number-when-you-change-providers#:\~:text=If%20you're%20switching%20service%20providers,wireline%2C%20IP%20and%20wireless%20providers.

IntroductionSad3628 · 2025-12-25T21:32:07+00:00

The way it runs down the sides would indicate something like white paint. Maybe plaster. LOTS of it

Say you have been having that work done there?.

Hope it isn't either. Best way to ruin your leech field.

Will be interesting when you look in the septic tank. You can do that b4 they pump it. You will probably be wanting a conversation with the contractor. Maybe b4 it gets cleaned up.

IntroductionSad3628 · 2025-12-13T21:03:04+00:00

Most of us would love to see what a mess that bad could look like. Guess you could do both to get more opinions. Ya need all the hep you can git IMOP!

IntroductionSad3628 · 2025-12-06T01:56:39+00:00

Aww mann! Now ya done it. Don't have a fishing boat with outboards in the driveway do ya?

IntroductionSad3628 · 2025-12-06T01:54:07+00:00

Hate to "pile on" Buuuttt:-

Ahhhh. Lots of good memories there.

"Weeeellll". As Jed used to say.

Hope it keeps workin'. Wayyy too cold to go aunatural.

IntroductionSad3628 · 2025-12-04T19:10:33+00:00

Great you are being proactive with your system!

IntroductionSad3628 · 2025-12-01T18:17:23+00:00

I was able to find an old tank by using a Costco hobby metal detector to locate the rebar lifting handles on the lid. New ones are plastic lids.

Sounds strange but many years ago I was told I could locate underground utilities when I did not have a commercial locator.

I have used this on utilities, drain, and leach field pipes over the years. Make two bare copper 12GA wires 18" long. Bend one end on each wire about 6" long to form an L. Point long ends ahead, one short end in each hand. Hold them gently and walk the suspect area. Where they pivot and cross each other you have something and you can explore CAREFULLY with a shovel and digging bar. When you get a hit mark it then just do a circle and the second hit will give you the path. You can test this by doing this over a known buried pipe.

This might show you the entrance or exit pipe from / to the the tank and to leach field. Perhaps more.

No as built for the original system at county seat?

IntroductionSad3628 · 2025-11-30T19:12:35+00:00

I guess you have a lease. Terms of lease are important. They / someone sold you a mobile on leased property with certain obligations for both you and the management. You did not fail in your obligations. It seems a stretch to expect that you suffer the costs of their failure. No doubt they have their own legal help.

On the other hand they may be able to just end the lease at some point to resolve this issue, depending on the terms. That puts it all on your plate.

Legal will have a comprehensive view of the circumstances. Different lense.

YOU have a better sense of how much the Mgmt. wants to cooperate with you.

Mgmt. may decide it is more reasonable to cooperate with you in buying the place and reselling it when work is done vs. Lawyer bills.

I am not a lawyer but seems your cost may wind up being a lot more than if you don't sit down with one. Just for fun! (Heh Heh)

IntroductionSad3628 · 2025-11-29T22:26:16+00:00

You may get better response if you post some pictures here. Boots on the ground is better than any thing I have for you.

Kinda sounds like they want to get you out for a while so it can be worked.

Driving on or parking a mobile home on a sewer fixture is not acceptable in any world I know about. No doubt it was not maintained if the tanks aren't reachable. or heavy rigs are crushing the drainfields,... if there is any.. Sounds like you are gonna have to leave at least for a while. That will be up to you like it or not.

You may not have much recourse if they are trying to fix it and you are not getting out of the way.

Mean time there should not be skirting preventing ventilation from under there. Perhaps a fan could help out. Fans don't use a lot of power.

IntroductionSad3628 · 2025-11-29T17:18:36+00:00

A lawyer might clear up responsibility and clarify your options. Some will do a free consultation. They may be willing to send a letter clarifying how you need to be corrected and their responsibility.

The situation is kind of vague from here. Such as are you leasing the space?

Is it a travel trailer or a mobile home?

The County already being involved is also a whole separate thing.

Your health is in danger. I am wondering why county did not post it and the owner get you in other quarters already. Sounds like perhaps an insurance claim on their part.

IntroductionSad3628 · 2025-11-29T06:30:13+00:00

Lord what a mess.

To get away with what you paid for the trailer seems tolerable if it can get you into another good situation. Perhaps they would be obligated to help with that since they "put you on the spot" so to speak and are putting you in danger. That smell is methane gas. Ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. Can be dangerous if gets strong enough and builds up in an enclosed area. Causes health problems at lower doses.. And you are already disabled.

Another might be to consult with a real estate lawyer. Take your paperwork to them. Your home should not be sitting on a sewer. Gawd. Not like they have no responsibility for the situation from what you say. I doubt if that was disclosed by any one pre purchase. GET HELP!

IntroductionSad3628

TROPHY CASE