Let me begin by saying that my street is scheduled to receive a sewer line. I am 70 and the city tells me I will probably not live to see it.

Here goes. My parents bought this house in the 50's at which time it had no electricity and a "2 holer" built into the side of the barn. They added electricity. As well as adding electricity, I understand that they converted the "dug well" in the back yard to a cesspool in order to have bathrooms. I have had it pumped and it gives every appearance of being an old well, lined with fieldstone with a more recent "dome" at the top. There is no obvious build up on the walls. There is also a 15 foot deep dug well (same construction) in the front yard, more on that later. The rear well/cesspool is about 20 feet from the house, which has a rubble foundation (dates from 1770).

OK, the problem. The cesspool fills (2200 gallons) and never seems to fall. With effort, it can be made to overflow. I have had it pumped and tried a good batch of caustic soda. No help. it simply refills. There is a very small leaching field. Very small, I found pictures of myself at age 10 digging a ditch for it. That would be about 5 years after it was put in use, I would assume there was some trouble then.

What puzzles me. I have looked in the front well and found it to be dry (water table had fallen). The rear cesspool/well was at a level about 2 feet below grade. It would seem to me that if my problem were a high water table, I would be getting water through the field stone foundation, which I am not (some in the spring after snow melt).

If it was dug as a well, it should be into the water table. I should think that would be perfect. In exploration, I noticed that while my mother was still alive someone (professional) diverted the washer from a dry well to the septic, I plan to reverse that. Still, I understand the problem existed before that.

Any suggestions? Should I pump it again and try more caustic soda? Sneak in a back hoe under cover of darkness and increase the size of the overflow/leach field?

Please do not suggest a new septic system. I am amazed at the prices (low) I see on some forums. Most I know of have cost $25-30,000. Of course they must be inspected on sale in this state, so I imagine the contractors figure they have you over a barrel if you want to complete the sale. Might be less if it were voluntary. Of course, there is also that sewer coming (no help if I should decide to sell, I would still have to install a new septic system). Working cesspools are acceptable here.

 

Not a septic pro but I can give my two cents.

A septic tank normally will have water and "solids" in it at all times up to a certain point, two feet from the top sounds OK to me. This is where the magic happens and the bacteria will break down the solids to liquid which can then makes its way to the drain field. Your drain field is undersized, as you mentioned, which is why it will overflow when the water going in is greater than the water going out.

I would not use any more caustic soda as all that will do it kill the good bacteria doing its job in your tank. Repairing the drain field is the best option IMO but with how touchy cities are with septic systems now days I suspect they would make you upgrade the whole thing. $25 - $30K sounds high to me but prices vary greatly over the US.

 

It sounds like the builders never did a perc test. As I understand it & I'm opened for corrections, a perc test determines if the land can handle a septic system.

You could try to pump it again & use the chemical but I don't think that it will fix the existing problem.

 

There was no perc test, they just converted a dug well from the 1770's. It must be into the water table if I pump it dry, with one person living here (figure 20, 5 gallon flushes and 7 showers) I will gain 4-500 gallons in a week.

 

So the "problem" is having to pump out this wet cesspool too frequently ?

It's true that the "old-timers" used traditional ways to handle waste disposal; but I doubt whether they would ever consciously convert a wet water well, that had been a source of water, into a place to dispose of sewage, or what we often call a dry-well or cesspool. What you have is the diametric opposite of what would be normal.

Even they would locate these waste receptacles in the driest areas on the parcel . . . . just in order to maximize the life expectancy of that spot for the absorption of waste water disposal before an alternative location had to be located.

I think your water table is fluctuating and the location that you have been using is now being inundated naturally by the rising water table and by the sewage you've been adding to it.

While you wait for the new sewer line to be installed (if you can get away with it), you need to locate a dry spot where a replacement cesspool can be dug . . . . a place that starts out dry; not already saturated; meaning a place that will percolate.

I used to live in Massachusetts, and as a Real Estate Broker, have always considered the Mass Regulations to be even more restrictive than those here in Vermont . . . . so I can't speak to the legality of doing this; regardless of its practicality.

 

The cesspool has failed because the soil just outside has become less porous due to impregnation by grease and/or fine particulate matter. Cesspools are susceptible to this problem because during normal operation the water level keeps going up and down. The grease floats on top so the entire wall surface of the cesspool is vulnerable to covering with grease.

The small leach field you have was a stopgap remedy to the aforementioned problem, to take the overflow and give that another place to soak into the ground..

Since you mentioned that the backhoe would have to be brought in surreptitiously, that suggests to me that you are not permitted to dig another cesspool next to the existing failed one. In addition, some towns may require that a cesspool be replaced by a septic tank before the house can be sold.

 

Reading over my original post gave rise to a thought. If I have a picture of myself digging an overflow trench at age ten, that means the system was five years old. I have to conclude that it never really worked. It may be that a good location for a dug well does not "perc" ideally.

Still, I am confused that the well in the front yard (100 feet away) will be dry down to the bottom of 15 feet, while the well used as a cesspool will be two feet below grade. Any one in New England is familiar with "glacial erratics". The soil the glacier dumped in the front yard may be completely different from the soil in the back yard. Of course, what I don't know would fill volumes. Last year I opened the front well and found it 2 feet below grade. This is 15 feet from my basement, if the water table were that high, why wasn't my basement flooding? I pumped out the well and let it refill, it filled to about 7 feet below grade, or, a foot deeper than my basement floor. Why wasn't the well falling to the level of the water table?

 

Have you run a bacteria test on your potable water recently ?

With your two (2) wells so close together . . . . one actively drawing water from the water table, while the other one is dumping sewage into that same water table, it's hard to believe they haven't been cross contaminated ?

Here in Vermont, Shallow Wells (Springs) must be located at least 500' away from your own Leach Field, as well as any Neighbor's Leach Field . . . . just to avoid that specific issue. Drilled wells (under certain circumstances) can have an isolation radius as short as 100'.

Recognizing that you may not want to bring your own system into full compliance with the current Mass Regulations, you might still be interested in keeping your own drinking water free of this potential contamination . . . . jus think'n.

 

Have you run a bacteria test on your potable water recently ?

No, the wells are just leftovers from another age. I am on city water. Years ago, I dug up a wooden viaduct next to the rear well. Although it is far from the barns, it did run towards an old bull run. I expect that well was for animals. In our civil war it was a problem for cavalry that they could drink wells dry.