Help!!!My house is only 3 years old and we already have septic tank issues?

Question

My home is only 3years old it has an 1100 gallon tank for a 4 bedroom 2500 square foot home,and for the past 9 months we have major septic issue ,whenever doing laundry I end up with the lovely task of cleaning wastes from my two showers and bathtub the toilets go blop ,blop,just from taking a shower and we have to wait to flush ,I have had it pumped and was told I need a new drain field, CAN THIS BE POSSIBLE AFTER ONLY 3 YEARS OF LIVING IN THIS BRAND NEWLY BUILT HOME.
I must also tell you there are a total of 13 people living here because my brother and his family have been with us for a year now while there home is being constructed.
Any advice would be greatly appriciated.

Just to let everyone know not even toilet paper gets put in the toilet

Answer 1

Wow, with no offense, and understanding love of family, 13 is a huge number of people to have living in a single family residence. Some municipalities in the USA would make that NOT be allowed if it were known.

Without getting into graphic detail, I have to assume that between your two families there are 9 children?
You state two bathrooms, and are they designated as to who uses which? Have you spoken with your children and your brothers with regard to what is being flushed? (IE: amounts of tissue etc. Not body waste.) Is anything else flushed? OR dumped down kitchen drains/garbage disposals?(IE: The scraps or bacon grease from breakfast). Do you know what your water useage is each month? Certainly you have to know that every gallon coming into the house exits to the tank and field. Whats going through the plumbing is more valid than anything at this point. I'd want to think of it this way, though it may not matter. "Assuming you have two toilets that flush approximately 1.5 gallons per; that could equate to 20 gallons of water in every flush (if only flushed once) and perhaps as many pounds (or more) of solid waste. If that happened even a minimum of twice a day, you're adding 40 pounds (give or take) to your tank each day. multiplied by the number of days occupied, that's a lot of solid waste."
Did you notice any change after the tank was pumped? Did you note the length of time it took for the issue to return after the tank was pumped? Did the contractor offer any other advice as to reasons, beyond a drain field needing chage? Have you ever had the tank pumped before or did the contractor suggest a schedule, given the use?

I have to imagine that your system has been over burdened, and it seems to me that you should get multiple suggestions and estimates of what is needed, and also in all due respect and fairness the costs should be shared.

Steven Wolf
(The Rev.)

Answer 2

Toilet paper never gets put down the toilet or since the issues started? (By the way, where the heck do you put the toilet paper?)

Doesn't sound like you need a drain field...at least you shouldn't need a drain field! A septic system that is properly taken care of will last decades of not forever with nothing more than the occational draining every 5 years or so.

You need to get three opinions from different septic companies and get written estimates. Take those estimates to the contractor that built the house. Many septic systems have warranties, some just one year and some 10-20 years depending on the company that installed it.

Personally, I doubt you need a new drain field, but if you do and the contractor won't help you I would start by filing a complaint with the state and the better business bureau.

My septic system is 55 years old and has had nothing more than routine drainings.

Answer 3

I don't know where you live but if the regs permit it the best thing you could do is take the washing machine off the septic.I have had septics for years and never had one that could handle a washer.There is just to much water for the drains to handle.The pumping of tanks is the biggest scam going in the septic industry.It is not possible to fill an 1100 gallon tank with solids in 3 years.More like 30 years probably.Any septic drain field can only accept as much water as the soil will absorb in a given amount of time. Since your septic is backing up it only means you are putting more liquid in it than the field lines can drain.As the other folks said it was designed for 4 people and you now have 13. As I said if you can pull the washing machine off and let that drain in the yard you shouldn;t have any trouble handling the rest of your house .I have had vacation rental homes with smaller systems and more people and had no problems.

Answer 4

Two things, first it is ok to put toilet paper down your toilets and for goodness sakes, pllease consider doing it. What you have to worry about is anything not designed to do down the toilet like feminine products. Second, having 13 people of a septic system would pass A LOT of water through the system. This has probably overloaded your drainage field. You may need to have someone come in and extend your field (if you have the room on your lot). You should also be careful about what kind of soap you use in the laundry and consider adding ridex to system twice a month. Also, anything you can do to reduce the amount of water you flush would help, so consider doing your laundry at a laundramat.

Answer 5

To start with, your tank was probably built for normal use, not for 13 people.

You are probably putting 3 times the waste into it than it was designed for so its quite possible you will need to extend it after only 3 years.

EDIT: RAJ - If you can't write your own answers don't answer, simply doing a cut n paste on all but the first 3 words of mine is just pointless.

Answer 6

You could have your tank pumped out more frequently until your brother moves out. If your septic bed can handle a normal amount of waste water, why pay big bucks to add more drain tile when you likely won't need it in the future? The least your brother could do for overtaxing your system is pay to have it pumped once a month.

Answer 7

lots of people lots of waste water new drain fields will help, the tank was made with a family of 4 to 6 in mind not 13

Answer 8

You'll have to get it fixed for sure, but for future reference, remind all females in the place not to flush their hygiene products down the toilet. Happened to a friend of mine that had 3 daughters. The service tech told him what he found when he cleaned it.