I have an old septic tank system that has only needed the tank pumped out about every three years and the drain field replaced every 12 years or so. I just replaced the drain field because water was bubbling out of the top of the septic tank. It is still doing the same thing. I watched the crew open the tank and pump it out. The field was replaced while I was at work. I am on a lot next to the marsh and across the street from the ocean. I have never had this problem before, at least not after the replacement of the drain field. Could the ground be saturated and clogged? I thought that the drain field would take care of that by replacing the old "clogged" rock bed with a new one. Any suggestions?
Thank you.
Stokes

 

I would call the company that installed it back. Was there permits taken out? The board of health would not approve it without a perc test from what I know.

 

Do you have a traditional system or something higher tech like a mound system?

 

Thanks for the feedback. My dad and I put the tank in back in 1964. Standard system. Drain field is short but has extra width. It was permitted and has been working fine until this last problem. To my knowledge, nothing has changed, in use or number of users. Also, cannot figure how the tank filled up so fast to back up. It was pumped dry Wednesday morning before the drain field was started (I saw it.) and there was bubbling by Wednesday night.

 

Something is going on. I find it almost impossible for a tank, I'm asuming 1'000 gallons, to fill in about 12 hours unless you turned a faucet on and let it run continuously.

What do you mean when you say "before the drain field was started"?

When the house & septic was permitted back in 1964 how many bedrooms did the house have? Has the house been expanded?

When the tank was pumped how did the effluent look? Did the pumper make any comments about it? Do you know if you have a filter on the outlet of the septic tank?

 

Are you also on a well for water ?
Drilled, dug ?
Trying to figure if your water table level has changed..
Dig a 1'x1' hole beside your septic field to check for water level ?

 

You seem to have multiple issues because even pumping out the tank every three years is a lot unless you have a very small tank.