What cottagers should know about septic systems

You can tell you're at low ebb when you've spent your weekend digging up the septic tank, and then on Monday someone asks how your weekend was and you yell, "Crappy!" and then kill yourself laughing.

It started Friday. I was walking across the grass when I noticed my foot disappear into a soupy puddle of black liquid. It reminded me of the Beverly Hillbillies when Jed shot into the ground and oil bubbled up. Only this wasn't oil. I could tell because I was gagging on the unique pong of sewage.

Most rural homes and cottages use septic systems to dispose of waste liquids and solids from bathrooms, kitchens and laundry rooms. Septic systems have existed for more than 2500 years and their design is brilliant.

Leach to His Own

Waste flows into the septic tank, which is usually concrete, about 5' x 8', with two manhole covers for clean out. The tank is usually buried two to six feet underground (you will notice I use the word 'usually' a lot; this is to allow for human ingenuity and/or daftness). The tank contains bacteria that destroy pathogens, viruses and other disease organisms. As more wastewater arrives in the tank, an equal amount of liquid leaves through an outlet pipe and enters the leach field (a bunch of buried, perforated pipes that release liquid slowly into the earth). The leach field filters the wastewater further, dispersing nutrients. Fascinating? It gets better.

Most septic systems function beautifully for at least 30 years. Here are the signs of septic failure, in order of extremity:

• Sewage backs up into the bathtub, toilets or sinks
• Your well water becomes contaminated with nitrates or coliform bacteria
• There are mushy spots or puddles of liquefied sewage in your yard
• You can smell sewage odours indoors or outdoors
• The drains are slow and gurgle a lot
• The grass is especially green and robust over the septic area, even in dry weather
• Algae and/or aquatic weeds build up in adjacent ponds or lakes

If you experience any of the above symptoms, your septic system needs maintenance; think of it as a splendid, efficient ecosystem. The kinder you are to your septic system, the less it will cost you.

• Get the tank pumped out every 3 to 5 years A pump-out is cheaper (under $200) if you dig up the manhole covers yourself.
• Keep water usage to a minimum so you don't dilute septic tank contents. (75% of wastewater comes from bathrooms!)
• Don't plant anything other than grass on top of the leach field.
• Don't drive or park on the leach field (you might crush pipes).
• Don't do all your laundry on one day - spread it out over the week or the tank contents get diluted
• Don't use laundry powder in the washing machine; laundry powders contain inert fillers like silica that clog your septic system; use a liquid detergent instead.
• Don't use powdered automatic dishwasher detergent. Instead use a liquid like Palmolive Dishwasher Gel.
• Don't pour grease into drains; it clogs the leach field.
• Don't put tampons, diapers, cigarettes or anything that says its "flushable" in the toilet because although it will flush, it just sits there in your septic tank clogging things up
• Don't use a garbage disposal; food waste just fills your tank prematurely

If your system fails, have it pumped out and see if that helps. If it quickly (within 6 months) needs another pump-out, your leach field is likely clogged and needs to be replaced. This means tearing up the whole yard and building a brand new leach field, which costs roughly $12,000 to $20,000 depending on your area.

When you dig up your manhole covers prior to calling for a pump-out, follow these tips to help locate your tank:

• If you can't locate the system from your own records, you may obtain your system records from the appropriate County Health, local city or county Building and Safety Departments. Unless the system is really old. Then you're going to have to guess where it is.
• Legally, septic tanks are supposed to be located more than 5 feet from the dwelling foundation. The tank is usually in front of the location where the waste stack (usually a 4" pipe) exits the dwelling (usually from the basement).
• Use a steel rod to probe the lawn for the solid surface of the tank. Once you have the approximate location of the edges of the tank, dig down and try to find a manhole, which is about 2 feet square.
• Since most septic tanks have two chambers, there are two manholes 4 feet apart. If you can find one, dig again 4 feet closer to (or away from) the house, and you will usually find the other.

Unfortunately, we have a deeply buried tank; the original septic contractor had to add a 5-foot extension ("riser"), which comes up from the tank. So there's really only one clean-out opening available without a major excavation to find the other manhole deep down...which explains why we need more frequent pump-outs. (It's not because we eat too much. What a relief.)