We just bought my grandparents farm. They lived here for over 70 years.

The septic we have found out was placed in an old well. All the years my grandparents lived here we never noticed any back ups or sulfur smells. Now that we live here going on 4 months... the smell is getting worse and the back ups are too.

I notice that the soap suds back up and gurgle in the toilet and in the shower and sink in the bathroom. The strong sulfur smell is in the bathroom only after the back ups. I also notice more suds back up when using the Tide free detergent.

This is a very nice old house... we are clueless as to where to start to solve this problem. My husband is not as worried as I am... I feel like that much sulfur smell can not be good. Can anyone help?

You HAVE to get that waste water system redone. It doesn't even come up to the level of an inadequate septic system. Running sewage into a well is dangerous, illegal and immoral. You are polluting the groundwater. If you have a well for your domestic water supply you should have it tested IMMEDIATELY. Even if it doesn't show up contaminated, you have no idea how far the problem will flow underground. Your neighbors could easily be affected. Many places, if this came to the attention of the authorities, you wouldn't have a choice of when or how to get it remedied either. You also could be liable for cleanup and containment depending on the severity of the problem and your location.

As to the problems in the house showing up only after you have moved in, I have seen this multiple times. The elderly people don't use large amounts of water because they grew up with a different mentality of what cleanliness and necessities are. When the younger people take over the house they shower every day, they wash their clothing after wearing it once, they wash towels and such after one use, they get a dishwasher, on and on. They use many times more water than the previous owner and the waste system, which wasn't designed for the greater load, can't keep up.

Yes, that smell and the suds backing up are not good things. They are indications of bad plumbing too. Most likely the drains are not adequate for the loads or possibly partially clogged and the vents are inadequate, clogged or even possibly non-existent.

You are going to have to get that house upgraded. Start getting estimates. I live in an old house too. I know what it's like.

I can speak to the detergent suds problem from another angle. Years ago we bought a new automatic washer and soon noticed that we were getting soap residue on our clothing. We called the machine manufacturer and they said to wash our clothes for a week or two without ANY detergent. They told us that the manufacturers recommended amount of detergent is usually way too much. It is calculated to cover worst case situations and sell product. Sure enough the problem disappeared and we spend less on our laundry now. We are using about a quarter to a third of the recommended amount of detergent and our clothes are quite clean.

If you need more info, reply to this thread and I will see it.

I completely understand about the septic system. I was shocked to find out where it was located... I had no idea until we had moved in that it was set up in that manner. The only plus side to it is that we are in the middle of 60 acres and have city water... so as of right now we are the only ones affected by it's poor set up. I will be getting estimates asap.

As for the water consumption comparison between elderly and us... completely agree! I had been telling myself that had to make a difference but still wasn't 100 % positive.

Thanks for the info about the washer! That makes perfect sense. I have on occasions had soap suds still in the washer after the cycles... I assumed my washer was going bad but did not worry too much because it was touch and go. Now I am thinking it is at times I am using different amounts of the soap. I have a newborn and my cloths diapers that I use state to use 1/4 of the detergent usually used so the fibers of the cloth diaper are not damaged. Those are the good loads! Makes a lot of sense.

Thanks for the posting!!

crosscountry,

Best of luck with all that you will need to do to bring the place up to standards. Remember that what you do you will also affect those who will live there after you. In other words, do it right the first time. :-)

As I said in my last post, what you are dumping in that well is affecting anyone and anything that uses that aquifer, not just you. Make it first priority to fix that, even over niceitys that would possibly have more immediate appeal.

For your child's sake (and yours too), definitely find out how LITTLE detergent you can use. Our family doctor gave us that little bit of wisdom with our first child almost 30 years ago, although the issue then was the low phosphate detergents. He was concerned with skin irritations and conditions that he saw in his practice. The same goes for fabric softeners. We used cloth diapers for all 6 of ours. We didn't even have a clothes dryer during the time we had most of them either. Sunshine and line drying were the best for sterilization and believe it or not softness! My wife always enjoyed folding line dried diapers. Although hanging laundry out in the winter was hard on her hands. Go for it, it can be done, although a good drying rack indoors during bad weather is a must. :-)

I too utilize the clothes line! This is #5 for us... 20 and under in age. Thank you for the advise... happy posting to you!