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    Coloradohunter's Avatar
    Coloradohunter Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Jul 8, 2008, 02:51 PM
    How do you tell if your leach field or leach line is bad?
    My septic tank backed up and I had it pumped out. The guy said that there were a lot of solids in the tank and asked when I had it pumped last. I have lived in the house for two years and had not had it done myself. The guy said that he thought my leach line MIGHT be bad but does not know. I had my RO system fixed today and the tech that fixed it said that there was a bad valve and by his calculations there was 1650 gallons a month being bypassed into the drain. My septic tank is 1500 gallons. There is a nice green patch of weeds and grass over my leach field and my tank did back up but it was a solids problem as far as I could tell. Could my leach line still be good? How would could I check to see? HELP>>>>>
    Fr_Chuck's Avatar
    Fr_Chuck Posts: 81,301, Reputation: 7692
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    #2

    Jul 8, 2008, 02:54 PM
    You wait and see if it backs up again, ( easiest way) if a lot of solids went into the drain field then it may have clogged it up, and depending on the age, roots get into it, some may not have been done well, and other issues. So now that you have the septic tank fixed and pumped you see if there will be a problem, if it fills up and backs up in a matter of weeks,
    ballengerb1's Avatar
    ballengerb1 Posts: 27,378, Reputation: 2280
    Home Repair & Remodeling Expert
    		  
    #3

    Jul 8, 2008, 05:30 PM
    That leak means 55 gallons a day went to the field so its probably saturated. Hopefully by the time you refill your 1500 gallon tank the field will dry out. Like Fr_Chuck says just wait and see. If the field failed there is but one fix so no hurry to jump into that unnecessarily. It is common for the grass to be greener above a field but if it gets spongy and smelly you're in for trouble.
    Coloradohunter's Avatar
    Coloradohunter Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #4

    Jul 9, 2008, 12:43 PM
    There is no smell and the ground is solid above my leach field. The water level in the tank when we cleaned it was about 8-10 inches from the top of the tank. The leach line pipe is about that far into the tank. This would most likely mean that the tank is leaching correct? Would extending my leach field be out of the question if the extisting field is bad I have three acres to work with.
    ballengerb1's Avatar
    ballengerb1 Posts: 27,378, Reputation: 2280
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    #5

    Jul 10, 2008, 08:09 AM
    Most contractors would tell you to not extend a bad field. You could install a totallly new section of a field only to have the old pipes collapse or get clogged.
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