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xexman44 · Jul 14, 2006, 02:04 PM

The overflow pipe for my neighbors septic system is always laying in a pool of water. It has backed up once and flooded his basement so we want to do something to prevent this from happening again.
I dug a 6 foot hole with a backhoe and it is all clay. My plan was to dig a 30 foot trench, fill it with crushed rock and extend his overflow pipe out into the new drain field with some slit tubing and let the water run out into the crushed rock and disappear into the ground. But since the ground is all clay, is this going to do any good at all or is it just a waste of time? Looks like alls I am doing is building a pool.
Any ideas at all with be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
JB

speedball1 · Jul 15, 2006, 04:04 AM

Hi JB,

This is one of those questions rhat you have to be familiar with the area to answer. Would it be possible to call a local septic tank company and ask the same question. How long the old drain field lasted should be some indication of how your idea will work. Good luck Tom

xexman44 · Jul 15, 2006, 08:10 AM

Thanks Tom,

Yes, as stupid as it seems, having a septic guy come out and take a look at it is the obvious answer. I guess it's just the redneck in me wanting to do it the good ole boy way first... lol. The ground is low back there and there is no place for the water to run off. He will need some expert advice on what's the best way to handle this problem. The system is only 10 years old, has worked fine all this time until this last big storm we had. Maybe it was just a clog somewhere.
Thank you so much for your time and help with this. Awesome website, thanks for manning it.
Sincerely,
Joe B

speedball1 · Jul 15, 2006, 08:34 AM

Hi Joe,

If you have access to a backhoe why not do your thing with the perforated pipe and crushed rock and terminate it with a pit filled with crushed rock. Have a great weekend, tom

xexman44 · Jul 15, 2006, 11:35 AM

That's what I was going to do, but I dug down 6 feet and it was all clay. I was hoping to hit some sand or gravel. So I figured it would have been just digging a swimming pool, eventually the clay pit would fill up and we would be right back where we started from. Was I wrong to think that way? The ground out there is completely saturated already.
We'll let the septic guy take a look at it and see what he says.
Stay cool this weekend Tom, and thanks again.
JB

speedball1 · Jul 15, 2006, 03:05 PM

Let us know what he says. Enjoy your weekend, Tom