Ok, here goes. I have a 2 story home and the bathroom on the lower level continues to back up whenever I run the dishwasher or washing machine. All three here are on the lower level. I am on a septic system, which has been "sucked" out recently. The problem seems worse in the winter and when it rains. RidX does not work, Bakers Yeast does not work. I am in the microbiology lab at school and have made some lab strain of E-coli, which is in our waste anyway and put it into the septic to aid in bacterial balance, all to no avail. Does anyone have any suggestions?

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Originally Posted by J_9

Ok, here goes. I have a 2 story home and the bathroom on the lower level continues to back up whenever I run the dishwasher or washing machine. All three here are on the lower level. I am on a septic system, which has been "sucked" out recently. The problem seems worse in the winter and when it rains. RidX does not work, Bakers Yeast does not work. I am in the microbiology lab at school and have made some lab strain of E-coli, which is in our waste anyway and put it into the septic to aid in bacterial balance, all to no avail. Does anyone have any suggestions?

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Your house should have a cleanout where the sewer exits the house. Open up the cleanout and cycle the washer. Does it back up out of the clean out?
All the RidX and bakers yeast in the world won't holp if you have a partial blockage in the main of the drain field is saturated to the point of where it won't accept or drain the liquid that's put into it. This is why it's important to localize the problem. I need this information before I can go much farther.
In the meantime you may be interested in this.

Since the septic tank is such an essential part of a sewage system, here are some points to remember about the "care and feeding" of that part of the onsite sewage treatment system.
A "starter" is not needed for bacterial action to begin in a septic tank. Many bacteria are present in the materials deposited into the tank and will thrive under the growth conditions present.
If you feel that an additive is needed, be aware that some may do great harm. Additives that advertise to "eliminate" tank cleaning may cause the sludge layer to fluff up and be washed out into the drainfield, plugging soil pores. Some additives, particularly degreasers, may contain carcinogens (cancer-causing) or suspected carcinogens that will flow into the ground water along with the water from the soil treatment unit.
Send all sewage into the septic tank. Don't run laundry wastes directly into the drainfield, since soap or detergent scum will plug the soil pores, causing failure.
Normal amounts of household detergents, bleaches, drain cleaners, and other household chemicals can be used and won't stop the bacterial action in the septic tank. But don't use excessive amounts of any household chemicals. Do not dump cleaning water for latex paint brushes and cans into the house sewer.
Don't deposit coffee grounds, cooking fats, wet-strength towels, disposable diapers, facial tissues, cigarette butts, and other non-decomposable materials into the house sewer. These materials won't decompose and will fill the septic tank and plug the system. To use a 5-gallon toilet flush to get rid of a cigarette butt is also very wasteful of water. Keep an ash tray in the bathroom, if necessary.
Avoid dumping grease down the drain. It may plug sewer pipes or build up in the septic tank and plug the inlet. Keep a separate container for waste grease and throw it out with the garbage.
If you must use a garbage disposal, you will likely need to remove septic tank solids every year or more often. Ground garbage will likely find its way out of the septic tank and plug up the drainfield. It is better to compost, incinerate, or deposit the materials in the garbage that will be hauled away. As one ad says, "You can pay me now, or pay me later."
Clean your septic tank every 1 to 3 years. How often depends on the size of the tank and how many solids go into it. A rule of thumb is once every 3 years for a 1,000 gallon tank serving a 3-bedroom home with 4 occupants (and with no garbage disposal).
Using too much soap or detergent can cause problems with the septic system. It is difficult to estimate how dirty a load of laundry is, and most people use far more cleaning power than is needed. If there are lots of suds in your laundry tub when the washer discharges, cut back on the amount of detergent for the next similar load. It's generally best not to use inexpensive detergents which may contain excessive amounts of filler or carrier. Some of these fillers are montmorillonite clay, which- is used to seal soils! The best solution may be to use a liquid laundry detergent, since they are less likely to have carriers or fillers that may harm the septic system.
Each septic system has a certain capacity. When this capacity is reached or exceeded, there will likely be problems because the system won't take as much sewage as you want to discharge into it. When the onsite sewage treatment system reaches its daily capacity, be conservative with your use of water. Each gallon of water that flows into the drain must go through the septic tank and into the soil absorption unit. Following are some ways to conserve water that should cause little hardship in anyone's standard of living:
Be sure that there are no leaking faucets or other plumbing fixtures. Routinely check the float valve on all toilets to be sure it isn't sticking and the water isn't running continuously. It doesn't take long for the water from a leaking toilet or a faucet to add up. A cup of water leaking out of a toilet every minute doesn't seem like much but that's 90 gallons a day! So be sure that there is no water flowing into the sewer when all water-using appliances are supposed to be off.
The most effective way to reduce the sewage flow from a house is to reduce the toilet wastes, which usually account for about 40 percent of the sewage flow. Many toilets use 5 to 6 gallons per flush. Some of the so-called low water use toilets are advertised to use only 3.5 gallons per flush. Usually the design of the bowl hasn't been changed, however, and often two flushes are needed to remove all solids. That's 7 gallons! Toilets are available which have been redesigned and will do a good job with one gallon or less per flush. Using a 1-gallon toilet rather than a 5 gallon toilet will reduce sewage flows from a home by about a third. This reduction may be more than enough to make the sewage system function again. While prices may vary, 1.6 gallon toilets can usually be purchased in the $200 range, far less than the cost of a new sewer system. Baths and showers can use lots of water. "Setting up camp" in the shower with a shower head flow of 5 gallons per minute will require 100 gallons in 20 minutes. Shower heads that limit the flow to 1.5 or 2 gallons per minute are available and should be used. Filling the tub not quite so full and limiting the length of showers will result in appreciable water savings.
Is the water from the faucet cold enough to drink? How long do you let it run to cool down? Keep a container of drinking water in the refrigerator. Then it won't be necessary to run water from your faucets in order to get a cool drink.
There may be other ways to conserve water that you can think of in your home. The main idea is to consider water as a valuable resource and not to waste it.
Following a few simple rules like not using too much water and not depositing materials in the septic tank that bacteria can't decompose should help to make a septic system trouble-free for m, too! Any years. But don't forget the septic tank does need to be cleaned out when too many solids builtreatment system.
With a water meter you can determine how much water your automatic washer uses per cycle. Many washers now have settings to reduce the amount of water used for small loads. Front loading washers and suds savers use less water than top loading machines. If your sewage treatment system is reaching its maximum capacity, try to spread the washing out during the week to avoid overloading the sewage system on a single day. Septic tanks need tender, loving care too.

Wow, that is quite a bit of info there. Okay, to start, you are talking to a woman here and I have a hard time understanding some of this. You say "senk all sewage into the septic tank. Don't run any laundry wastes directly into the drainfield." How do I know if I am doing the right thing. I thought that everything went into septic and then slowly went into the drainfield.

There are no leaking faucets or other plumbing fixtures. All organic and inorganic wastes are not put down the drain we do not even have a disposal. No antibacterial chemicals are used.

The house and the septic have been snaked and there are no obvious blockages.

After doing a load of laundry the toilet will "bubble" whether it is used or not and most times no one has used it and, when checked, the water level goes down in the bowl. If the toilet is used, it will produce a BIG bubble when flushed.

I can only replete what I said before, "Your house should have a cleanout where the sewer exits the house. Open up the cleanout and cycle the washer. Does it back up out of the clean out?
All the RidX and bakers yeast in the world won't holp if you have a partial blockage in the main of of the drain field is saturated to the point of where it won't accept or drain the liquid that's put into it. This is why it's important to localize the problem. I need this information before I can go much farther."

You say, "After doing a load of laundry the toilet will "bubble" whether it is used or not and most times no one has used it and, when checked, the water level goes down in the bowl. If the toilet is used, it will produce a BIG bubble when flushed."

This indicates to me that (1) you have a partial blockage in the house main and (2) that the lavatory vent in the bath in question may be blocked.
In (1) the discharge from the washer pump runs down the main and hits a partial blockage aqnd bounces back sending a bubble of air ahead of it where it bursts up out of the bowl. The discharge from the toilet does the same thing and in (2) the washer and/or the toilets discharge after bouncing back and causing a bubble will begain to drain past the partial blockage and attempt to vent. Now vents are there to relieve the suction/vacuum caused by the draining liquid. If there's a blocked vent the system will attempt to vent at the nearest trap. In may be a fixture trap that's gurgling or a toilet that the suction/vacuum has pulled the water down in the bowl.

You also say," The house and the septic have been snaked and there are no obvious blockages."
I have to question that in view of the problems you're having.

To get back to my first statement about the cleanout. I'm trying to check out your drainfields ability to percolate into the soil what the septic tank sends into it. You must realize that unless the problem's obvious that tracking down a elusive problem consists of a process of elimation. If I were the plumber on the job I would start with the drainfield and work back to the toilet checking and eliminating everything until I ran into the source of the problem. My advice would be for you to get a sharp plumber out there to check out your system. Show him my posts and ask his advice. Please keep me in the loop on this and let me know the outcome. Regards, Tom

Okay, bear with me here. The clean out is the thing that comes out of the ground between the house and the septic right? Also, should I keep it open while I cycle the washer? Will what you say in order. Then I will post the results.

Thanks for all your help. Hope to hear from you soon.

"The clean out is the thing that comes out of the ground between the house and the septic right? Right!
"Should I keep it open while I cycle the washer?" Correct! This will localize the problem and eliminate the septic system. Let me know. Tom

Okay, going to go try that now and will let you know what happens.

Thanks

J9

Okay, the toilets in both bathrooms, up and down, were flushed prior to turning on the washer. (Two pre-teen girls). I have run the cycle and toilet paper and about one inch of water now surround the clean out. Keep in mind that I live in West Tenn. And we have had rain almost constantly for the past few days.

There is a slight to mild smell of sewage when you get near the clean out.

Where do we go from here?

Janine:confused:

Hi Jannie,

" about one inch of water now surround the clean out."
Please explain, 1 inch of water over/under/ or around the clean out? Inch of water left standing in the pipe?
What I'm trying to find out is at any time did the water come up to or overflow the cleanout. We could certainly use some of your rain here in the Tampa Bay area. Send some down. Regards, Tom

" about one inch of water now surround the clean out."
Please explain, 1 inch of water over/under/ or around the clean out? Inch of water left standing in the pipe?
What I'm trying to find out is at any time did the water come up to or overflow the cleanout. We could certainly use some of your rain here in the Tampa Bay area. Send some down. Regards, Tom
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About 1 inch of water surrounds the outside of the clean out. It is above and around the cleanout. It has been at leats 2 1/2 hours since my last post and there is still water in the cleanout. It is clear about 6 - 8 inches down and then there is still water standing.

Will try and send as much rain as possible. I want my yard to dry up.

Thanks

Janine

OK Jannie,

Let's wrap this up. You have placed the problem outside the house and in the septic system. The sad part is that there is no repair. The excessive rain fall has overloaded and swamped your drain field. As I suppected in a earlier post the drain field can no longer disperse the liquid the septic tank sends into it and until it drys up you'll have a problem.
It's time to give some serious thought to conservation. Cut down on the long showers, do your laundry at the Laundromat, give your septic system a chance to heal. And, hopefully, things will be back to normal once the ground drys up. Good luck, Tom

Tom - I understand your answer and it sure sounds like the drain field is saturated, but would it be worth her while to send a snake from the cleanout to the septic tank? Just curious. - Dennis

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Originally Posted by dclynch

Tom - I understand your answer and it sure sounds like the drain field is saturated, but would it be worth her while to send a snake from the cleanout to the septic tank? Just curious. - Dennis

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Hi Dennis,

I think you'd be wasting your time but it wouldn't hurt anything to try. Another check would be to open up a inspection port on the tank. If the tank's full then the drainfield's waterlogged. Regards, Tom

Tom,

Thanks for your quick response. I guess it is a good thing we are headed into summer here in West Tenn. We usually have droughts. I will take your advice and conserve until we are dry here. If anything else comes up I will let you know. Thanks again - Janine