Last week, I diaqnosed a Septic system to be ‘Unsatisfactory’ due to it’s inability to maintain functional flow to the Absorption field. I substantiated my conclusion with the following observations being noted in my report: The house was built in 1989 and the Septic system, conveyed to current Seller/Owner as being original by prior owner, has had a long service life. Design criteria, records and advanced technologies did not exist during the time of installation. Current Seller has no knowledge of prior owner pumping history and only stated that pumping was performed at the time of sale, 5 years ago. A Septic inspection was not performed at the time of purchase, 5 years ago. The house is a single story ranch with 3 bedrooms on the main level and a currently finished basement with foundation 60% above grade. Listing indicates the home has 3 bedrooms, however, one of the finished rooms in the basement has a full bedroom set with closet. The Septic tank is a 1000 gallon tank which can only serve a 3 bedroom home. The Septic tank was opened for initial assessment and appeared to have a normal operating level at the invert of the outlet pipe. Prior to hydraulic load testing, using an inspection mirror, solid waste material was observed resting on top of internal tank components (inlet/outlet baffles), which is an indicator that abnormally high solids/wastewater levels have occurred at times. This is commonly due to runback from the absorption field. A dark black organic waste film was observed around the edge of the tank manhole cover indicating abnormal backups occur. The Septic tank solids (scum & sludge layers) were measured and found to be negligible. The tank does not need pumping at this time. A sewage grinder pump basin is installed sub-slab to service the bathroom in the basement which transfers waste slurry to the higher elevation of the building sewer pipe exiting the foundation. No additional system design provisions (ie., effluent filter or dual compartment tank) were observed to accommodate the burdensome waste stream of ground solids. The water flow rate was measured at 5 gpm. A Hydraulic water load test was terminated after 25 min. (125 gals.) due to the abnormally high wastewater level rising to the top of the tank manhole opening. A minimum design capacity of an absorption field for a 3 bedroom is approximately 350 gals. with a peak flow capacity well above that amount (ie., accommodate a large group gathering). There was 1 ½ feet of snow cover in the rear yard location. Four spots were shoveled to grade in the presumed absorption field area and 2 ½ foot probe holes were established as observation points. No confirmation was made that the field was in this area as there was no evidence of crushed stone at any probe sights. The location and size and condition of the field is a critical missing item needing further identification and evaluation. This requires electronic detection and invasive excavation to evaluate distribution boxes, piping, aggregate and soil for contamination or excessive organic loading.
