It is always important to be safe and remember Inspectors should not enter the septic tank to look for cracks. Tank interiors are very dirty and entrance should be avoided. If a crack is present, it will likely be at the level of the effluent, which will have drained from the tank through the crack. It is also important to remember if a septic tank shows signs of weakness, tread with caution! Collapse can be fatal. Beware of tanks with rusting metal, homemade lids, or anything else that appears unstable. Always remember safety first.
I completed a visual inspection of this system of a three bedroom home. I then found and opened the tank to check the scum and solid levels in the inlet side of the septic tank found good levels. Tank was pumped six months prior to my inspection. Upon completed visual inspection of the system, I found no problems.
How to locate a septic tank. Contact the local health department to get an as-built. If they have nothing on record you can look for the greenest grass or the use a probe rod to help locate the system. Once you think you found the tank use a shovel to be sure you have located the system. once found a inspector should never inter the tank do to fumes inside can be deadly.
After reading the two articles on septic systems and looking at several pictures, it seems to me that a septic systems is a highly expensive system to have. What are the benefits to having one? Other than location.
Here is a image of my own D box in my septic system. I found it by a push rod method locating the corners and dug it out. I discovered it to be very shallow with less than 12 inches of overburden.
I selected to study septic tanks for research and after reviewing different tank styles my observation / comments are:
Tank leveling methods seem to be a critical install factor. If they are done sloppy at build time the system starts at risk and may not be noticed for the first two to five years up to the first septic tank pumping. I do not recall any checkpoint in the course that says the health department checks for a level tank. I think this is a primary single point of failure between owner, builder, and governing body.
When opening up the tank for inspection and you determine fluid level is off norms for the T and outlet can you assume the tank top is built flat to expose enough of it to sight a builders level to check on tank settling?
I have attached an image of a leaking plumbing system found in an older home. This was not part of a septic inspection, but rather part of the over all home inspection. As seen in the photo, the cast iron/copper piping has visible leaks that have allowed raw sewage to collect in the crawlspace, allowing for an unsanitary condition and health concerns. This was documented in the report and further evaluation by a qualified plumber was recommended to determine appropriate repairs needed. These conditions are why a home inspection is so important, so they can be remedied and unsanitary conditions are resolved prior to the new buyer assuming possession of the home. If left in the current state of disrepair, a bigger leak may result, and the entire crawlspace may become filled with raw sewage.
I am writing a short essay regarding baffles in a septic tank. Inlet and outlet baffles play a vital role in the overall performance of a septic system. The inlet baffles main purpose is to direct flow from the house sewer downward into the tank to create a longer detention time for the sewage to allow settling of solids, and to keep the floating scum layer from plugging the inlet pipe. The outlet baffles main purpose is to prevent solids on top from floating out the into the d-box and into the leach field. Of the 2 baffles, the outlet is the most important and must be in place for the system to have any chance of not failing prematurely. Baffles made of metal can rust away, concrete baffles can fall off under their own weight. The best baffles are made from pvc plastic and are in the shape of a T, allowing the baffles to be inspected for blockage and cleaned if needed.
This post is for the conclusion of the How to Inspect Septic Systems. The attached photo is a routine maintenance inspection and pumping of a septic tank. Regular maintenance and inspection of this type of system is very important.
The picture in the attachment is a stock photo but it represents what happened
a few years ago at the fire station i have been working at . This station is i rural
part of town and is supplied by rural water but no sewer. we had one of our personnel park a full size pick up on the septic tank lid and it gave way and we almost lost a truck. After we called the septic service to come out and repair the tank we got to see the full extent of the damage. The tank had been installed in the late 70s and had very little maintenance and it showed. The septic service pumped the tank and replaced the lid with a new access cover for ease of pumping.The septic service stated that it was a good installation and the only saving grace was the high perc soil and the large drain field.
This particular system had worked well in spite if its lack of maintenance
Lesson learned some times over engineering has its advantages.
This course really helped me with a better understanding of septic systems and all their components. In my previous job i had a class D sewage license and i have a good understanding of sewage systems and lagoons . This was a great refresher on systems, soil conditions, defects and reporting it has better prepared me to be a better inspector.
Thanks Steve Burgan
The inspection of the septic system is a visual inspection only. It consists of running a significant amount of water through the system and observing the fixtures for drainage and the drain field for overflow. This is a very basic inspection and does not assure that the system has not failed. We always recommend a septic company inspect the system or have the owner provide documents that pumping and inspection have been performed. An aerobic waste water system is a 3 or 4 tank system with an air pump to break down wastes. This system may not have a drain field. This type of system requires a regular maintenance program by a licensed septic company.
Disclosure I use for inspecting septic systems.
This was an great course on the inspection of septic systems and there are several take away(s) I will use in my reporting and educating my clients on their septic systems.
for example: Using water softeners with salt. This may erode the systems with concrete.
I found how living in a large metropolitan area can hamper your efforts to obtain septic components. The road trip to find this d box only ended up in blank stares as I discussed my joy of learning all one needs to know regarding the dirty business of septic systems. I have included an often unseen component of the system, a D box. This guy allows the junction between wastewater drain pipes and leaching system.It’s molded to handle 8 leach field pipes and claims to operate at Fifteen below zero. It’s new and clean but once buried my be unseen.
Like most things in life, it’s financially more prudent to maintain a septic system than to be spend thousands replacing components or the system itself after they have failed. Best practices include having the tank pumped every 3-5 years depending on usage. Using water responsibly and keeping items such as dental floss, feminine hygiene products, condoms, diapers, cotton swabs, etc out of your system will extend the life and effectiveness of your system.
This toilet is continually running. A continually running toilet will add more water usage to a septic system. Creating more burden on the system which could cause failure. Any leaking or inefficient fixtures should be fixed or replaced.
The article I read was “Septic System Inspections”. The article touches on the importance of keeping systems away from well water, and streams. I find the easiest way to do this is to contact the local authority, and getting a letter of conformance. It helps reduce the liability and gives some history for the home inspector wishing to inspect septic systems.
The images posted here are of two distribution boxes. One is before an installation the other is after installation, in use. The distribution box or also referred to as the D-box is found after the treatment tank in a system. The effluent that flows from or pumped from the treatment tank is distributed through this box evenly throughout the absorption field.
For this research exercise I chose an image from the inspection gallery of a septic treatment tank. In this image the there zones of waste are depicted starting with the sludge layer, which is the solids that have settled to the bottom for decomposition. The middle layer is the clear water layer free of solids, and the top layer is the scum layer. The barriers at the inlet and the outlet are called baffles. The inlet baffle is used to direct the flow of the wastewater down thus by giving the solids a chance to settle to the bottom of the tank or float to the top of the tank. The outlet baffle prevents the scum and any solids from flowing out to absorption field and also allows solids more time to settle to the bottom.
I have witnessed firsthand on how a mistreated and neglected septic system can cause problems for the home owner and be very costly to repair as well. Growing up in our family home our septic system backed up into our basement. Our first thought was that there must be something blocking the line to the septic tank. However after we took off the septic tank cover we notice that the tank was completely full of effluent, which at the time I didn’t know the proper name. After a more in-depth analysis we visualized that the perforated drain pipes that were used in our leach field were completely plugged up. We didn’t end up having to replace the tank which was still in good shape, but did end up digging up and replacing the leach field. The course I thought overall was very informative and even went into new updated and avenues regarding new technology.
I just read the article on sewer gases which was very informative. I previously knew that sewer gases were explosive and deadly, but I didn’t realize the number of side effects that were contributed also to the gases.
