Lawrosa/Mike NJ

I live just below you in Ocean County and I have 2 seepage pits that are failing (One more then the other). My system goes to a single chamber septic tank, to a box that splits to each seepage tank.

I have been reading this thread and it’s very encouraging for those that do not have 10k to 20k for a new system. I am going to try what you have done. I do have access to both seepage tanks via a 4 inch pipe to the surface. I was going to aerate on and see how that goes before doing the other.

Do you have any suggestions on the equipment that you listed and are using in this thread, or would you have bought anything different. Is the Difusser 12 inches or 24?

Thank you in advanced,
Mike D

Here is the original thread.

http://www.doityourself.com/forum/we...lp-advice.html

 

My diffuser is 12". I recommend one for each tank. Plus a bigger pump. I will link what I suggest in a few minutes.

 

I bought one of these. You should buy two. They are priced $13 higher then when I bought them. I pull the air stick out and wipe it off on ocassion.

Air Stick Diffuser

I would get the hakko 40l. I have the 25l that puts out 1 cfm. The 40l puts out 2 cfm so two air sticks are needed.

Hakko HK40L - Hakko Air Pump Line

It states this in the aire stick description that a 1/2" manifold min. is needed.

Also when you start aeration go to the home store and dunp one gallon in each pit off pequa super cess flo. Its peroxide and will start the aeration process faster.

Products

 

Lawrosa,

Thank you for your quick reply.
I was about to order what you suggested when I came across this site that had full kits.

Please look at this and tell me if this is too much pump for what I am going to do.

HAKKO HK-60 Air Pump Kit w/ Alumina Airstones - Hakko Air Pumps & Kits

It is going to go directly into the seepage tanks. They are totally filled.
I stuck a 8 1/2 foot pole down the 4 inch view pipe and I was just hitting the soft stuff at the bottom. I need to get a longer pole so I can actually hit the bottom. I figure the bottom is around 10 feet from the surface. I also did dump 5 cans of the oxy stuff from the Dollar store just for kicks. It did stir some things up ans released a little solids.

 

Too much pump IMO. The air stones will clogg and or break. I had them. Garbage... Mine broke and clogged in one week.

The sticks you can pull and wipe. Made of plastic and rubber...

Just my recommendation.

 

Have to agee with Lawrosa. Airstones are a waste of time and money for septic aeration. I have two 12" rubber diffusers- much better than the airstones I had. Easy to remove and clean if needs be.

I'd also agree that a 60 lpm air pump might be too big. Make sure to get an air bleed valve to give you the option to reduce flow if you do decide to go with it.

 

Lawrosa,

OK, I went with your recommendation on both the pump and the air sticks. I ordered them yesterday and hopefully they will be here some time next week. I will still have to go to the Home store to get the hoses and Cess-flo.

I am crossing my fingers that this will work out. I will also keep you updated on my progress here on this thread.

Thanks for your help.

Mike D

 

Are you able to pump your pits?

If so I would pump septic and pits. have the pumper break up the bottom biomat and have the sides/holes power washed.

Thats your best chance IMO..... but you can just through the sticks in there if you want to wing it.

My issue was I could not pump my pit.....

Also its important to get a filter in your outlet to the septic. Not sure what you have as an outlet...

 

I received my pump and air stick diffusers last week and went to the Home store to pick up the hoses and couplers that I needed to attach everything together.

Saturday I installed everything and drop the 2 air sticks down the 4 inch view ports, buried the hose, and placed the pump in my crawl space and started the newly installed aeration system up.
Lots and lots of bubbles, I did notice that one of the tanks had a lot of foam bubbling to the top. I am thinking that since that was the tank that I dump 5 boxes of the oxy clean stuff from the dollar store that it may have had some sort of soap additive in it.

I did not pump the septic tank out or the pits either. I am not sure they would be able to power wash the pits, as there is only a 4 inch access hole on the top of them. I did stick a 10 ft. pole in them and loosened up as much of the bottom as I could.

When I started the aeration process up, I did notice the septic smell, oh and what a smell it was. This morning I did check the pits and it seems to me that the water has dropped a couple of inches and not as much stink as the day before.

My wife just called me and we just had a massive down pour of rain at our home today. She checked the rain gauge in her garden, and it reads just over 4 inches. One of the problems I have is that the septic is in my back yard, and when we do get big down pours, it does seem to pool up and it seem to be the low point of our yard and our neighbors too. She didn’t want to step thru the settling water to check, but I am sure the water level is back up. We also had a lot of rain here on Friday too. I am also thinking that I may have a thick bio mat that may be causing the surface rain water not to drain quickly. I am hoping with time that the aeration will solve my seepage pit drainage issue and spread to the surrounding area in the back yard.

I will keep you updated.

 

Yes keep us updated. Take some pics too. Always nice to see...

 

Here are some pictures of the Aeration project.



The beginning of the issue. You can see the nice green patch I had most of the winter, as you can see the trees have no leaves on them yet, but I do have a nice green spot.



I placed the air pump in my crawl space.




I buries the air lines to both seepage tanks and back to the crawl space located behind the grill. (the green cover) You can also see the two 4 inch view ports of my seepage tanks. The view port closest to the side walk/house is to the inlet baffle of the septic tank.



Just a view of how the back slops down from the other yards over my system. when we get heavy down pours of rain, the water tends to puddle up a few inches to make a nice pond

 

Interesting.


1) You should get some top soil and try to take out that dip, or water pooling spots.

2) Did you uncover the D box? If one side is wet and not the other, possibly the d box is clogged???

But I know you said there is effluent in both tanks.


Why are you buying the OXY clean? What did 5 boxed cost?


IMO the cess flo or the pool stuff 27% peroxide is best....

 

Also what about an outlet filter???? Is that septic port out or in?????

 

I did think about getting some top soil and try to level it out a bit, but if this aeration doesn’t to the trick, I might be digging up my back yard to add a third tank and I will use the extra dirt that I would be removing for the tank.

I had the D box dug up last year. Last year we had to replace both baffles in the septic tank. It’s a single chamber tank that had cement baffles. When we had the tank pump out, this is when we saw that they decayed and fell apart. We also had a crushed pipe going from the D box to one of the seepage tanks. They replaced the old baffles with PVC Tee pipes at the inlet and outlet and replaced the crush pipe near the D box. They also emptied as much as they could from the seepage tanks and inserted some sort of rod down into them and injected forced air into the bottom. I think it was to try to crack up the bio mat at the base of the tanks. He also added some powdery stuff in the tanks that made lots of bubbles and stirred up the solids that where in the tanks. I think that was hydrogen peroxide of some sort.

After watching what I paid him $3800 to do, I could have done the same thing for a lot cheaper. Basically he pumped out the tanks and replaced the baffles with PVC piping and sealed it with quikrete. It seemed to be ok for about a year, and then we started seeing a lot of green around the one seepage tank. Before we had the repairs, it was backing up at the septic tank.

As for your other question about the OXY clean, I bought it at the Dollar store. $1 for a 16ounce box, I dump 5 boxes in there to see a bubble show.

 

"Also what about an outlet filter???? Is that septic port out or in?????"


I am not sure what you mean by this question, but here is a link to the type of single chamber septic tank I have.

http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthserv...mpartment.ashx

 

Get you tank pumped and get a filter in the outlet tee asap. You most likly are getting solids out to the pits. To make any headway that needs to stop.




I get from here. I use the yellow one.

SIM/TECH's Disposable Filters

 

Also after he pumps the tank get the two pits pumped too.. Just my opinion.

This way when the septic fills back up, and with the filter in place, the pits will fill with cleaner effluent.

Then aerate as the pits are filling. When they get filled up again I would spend the 100 bucks on 4 gallons of cess flo and dump two in each tank....

They sell at the home stores.



This is your best and only chance IMO of restoring your field.

 

Well, it’s been almost a week since I installed the aeration system in my seepage tanks and I am starting to see results. I measure from the top of the view port to the water line and notice a 12 inch drop. This is with all the rain we had this week and the pooling of water with the heavy down pour a few days ago. We haven’t changed our water usage either. (It’s kind of hard as we are a family of 6)

There is no more smell when I open the view ports, so I do believe that this is working. I am going to pull the diffuser sticks out either tonight when I get home from work or tomorrow to wipe them down. I will take picture then.

I am really trying not to dig up my back yard and installing any more view ports or and access lid to the septic tank as it sits right outside my sliding glass back door. I rather keep that under the grass. If by next week I still see the water level dropping, I will be lowering my view ports in to the ground and install some kind of valve box cover so it is flush with the ground. (I have visions of my son whacking them with the lawn mower)

Orbit Pro 10" Round Green Irrigation Valve Box, Sprinkler Valves Cover


At this point I am not going to install the filter as I do not have easy access to the outlet baffle. I will look around again for the Cess-flo. I did look at both Home stores in my area and neither of them sold that product. I did try to order it online, but the place I ordered it from canceled the order.

Gatzies - Super Cess-Flo Septic Tank Cleaner (Pack of 4)

I think they are selling it too cheap for 4 bottles, but they still haven’t fixed it on their website.

I am still considering getting all tanks pump out, but as of right now, I am happy with the results that I am seeing, and money is starting to getting limited. If I understand things right about what I have research on the web, I think that what ever solids that are in the seepage tanks should get eaten up by the new type of bacteria. I will keep you updated.

 

here are pictures that I took on Saturday when I pull the air sticks out to wipe them down.

 

Thats great... Do you let them lay on the bottom of the tank or do they stay vertical? Mine lays on the bottom...

Also do you have a dip stick, and how is the progress going?

Like I said most important is to try to get an outlet filter if you can...

IMO you will see results and dont give up...

 

I think I have the stick vertical. I can't see the bottom, but when it felt like they hit the the bottom, that is when I stop lowering them down. I was also thinking that if I was to lay them down, that it might be less affective as the holes on the bottom wouldn't escape.

I do not have a good dip stick to use, what I have been doing for now is sticking a tape measure down the pipe and measure from the top of the water to the top of the pipe.

As for the outlet filter, I do not have access to it, and I am not sure how often you would need to clean it if I was able to get one in. I will have to reconsider installing one if I have to dig up the septic again if I stop seeing results of the water dropping from the seepage tanks.