I just cleared and cultivated an acre of land for a horse pasture. In doing so I uncovered a 4 inch PVC pipe which must be coming from my house into my septic tank. I didn’t build the house (which is only 6 years old, rural Georgia) so I didn’t know exactly where the tank was – though this was the last place I expected to find it…about 100-150 feet from the house and down a significant hill (10-15 feet) lower than the slab.
So I have two questions. One, would my tank be this far from the house or could this be some sort of two tank system, the second tank feeding into infiltrator? And two, can I put pasture over this as I planned? Does it depend on whether the tank is there or not? Can a tank lid support the weight of my horse standing on top of it?
You sure would not find your septic tank uphill from your home. It is sure a long way from your home, I suspect it could be part of the leech-field. A pasture won’t hurt a septic system at all, as long as you are not going to irrigate it. It wouldn’t hurt to run horses over it, if it is your septic tank but I wouldn’t drive in that area too much. You should know where your septic tank is, though, get a 3/8" steel rod and get a T-handle welded on it. Poke this around where you suspect it might be.
I’m no septic tank expert, other than the fact that my house has one, but it’s my understanding that there are two basic systems.
In both systems, you have two tanks. The solilds settle out in the first tank, and the liquids drain into the second tank. How stuff gets out of the second tank is where the systems differ. If the ground absorbs water well enough, then there will be pipes coming out of the second tank that extend a fair distance out into the fields. You probably hit one of these pipes. If the ground doesn’t absorb the water well enough, then you have what I have, which is a sand mound system. In this system, there is a pump in the second tank which pumps the liquid up into a big mound (which may be completely underground so it doesn’t necessarily look like a mound) filled with gravel and sections of PVC pipe that go back and forth.
If your house is that young, you may/should be able to septic system plans from the town or county. These should show septic tank, distribution box, and leach field location. Try Board of Health, or Engineering dept, or something like that. Where I live all septic system plans have to be submitted to and approved by the BoH.
If you can’t get plans, you may want to very carefully dig under a small section of the PVC. If the bottom of the pipe has holes in it, then you’re in the leach field. Horses shouldnt be a problem in a leach field (you can drive a car over one), but large equipment might be.
We now have my wife’s dad’s farm. He built his septic tank. (concrete blocks with a concrete top). Tank is located about 30 ft and slight down hill from the house. It is one tank with a separation between two chambers. The input line drains into the first chamber, the solids fall out, the liquid overflows into the next chamber and then overflows out to a distribution line (leech field). This distribution pipe is about 20 ft long. The tank is under about 4 inch’s of soil and I drive a riding lawn mower over it but do not drive tractors or trucks over it. I can easily see where the tank and lines are located in dry weather for that is the only green area.
Your questions:
Seems strange why anyone would put a system so far from the house? I would’nt think that is the tank. That is probably the overflow line. (leech field)
I wouldn’t worry about the horse standing on top of the tank (if the tank is there).
But I would be careful of using a tractor in the area. But seems you have already had a tractor in the area and nothing happen.
In rural homes you can never tell how or what was used… there will be no records.
hlanelee wrote “You sure would not find your septic tank uphill from your home.”
Thanks hlanelee, that is one of the two rules of plumbing I am familiar with. The other involves Fridays and paychecks. There is a small side yard, level with the slab that stays very lush and green all summer so I assumed that was where the tank and feild lines were.
My limited experience with tanks (my late Dad was a plumber but I didn’t get the gene) in this area always had them close (50 ft or less) to the house.
But mainly…
olefin wrote “I wouldn’t worry about the horse standing on top of the tank (if the tank is there). But I would be careful of using a tractor in the area.”
Horse weighs 1250 lbs. I know she’d be safe over the field line, but if she happens to pick the spot directly over the tank (if there) to stand on…is there a concensus that the lid can bear this load?
The septic tanks I’ve been involved with have been close to the house and logically placed. You look for a concentration of drain stuff; washing machine, toilets, whatever; and imagine the easiest way to place the exit pipe to the yard.
Septic tank guys have stories of the tank buried 10 feet down, buy my limited experience is 1 foot down, maybe 10 feet out.
This is closer to my experience as well. That is why I wondered if this is some sort of two tank system, but the soil around here lends itself well to standard set-ups and I don’t know of anyone who has one.
I guess I’ m headed to the County to see if any plans exist.