Ok, I have a somewhat stinky sitch-ee-ation here. Maybe someone can help settle this.
I have at my abode a detached 2-car garage, 25x32. It was the original house for the property, converted into a garage when the new house was built. All the plumbing drains were cut off flush with the concrete floor. All are still usable and connected to the septic tank, which sits between the two buildings.
The problem is when we get heavy rainfall, the septic water flows out of the tank and out these drains and beside the garage. It really stinks. We have plugged them, but this leads to the real question:
Can I turn these unto a usable bathroom (sink, toilet, shower) without the fixtures becoming fountains during a big rain event?
Anyone have experience with this?
Are you dumping rain water into the septic?
What is your field line layout? How many are there? When was the last time the tank was vaccumed/drained ?
Not sure how rainwater is getting into the tank, must be saturating the yard and filling the laterals.
Tank was pumped 2 years ago, all inspected and declared fine. Four lines, 3 straight out, bottom one returns in a U. 480 feet total.
Obviously sewage from some where is making it's way to this tank.....I see some shovel time in the real near future to determine the source of the poosoup......can you do the shoveling or is there someone that can assist you? I'm sorry I don't mean to frustrate you, but my experiences with septic services have been less than forthright. You may PM me for any additional info.....yes it's a PITA.............late
Well yeah, it's connected to the house we live in. It only overflows when we get a ton of rain all at once, and only liquid flows out, otherwise it works fine.
I dug that up last year adding a clean out. I checked/replaced all the piping within 10 feet or more of the tank entry. We've been here 20 years, has always been an issue.
The question at hand: will it overflow through new bathroom fixtures if I build a bathroom?
Hate to say it. But if sewage is backing up the input lines to the tank, then the drainfield is not working properly. it is either blocked or the ground around it is so saturated that there is no longer any "perk". Either way the drainfield needs repair or expansion. You're fortunate it did not back up into the residence.
To answer your first question, if the drainfield was working properly you could then probably re-use the old lines in the shop .
I suggest you not do that until you get the drainfield problem resolved.
Just went through this drill with one of my customers.
In reply to Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) :
Thanks
I'm in no hurry to build the bathroom in the garage, just a "someday".
I've got a backhoe, so maybe I'll dig them up one at a time sometime and see what I find. It's not really an issue until we get 3-4 inches of rain in an hour or 3, like Saturday. Bigger fish to fry at the moment