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I’ve got a problem with my septic and plumbing systems I hoped someone could help me with. First, a little background. My house was built in 1999 and finished in 2000. My family moved in in January of 2000. The septic was installed in the fall of 1999. The house sits on 5 acres, so I was exempt from having to have a state (Missouri) approved system. I didn’t have a perc test done. The septic is a 1000 gallon concrete tank going to 4 laterals of 75 feet each. My problem is I have a steady stream of water flowing out of the septic tank into the drain field. I have a distribution box with access from the ground where I can see the water coming out of the tank and going into the four laterals. From the first day we moved in, the drain field has been wet, no surface water – just damp. The guy who installed my septic said the water is coming from either leaky toilets or water softener. I have had the original plumber back 4 – 5 times to check on toilets. He has replaced the gaskets in all 3 toilets at least twice, one has been checked 5 times. We put food coloring in the tanks of the toilets and see if the water in the bowl becomes colored. The toilets don’t appear to leak from the gaskets, but I still have water constantly flowing out of the tank. I have checked the drain from the water softener, it doesn’t appear to have a leak. The last time the plumber was back, he thought the excess water was from the air conditioner drain. We have a WaterFurnace ground-source heat pump. I checked the drain on it and it doesn’t look like it has a leak. I am thinking of hiring another plumber to come in and look everything over with fresh eyes. Any ideas where the leak is?
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You have a water to air heat pump? where does the constant discharge of this system go to?
Is your house water supply from city supply or well? If city have you checked for a supply leak on the city side of the meter? You could tell from you water bill if you had a leak on your side.
Does your house have a basement? When you dug for the foundation did you notice a high water table? How was the foundation drainage handled?
And, one way of determining if the water is coming from the house is to dig up the line going TO the septic and see if the flow is actually entering that way.If there is no leakage from all the fixtures in the house and no water constantly flowing in, then there could be a leak in the lid of the tank which is being fed from ground sources or the body of the tank could be defective or the pipe to the distribution box could be compromised.
My vote is for a ground water source or the discharge from your heat pump going to the tank either through a bad lid to tank seal or pipe joint leak. Let us know so others can add your solution to the list of information that's good to know.
*Thanks for the quick response Ralph. First, the heat pump is not water to air. It has four 150 deep wells dug and a continuous loop of tubing runs from the heat pump in the basement out to each well and back. An antifreeze solution runs through the tubing and is heated by the earth in winter and cooled in summer. I think the plumber thinks the unit extracts the humidity from the house and discharges the water into the drain. I don’t think the heat pump can withdraw that amount of water from humidity in the house. My water comes from a well, so no water bill. The house has a walk-out basement and the land around here is full of springs. The name of our subdivision is Cedar Springs, in fact. I have drain tile around both the outside of the basement and the inside. They drain to daylight in two places downhill from the house. I forgot to mention I have a clean-out in the sewer line before it reaches the septic tank. You can open it up and see the water running by as it goes from the house to the tank. I am almost positive the water is coming from a leak in the house, I just don’t know where. I am a young, new homeowner with limited experience. I have learned a lot from you all here, thanks.
*This is all a process of elimination. You can shut the AC off for a few hours to eliminate that. In fact it is probably not running now anyway (I am near KC).Shut off the fill valve for all of the stools. Then flush them. That will eliminate any slow leakage from the tanks. Then go out and look at the cleanout to see if you still have water running? If not that it is comming from the stools are the AC.Do you have a sump pump that could be pumping into it.
*This may be a little simplistic but have you turned off the water at the pump to verify that it is house water that is running into the tank? Shut the water off, drain the water heater (put the heater gas valve to pilot or turn off if electric), wait a couple of hours and take a look to see if the water is still running. If so, you probably have spring water seeping into your sewer line through an open joint or a break.
*Can you hear water running in the house when when you open a faucet or flush a toilet? Does the sound stop when you close the faucet? Is there a constant running water noise in the pipes? If you shut the power to pump off is there any change? Joe H
*I had a similar experience, except I had all the tests done, the system was engineered and approved by the city (I am on 110 acres - go figure).When my system was being installed, the system builder 'struck water' so they had to use a raised bed and a lift pump. I noticed the lift pump was cycling (before we even moved in) and got all in a state, until I realized that surface water was finding itself through the manhole and into the tank. I did a bit of landscaping and the problem was solved. I agree with the suggestion that you should narrow it down by seeing if the water is coming from the house. I doubt it is - it would take one hell of a lot of leaking toilet to keep the bed wet. Who knows, a licensed plumber hooked by brother in law's "weeping tiles" to his sewer line (very against the code here), so it could be just ground water from the foundation drains. By the way, when I threatened my brother in law’s plumber with telling the city what he had done, it got fixed for free.
*good one Brian. To the original poster...get a second plumber out based on referrals as to who is the best trouble shooter in your area and then after you find out deal with who pays etc.
*If your pump runs when no water is being used, the problem is a leak from your water supply to the drains (perhaps through the water softener backflush system).If not, the ground water is getting into your drains.
*If you determine that it is coming from the house, you could isolate the problem by turning off different faucets (if available) and checking later to see if there is still flow into the tank.Does the water seem fairly clear? MD
*The only thing I can think of that has not already been mentioned is trap primers. Do you know if any of the floor drains are plumbed into the sanitary, if the plumber used an auto trap primer it could be malfunctioning and discharging excess amounts of water into the sewer. Use the process of elimination previously discussed and you should track this down. Also did you have a G.C. or did you build yourself? If a G.C. built the house your G.C. should be assisting in tracking this problem down or at least putting some pressure on the sub-trades to figure it out.
*I think you might want to go with Brian's assessment and tale of what happened with his brother-in-law's plumbing.You said you have both inside and outside drain tile and they run to daylight. It would appear that only the outside tiles run to daylight and the inside are tied in to your household waste line. Definitely a no-no.If you have a point of access to check the inside drain tile your nose might give an indication. Septic systems can have a distinctive odor. And maybe your plumber will 'fess up, too.
*Thanks for all the suggestions. Last night, it occurred to me I have another clean-out on the septic line right outside the house upstream from the second clean-out I already had opened. I opened it, and the water was flowing on by. Clear water. I went in and turned off the supply to each toilet one at a time, and the water flow slowed but didn’t stop. I had all three toilets shut off and still some water was moving. I had thought about the inside drain tile being hooked in to the sewer line because I don’t remember how it was connected to the outside lines if at all. I G.C. this house myself, was going to keep that to myself due to how you all feel about that. :) I will call my framer and see about that drain tile. His crew put it in. It is a finished basement so I don’t have access to the drain tile. I wish I had taken pictures of the mechanicals before it was finished. Hindsight. I was thinking all last night about how could water get from the supply side to the drain side? Water softener is a possibility. Had trouble with it, I had a reverse osmosis system put in because the water here is so hard the soft water tasted really salty. I found out later that to make one gallon of drinking water, the RO was using 30 gallons of soft water. 30 gallons going straight out to the septic. I thought this was the problem originally so I shut off the RO. My original plumber discovered this for me. I think one of my problems is one guy put in the drain tiles, another guy put in the septic system, another guy installed the water softener, and the plumber did the interior plumbing. The joys of building your own house. I have nothing but respect for you guys who do this for a living. Thanks for your help, going to try turning off the main water this evening and see if that stops the water.
*Or a well pump is somehow pumping water straight into the waste system. Curious that shutting off the toilets slows the flow but doesnt' affect it a lot. There's something pretty strange going on ahead of the septic tank.
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Ive got a problem with my septic and plumbing systems I hoped someone could help me with. First, a little background. My house was built in 1999 and finished in 2000. My family moved in in January of 2000. The septic was installed in the fall of 1999. The house sits on 5 acres, so I was exempt from having to have a state (Missouri) approved system. I didnt have a perc test done. The septic is a 1000 gallon concrete tank going to 4 laterals of 75 feet each. My problem is I have a steady stream of water flowing out of the septic tank into the drain field. I have a distribution box with access from the ground where I can see the water coming out of the tank and going into the four laterals. From the first day we moved in, the drain field has been wet, no surface water just damp. The guy who installed my septic said the water is coming from either leaky toilets or water softener. I have had the original plumber back 4 5 times to check on toilets. He has replaced the gaskets in all 3 toilets at least twice, one has been checked 5 times. We put food coloring in the tanks of the toilets and see if the water in the bowl becomes colored. The toilets dont appear to leak from the gaskets, but I still have water constantly flowing out of the tank. I have checked the drain from the water softener, it doesnt appear to have a leak. The last time the plumber was back, he thought the excess water was from the air conditioner drain. We have a WaterFurnace ground-source heat pump. I checked the drain on it and it doesnt look like it has a leak. I am thinking of hiring another plumber to come in and look everything over with fresh eyes. Any ideas where the leak is?