Septic tank flooding with water

Ballfro

Hi all,
Not sure if this is right forum so feel free to move.
OK so house is ten years old and septic tank is same. It is emptied every three years but we are having a serious problem. Due to position of our house we gather quite a lot of rain and the garden and yard often flood and lately has been particularly bad. This leads to tank filling with water. Toilets tend to block up but i noticed yesterday that the manhole cover, which is away from tank, was raised and some nasty stuff was spilling out. I am at a loss where to start.
We will be digging up our yard in summer and re surfacing and will install new drains to divert flow of rain water to lessen flooding but will thisbe enough. My OH thinks so but i don't know. He worked in construction for years so he is knowledgeable but septic tanks are a different story. Will this work? What can we do inmeantime? Tank was just emptied in august so that can't be it. Please help i am at my wit's end.
Thank you.

Sir Arthur Daley

A tank can fill in no time if the shower and sink waste is going into it as i have seen in several cases, i think you need to do some serious remedial work to correct this issue.

Ballfro

WikiHow wrote: »

A tank can fill in no time if the shower and sink waste is going into it as i have seen in several cases, i think you need to do some serious remedial work to correct this issue.

I don't doubt it just wondering where to start!

Sir Arthur Daley

Ballfro wrote: »

I don't doubt it just wondering where to start!

What type of septic tank have you?

gman2k

WikiHow wrote: »

A tank can fill in no time if the shower and sink waste is going into it as i have seen in several cases, i think you need to do some serious remedial work to correct this issue.

Shower and sink waste water go to foul drain and then to septic tank.
They are not permitted to go to an untreated soakaway.

Sir Arthur Daley

gman2k wrote: »

Shower and sink waste water go to foul drain and then to septic tank.
They are not permitted to go to an untreated soakaway.

Did i state somewhere that they are permitted?

rayjdav

WikiHow wrote: »

A tank can fill in no time if the shower and sink waste is going into it as i have seen in several cases, i think you need to do some serious remedial work to correct this issue.

If you think this is the issue, where do you suggest the shower and sink water goes???:eek:

The recent weather will have saturated the sub soils, that is more than likely your initial problem. Can you not use the reserve percolation area? You will need to empty your tank immediately as over-flow of sewage is not the best thing to be seeing, especially if there are kids around..;)

You can easily install perforated land drains to divert the surface water only to a new soakpit. Easy job. Install a few ACO drains or similar to the yard also. This will help greatly.

Sir Arthur Daley

rayjdav wrote: »

If you think this is the issue, where do you suggest the shower and sink water goes???:eek:

The OP said their house is 10 years old, 10 years ago i saw several installations where the sinks waste went straight into a soakway, i saw in a few cowboy cases where they piped it straight into a stream. :eek:

gman2k

WikiHow wrote: »

Did i state somewhere that they are permitted?

Your post seemed to suggest that shower and basins going to septic tank was not correct. Sorry if I picked you up wrong.

PaleRider

Hi
You are right to check up on this problem. It's very difficult to advice at a distance. A professional site assessor should be contacted - lists available from Co Councils - websites etc. In general it would be normal for a six person house to empty tank every year. (General Advice) Showers sinks go into tank.

1. Divert all surface water to drains - discharging away from property
2. Can you post some photos.
3. It 's is most likely that surface water is entering tank.
4. Have a drainage contractor - experienced landscaper with percolation / septic tank experience involved with this problem.
5. Fence this whole area from children - dogs walking on it. This ground is contaminated.
6. Have this proposed work supervised by a suitable person. (Possibly Site Assessor)
7. If your tank plastic it could be going buoyant when there is flood conditions. This includes piping entering - existing tank.

Post some photos if you can.

These problems can be very difficult to solve. Get as much advice as you can. Is your house garden on a flat site. Does rain - surface water enter tank.

Check that this is not the case.

Ballfro

Hi all,
Thank you for your help. Well tank is going to be emptied at weekend, i rang them yesterday. We are re doing our yard, not garden, in early summer so drains etc are scheduled for then. Area around manhole is cordoned off, no kids only dog and he is just being allowed in front garden.
Our house is down a small lane and is right in a dip. There is a little hill to the right and all water runs down into our place. Also guttering empties rain into part of garden too.
If you can imagine this, i step out back door ane step down into yard which has just stones at minute. To get onto grass area i step up again. The yard area is quite low and this always floods when it rains heavily. The water has nowhere to go. The manhole that has 'popped' up is in this area also.
I am so sick of it and it's causing me sleepless nights! I want it fixed once and for all.

yettie1701

Ballfro wrote: »

Hi all,
Thank you for your help. Well tank is going to be emptied at weekend, i rang them yesterday. We are re doing our yard, not garden, in early summer so drains etc are scheduled for then. Area around manhole is cordoned off, no kids only dog and he is just being allowed in front garden.
Our house is down a small lane and is right in a dip. There is a little hill to the right and all water runs down into our place. Also guttering empties rain into part of garden too.
If you can imagine this, i step out back door ane step down into yard which has just stones at minute. To get onto grass area i step up again. The yard area is quite low and this always floods when it rains heavily. The water has nowhere to go. The manhole that has 'popped' up is in this area also.
I am so sick of it and it's causing me sleepless nights! I want it fixed once and for all.

Hi. I had the same problem a couple years back. The percolation area or lack of it turned out to be my biggest problem. Or lack of it. A lot if houses built circa 10 years ago used a soak hole instead of a percolation area. I got a guy who specialises in percolation and septic tanks to look at it and complete the remedial works. Took three days they did a great job no problems since. Not sure what I'm allowed to say regarding pointing you in the right direction as to where I came across him. Mine got so bad we couldn't let the kids outside. He did recommend putting the sink and washing machine into a separate tank to keep them away from the sewerage altogether because they are the main cause of the whole thing choking up. You shouldn't have to clean out your tank very much if its working properly. We have not needed to do it for 3 years now so the job is paying for itself.

gman2k

yettie1701 wrote: »

.... I got a guy who specialises in percolation and septic tanks to look...... He did recommend putting the sink and washing machine into a separate tank...

He specialises in doing things wrong and against the law so.

yettie1701

gman2k wrote: »

He specialises in doing things wrong and against the law so.

And what law is that. If you know so much please show us the legislation that makes this against the law.

gman2k

yettie1701 wrote: »

And what law is that. If you know so much please show us the legislation that makes this against the law.

http://www.epa.ie/pubs/advice/water/wastewater/code%20of%20practice%20for%20single%20houses/Code%20of%20Practice%20Part%201%202010.pdf
Wastewater: The discharge from sanitary appliances, e.g. toilets, bathroom fittings, kitchen sinks,
washing machines, dishwashers, showers, etc
Pg 10
Under no circumstances should rainwater, surface water or run-off from paved areas be discharged to on-site single-house treatment systems. However, grey waters (washing machine, baths, showers, etc.) must pass to the treatment system
You're welcome.

yettie1701

gman2k wrote: »

http://www.epa.ie/pubs/advice/water/wastewater/code%20of%20practice%20for%20single%20houses/Code%20of%20Practice%20Part%201%202010.pdf
Wastewater: The discharge from sanitary appliances, e.g. toilets, bathroom fittings, kitchen sinks,
washing machines, dishwashers, showers, etc
Pg 10
Under no circumstances should rainwater, surface water or run-off from paved areas be discharged to on-site single-house treatment systems. However, grey waters (washing machine, baths, showers, etc.) must pass to the treatment system
You're welcome.

I'm ever so grateful for the enlightenment. Thank you awfully. All working well in my house all the same everything going in the right direction. And couldn't be bothered going into more detail. But I can assure you all is above board and totally legal.

baby fish

yettie1701 wrote: »

He did recommend putting the sink and washing machine into a separate tank to keep them away from the sewerage QUOTE]

What is wrong with this?

install two septic tanks beside each other, one is dedicated to just receiving the waste from all of the toilets, the second tank receives waste water from sinks, showers and washing machines. Obvious Disadvantage with this method is there is approx double the labour and materials cost to get to the tanks when compared to having the normal one tank with everything going into that.

plumb the waste from both tanks into the same distribution box and then everything goes into the same percolation area.

same result at the end of the day...

So what is wrong with this if you are prepared to pay the extra money

Some people do this because the septic tank with just toilet waste going into it will work better , the anaerobic bacteria will have longer to break down the waste as there is not the same volume of water entering the tank and the is also no detergents going in to the tank.

I have seen this done.


Now here is the bit I'm not so sure about:rolleyes:

What happens if the percolation area is used solely for the tank with toilet waste only .... and the second tank with sink, shower etc goes to a soak pit?

There is a name on different waste water, I cant remember what they are, am I correct in saying waste toilet water is foul water while the waste from sink, showers etc is grey water

I haven't read the EPA document. I probably wont either. but does anyone who is familiar with it know if it states in there how to threat grey water if it has been separated from the foul water?

As far as I was aware, it is ok to use a soak pit with grey water as long as the second septic tank has been used ?