hey everyone, first time poster here but im at the end of my rope with my septic system. i live in a village of about 300 and everyone has a septic tank (not sure what size but it gets emptied once a year as part of our property tax), and we have a village sewer system that it gets pumped to. i have a Little Giant 1/2hp non-submersible pump that is in the basement. the suction and push lines are run thru the basement floor then to the pump. lately i have noticed the pump getting louder and taking longer to run its cycle. i opened the prime plug to see that it was a bit low. i fill it up but doesnt seem to keep prime and my pressure gage i have that is threaded to the top of the prime plug does not register little to no pressure. it still does empty the tank, but VERY slow. the pump is only 1 year old and i have changed the check valve, 2' foot piece of suction line that goes from pump to the 90 degree bend before going into the floor and all clamps. today, i took the pump to a professional and had him test it. he installed a second check valve that threads into suction side of pump. he said the suction is perfect and lots of pressure. i filled pump and it purred like a kitten....for about 1 min. i know it takes a few times to prime pump so i opened it up and filled it again....and again....and again....ect. its just as loud and still no pressure on the gage. can anyone suggest the next step to take? is it possible that the end of the suction line is being partially blocked?

 

Welcome to the forums.

Yeah....sick of septic just about says it all.

I'm trying to understand what you have there. Do you have a solids tank that gets emptied once a year and the liquids you pump to a community sewer system ?

Could the liquid line be getting partially clogged from a solid ?

 

I suspect that you have some type of sump pump. What makes you think it is connected to or involved with your septic system. I am also confused that you say you have a septic system and a village sewer system.

 

thanks for the reply!

it is a two compartment tank. waste flows into solid side of tank then when fluid rises it flows over to liquid side of tank. the entire tank gets pumped out once a year, however, the fluid side is hooked up to my septic pump and pushes fluid to the village sewer line when the float switch turns pump on. new problem as of last night though! prime doesnt seem to be the problem anymore. after running it for a while last night i opened the prime plug and water started seeping out as soon as i cracked the plug, so the pump is full. still running loud but did empty the tank to a safe level even though it took a long time. woke up this morning and checked the tank to see that it was full again, my water softener recharged last night and emptied to fill the tank to a level where the pump started. i ran it for about an hour but didnt lower the tank. i unplugged the pump and plugged it back in after a few mins, but now pump wont even start. not a sound. i tell ya, my user name says it all

 

Is your pump below the liquids tank ?

If it is .... you should have no trouble as it would be gravity feed.

Make sure the receptacle is live. If the pump is jammed it should just hum.

 

pump is in basement so it is above tank. receptical is live. i have septic company coming out to pump out tank for me so i can take pump down to the repair place to test it out. but if the pump is fried and i get a new one im scared that the problem will continue and ill ruin a new pump. at least with a completely empty tank i will have about a 4 day window before the level is high enough for the pump to start, giving me some time to figure out real problem.

 

hi folks -

sick I'm just a newbie with little knowledge, but could the problem be with what the pump is pumping into? In other words, is there a blockage in the piping from the fluid compartment side of the septic tank to the sewer line?

Just seems to me if the pump was trying to pump into a (partially?) blocked pipe(s) that would be a problem - but my gut feel is probably technically wrong in this case. lol

But good luck - these septic systems are scary.

 

if there was a blockage on the push side i think there would be alot of back pressure to the pump and the pressure gage would be high. im not showing any pressure on the gage at all, so i dont think thats the problem. then again, i dont know what the problem is.

 

I see what you mean. I didn't think about a gauge. Sure makes sense that there would be a gauge there. Guess you eliminated blockage then.

Weird problem, especially when the pump checks out good by a pump guy? What the heck is left to check?

Just thought of something - is there any way you are installing the pump wrong? I mean is there some subtlety that you don't know about, and for example, the pump is at the wrong place or the orientation is wrong or ??

(Just throwing things out here - you can ignore it all!!)

Hope it's something simple.

 

hey i appreciate any feedback! the pump has worked for the last 10 months fine and was only bought a year ago. i have an appointment to take it down friday to get the pump tore apart and see if anything has jammed the propeller to make it stop working all together. in the mean time, i was told after i take suction hose off of pump to put a garden hose down the line a bit and turn it on and see if the water fills the hose and if it does there is a blockage in the suction line. but what would make the pump just stop working all together is the newest sick twist. worst part is that my house is up for sale and hard to show when the basement smells of sewer when i keep taking the pump apart!

 

I see what you mean. A bummer. Murphy's law. Selling your home is stressful enough without having additional problems. Hope you get it solved soon without too much more trouble.

 

New problem. I need a new septic tank! nothing $9000 can't fix but there seem to be a clog in the suction line. I took off the pump and put a garden hose into suction line and it spit up at me right away. I looked down the line and it has not moved. Water right to top of line. It should have drained Into tank. It's a 1-1/4" poly line. Can I use a plumbers snake to find the clog? Shouldn't wreck line should it? Only good news is that I am getting this new tank and they are putting submersible pump in and I will have none of these problems again. Buuuuut that's not for another 2 weeks

 

You should be able to snake that out. It sounds like solids from the holding tank somehow got into the liquid tank. There may be some type of screen on the end of the suction line inside the tank that may keep you from snaking it out.

It almost seems like you could make up a garden hose fitting to adapt it to the suction line and then use the water pressure to unclog the line.

 

Why? What is wrong with the old??? Be aware of scams...

 

I had my tank emptied and the guy showed me the tank. The divider is concrete and has started to fall Into the tank. Big chunks of concrete.