drain fields

[MasterPlumbersKeymaster]

My septic drain line to the ditch is full of roots from the grass. I think this is making the water back up because around the tank there is water seeping on the ground. You can see it coming out when the pump is on. What do I do?

[John Aldrich1Participant]

goudeau1, your inquiry suggests that your septic tank effluent is being discharged by an effluent pump directly into a ditch. In most jurisdictions of the world, this is an illegal practice. If this is the situation, this practice certainly poses a threat to the public health, a threat to your family’s health, and a threat to the quality of your immediate environment. I suggest that you investigate a method of on-site sewage TREATMENT rather than continuing a direct discharge of untreated septic tank effluent into a ditch.

There are many on-site treatment technologies available, one of which can be implemented on your site. The most cost effective is a soil absorption system (leach field) if there is adequate suitable soil on the site, and provided that all required setbacks can be met. Alternative technologies can be used if soil absorption is not an option. You can learn about the many alternative technologies by going to the National Small Flows Clearinghouse website whose address is:
http://www.estd.wvu/nsfc_homepage.html

Contact the local septic system regulatory agency for advice, and to obtain a permit, to be sure that the technology that you decide to install is an approved technology in your jurisdiction. JWA

[John Aldrich1Participant]

goudeau1, the National Small Flows Clearinghouse is having some difficulty with their web page. The address that I posted in the previous response was taken from my favorites list and normally allows access to the site. I just typed in National Small Flows Clearinghouse in the Search line and received a message that this site is not accepting requests at this time. They seem to have problems quite often with their server, so if you wish to see their web page, just keep trying. The web page address obtained from the Search is:
http://www.estd.wvu/nsfc/nsfc_homepage.html

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