Seepage pits not percolating & are overflowing:


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Old 09-05-16, 07:13 PM
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Seepage pits not percolating & are overflowing:

SEEPAGE PITS NOT PERCOLATING & ARE OVERFLOWING:

Hi, I have one 1500 gallon tank & 2 vertical seepage pits that measure 1500 gallons each & are 30 feet deep and 5 feet wide that are connected. Pits system is 22 years old. They are connected to 1 house building with 5 people using it daily in last 3 years, prior to that there were 3 people using it for 5 years. Was pumped in last couple of months for first time in 10 years use -- though we tried/thought we had properly pumped it a few years back but it turns out that the pumper guys connected it to the outlet instead of the inlet, so it was not thoroughly pumped and there is sludge that got from the tank into the pits..

So far 2 months ago, we emptied the tank and pits to 80% of capacity, had pits chemically treated & hydro-jetted. The pits are overflowing and we smell sewer water.

Any suggestions or treatments you can advise to try to get these seepage pits to work and stop overflowing would be most appreciated, thanks.
 
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Old 09-07-16, 05:42 AM
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Your seepage pits have probably suffered the same fate as the OP's.

It takes only a few months of grease (scum) and fine particulate matter (sludge) from an ill maintained septic tank coming in to make the seepage pit contents no longer seep. Or, over the years, even a well maintained septic tank will let minute amounts of these substances get into the seepage pits such that even experts consider seepage pits and leach fields to be inherenlty temporary.

You can try any or all of the same remedies already suggested. We cannot rule out the need to dig new seepage pits.

Simply pumping out a septic tank a second time in quick succession or pumping out a seepage pit at all is usually a waste of money unless you need to do something while it is empty such as repair the side walls or treat the pit, or use it as a holding tank while a new pit is being dug.
 

Last edited by AllanJ; 09-07-16 at 06:16 AM.
 

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