Aerobic septic system problems leaking, bubbling
#1
09-21-14, 06:16 PM
Aerobic septic system problems leaking, bubbling
Hi, I had a pro flo 500slpt concrete aerobic system installed a little over a year ago a block or so from the Texas gulf coast.Elevation is 13' and the ground
is a non-draining clay.(it use to be a rice field!)
When it rains I have standing water slightly over the base of the access caps.It must be leaking in somewhere.I live in a pretty much permanent rv,collect my own water and use solar
for power.My set-up is unique. Normally the aerator is running and the alarm powered. In order to pump it out I have to fire up the generator as it has quite the power draw.I can pump it down when the alarm sounds and the 2 sprinkler heads can take over 2 hours to complete the job. 5 days later the alarm is going off and I have to repeat the process. I live alone and use very little water. On a very rainy day another week or so later I had all the breakers off during the day to conserve a little power. When I turn aerator and alarm on the alarm sounded.So as not to bother the neighbors I turned the alarm ONLY breaker off. The sprinklers
didn't start when I tried to pump it out. I went back and turned the alarm breaker on. I looked over the fence again and it was
bubbling/blowing out water I think....or maybe air?...on the concrete side from under the edge of the lid like a strong natural spring
(The installer backfilled the tank LEVEL and uncompacted so now with settling there is at least a foot of water all the way around system.) Water looked/smelled clean.
After a minute or two it stopped and the sprinklers kicked in.It wouldn't do anything without the alarm only breaker on which seems pretty weird.There is so much
standing water here it doesn't go up or down so even if water was gushing into it you wouldn't see a change in the water level. The bubbling water was coming out
by the outlet baffle I believe. I have a great photo with the standing water and the area the water was coming out circled but I can't seem to upload it here. My installer is let say.... an idiot.
He has never given me any record of maintenance,terms of contract or anything.I'm sure he hasn't been coming as often as he is required. I'm disabled and usually home.
He comes over,goes to the system and leaves when he's done! Never comes to the door. Then he sends me an email saying there was no power and the whimpy grass is too
tall. I was waiting for him to turn it on so I could show him what it was doing.
He wants 420.00 to fill in the dirt and put on 6" risers. I took a lot of photos when
he installed the system and one shows the risers sitting on the ground next to the tank! Guess he decided not to use them.Pretty sure I had already paid for those.
I researched about 50 things an installer is suppose to do on an install and he violated about 20. Two key ones that he should know after at least 20 years of doing
this are "The tank shall be designed and constructed so that all joints, seams, component parts, and fittings prevent groundwater from
entering the tank, and prevent wastewater from exiting the tank, except through
designed inlet and outlet openings." and
"The backfill material shall be
mounded over the excavated area so that the center of the backfilled area slopes down to
the outer perimeter of the excavated area to allow for settling."
Duh! Anyone that has dug a big hole knows to mound it because it will settle and this is far from his first install. I guess he figures this will be a way to make more money down the road.
I could fill in a 4" depression myself but this hole will take a dump truck full of sand or soil.
Oh yeah.....the system was NOT powered
for a year because the electrician installed breaker on generator powered only side.A maintenance provider coming every 4 months should have caught that. (In a year and a half he has never found it powered on yet he does nothing about it...like knock on the door for starters.)
I finally figured it out myself and corrected the electricians error. I would have figured it out long ago had I known it wasn't working.
How frustrating all this has been! I figure my next step is going to be getting the sand filled in myself and suing the contractor/installer for the actual cost of the service contract he didn't provide,the cost of the materials and labor that I had to provide to complete the job he should have done in the first place.
is a non-draining clay.(it use to be a rice field!)
When it rains I have standing water slightly over the base of the access caps.It must be leaking in somewhere.I live in a pretty much permanent rv,collect my own water and use solar
for power.My set-up is unique. Normally the aerator is running and the alarm powered. In order to pump it out I have to fire up the generator as it has quite the power draw.I can pump it down when the alarm sounds and the 2 sprinkler heads can take over 2 hours to complete the job. 5 days later the alarm is going off and I have to repeat the process. I live alone and use very little water. On a very rainy day another week or so later I had all the breakers off during the day to conserve a little power. When I turn aerator and alarm on the alarm sounded.So as not to bother the neighbors I turned the alarm ONLY breaker off. The sprinklers
didn't start when I tried to pump it out. I went back and turned the alarm breaker on. I looked over the fence again and it was
bubbling/blowing out water I think....or maybe air?...on the concrete side from under the edge of the lid like a strong natural spring
(The installer backfilled the tank LEVEL and uncompacted so now with settling there is at least a foot of water all the way around system.) Water looked/smelled clean.
After a minute or two it stopped and the sprinklers kicked in.It wouldn't do anything without the alarm only breaker on which seems pretty weird.There is so much
standing water here it doesn't go up or down so even if water was gushing into it you wouldn't see a change in the water level. The bubbling water was coming out
by the outlet baffle I believe. I have a great photo with the standing water and the area the water was coming out circled but I can't seem to upload it here. My installer is let say.... an idiot.
He has never given me any record of maintenance,terms of contract or anything.I'm sure he hasn't been coming as often as he is required. I'm disabled and usually home.
He comes over,goes to the system and leaves when he's done! Never comes to the door. Then he sends me an email saying there was no power and the whimpy grass is too
tall. I was waiting for him to turn it on so I could show him what it was doing.
He wants 420.00 to fill in the dirt and put on 6" risers. I took a lot of photos when
he installed the system and one shows the risers sitting on the ground next to the tank! Guess he decided not to use them.Pretty sure I had already paid for those.
I researched about 50 things an installer is suppose to do on an install and he violated about 20. Two key ones that he should know after at least 20 years of doing
this are "The tank shall be designed and constructed so that all joints, seams, component parts, and fittings prevent groundwater from
entering the tank, and prevent wastewater from exiting the tank, except through
designed inlet and outlet openings." and
"The backfill material shall be
mounded over the excavated area so that the center of the backfilled area slopes down to
the outer perimeter of the excavated area to allow for settling."
Duh! Anyone that has dug a big hole knows to mound it because it will settle and this is far from his first install. I guess he figures this will be a way to make more money down the road.
I could fill in a 4" depression myself but this hole will take a dump truck full of sand or soil.
Oh yeah.....the system was NOT powered
for a year because the electrician installed breaker on generator powered only side.A maintenance provider coming every 4 months should have caught that. (In a year and a half he has never found it powered on yet he does nothing about it...like knock on the door for starters.)
I finally figured it out myself and corrected the electricians error. I would have figured it out long ago had I known it wasn't working.
How frustrating all this has been! I figure my next step is going to be getting the sand filled in myself and suing the contractor/installer for the actual cost of the service contract he didn't provide,the cost of the materials and labor that I had to provide to complete the job he should have done in the first place.
#2
09-23-14, 04:03 PM
update
The bubbling is caused by the aerator running (and because the whole tank is full of water) Groundwater is coming in at two access covers at least. You can see it bubbling around the edge of the covers. A very little bit of bubbling also coming out under the control box. Pointless to run aerator or pump it out until ground water goes down at least 6" or it will just fill back up. I thought these tanks were suppose to be "sealed"?
#3
09-24-14, 04:44 AM
Was a percolation test conducted before that site was selected for your waste water disposal ?
It sounds like the water table was always quite high, especially if it was once a rice paddy.
It sounds like the water table was always quite high, especially if it was once a rice paddy.
#5
09-25-14, 04:53 AM
Originally Posted by hackman22
". . . He had one done 5 miles from here 6 month earlier and was able to use that . . ."
Our Permitting process requires that perc tests be performed within the immediate absorption area . . . . 25-100 feet, and that the plan for new construction include both a Primary and a Secondary (for future use) leach field to be laid out at the site. Elevated water tables will render a site unusable (worthless for anything other than a hunting camp) or possibly require a mound system.
Did the Contractor pull a Permit for your System ?
Maybe they're not required where you are ?
Last edited by Vermont; 09-25-14 at 05:14 AM.
#6
09-25-14, 05:29 PM
The perc tests will show that the water drains very slowly here which is why an aerobic system is the only one you can install here. If you don't have enough acreage then you can only install a holding tank. (I only have 50'x200' lot so it doesn't take much) They are a bit lax on the rules around here at least between the permit guy and the installer. Probably known each other 20 yrs. or so. He did get a permit. From all the research I've done lately it appears to me he should have put risers on in the original install. The tank is almost perfectly level with the ground. Risers should have been installed and then the system backfilled,mounded, so that it would be the highest area on the lot not the lowest. It wouldn't surprise me if he always does this so he can come back in a year and make more money. Why else would the risers be on the job site,out of the box yet not installed. Proflo want's to here from him before getting back to me....What's he going to say "I didn't do it correctly?" lol I guess I need to hire a third party to inspect it.
