Septic Maintenance

[hoosier]

The county records department should have the location on file with your building plans. Septic systems are highly regulated and have to be engineered for the expected use from your house., So they should hae a copy of the septic layout.

They don't. I have tried there. They said that people used to put them in w/o filing the paperwork they were supposed to. I even had the guy from the county out here looking for it and he couldn't find it either. I think he really expected to be able to locate it fairly easily.

 

[hoosier]

I should have read further before posting.
Here it is with the health dept like dacjohns said.

 

[enjoy the ride]

Our county requires that leech fields be fenced to prevent livestock from trampling down the dirt so that the water can't evaporate as well. I also asked my vet about it- he said that it might cause a health problem.
One of my friends does it anyway- of course one of her horses has had listeriosis twice (different strains.) But who know if that is the problem anyway.

I have a mound system and would be too scared that the horses would cause it to be damaged so they look at the greener grass from the other side of the fence.

 

[SKR8PN]

We bought our place from who is now our neighbors. It was her mom and dads place and they had built it back in the mid '50s. We got the septic location,well location and a wealth of other info from them about the place since we have lived here! I have our septic pumped out every two years. The leach field was replaced just before we bought the place, 24 years ago. I use Rid-X every few months. Don't know if it works or not,but so far so good!!

 

[patandchickens]

AFAIK it is important for the soil on the leachfield to stay loose and fluffy not compacted, and growing well rather than grazed down to nubbins -- so it kind of depends how *much* grazing your horses are doing there?

I still wouldn't do it myself. When I was younger, I knew a horse that was barely pasture-sound after some years earlier putting a leg through a leachfield drain pipe that was a foot or so below the surface. (I have heard stories about horses putting legs through agricultural tile drains too).

Just because your septic system may have been built to code Back When (or, in many cases, may *not* have been) does not mean that you can be assured of their being enough soil on top of it today, strong enough even when muddy, to prevent a horse's leg going through. Obviously there are people willing to risk this, but I saw what happened to that horse's leg. A leachfield isn't *that* big an area to graze. I wouldn't do it.

JMHO,

Pat

 

[Big Daddy]

What is a mound system? They've been grazing it for 5 years now. As a matter of fact it's their favorite spot because the grass is always lush and green. I'm pretty sure it was built to code. The house is 7 years old and all the permit check boxes are signed off on the permit log hanging in the garage. We get it sucked out every two years and it was freshly sucked when we bought the house as a contract requirement.

Horses seem ok. Smelly farts though.

 

[enjoy the ride]

It takes awhile for a septic system to show it's failed- it's when the water coming through the leech pipes can't makes it's way any further. You'll know this has happened when the flush really doesn't move things on. And it's really, really expensive to fix.
A mound is dirt that has been add above natural soil level because the natural soil will not drain fast enough. It is fluffed up dirt that spreads the liquids out to evaporate. Squash down the dirt and it won't so a good job of allowing the liquids to move through and away from the field.

 

[FarmerDenise]

Septic tanks today are a lot different then what they were in the 50's. Ours is a redwood box covered with redwood planks. When I went to get mine pumped in order to refinance my house, the guy made me cut a hole in the redwood planks. This hole has now collapsed into the tank as well as the plank. I've repaced the plank and covered the whole tank with metal roofing as well. I found out that I have a small redwood box (2'x2') inside the tank to catch the solids.
When my daughter called me recently to inform me that there was a backup, I found that that little box was stuffed with hair and paper and other "goodies". After cleaning it out, I gave her the lecture again about being carefull as to what goes down the drain and to make sure her roommate and guests know it also.
She had called a plumber out prior to this, and was told the septic had failed at the leachfield because his pipe was hitting something solid and the drain was still not working after he was done. When I uncovered that little box, I knew why his cleanout cable wouldn't go any further, it had hit the side of the box.

 

[Big Daddy]

I'm putting up a fence. The horses will be so mad.

 

[enjoy the ride]

FarmerDenise- isn't that old growth redwood a miracle product. When digging out what I thought was a small hill. it turned out to be a 80 year old debris pile of redwood stumps. All still showing the saw marks. No decay whatsoever.
When I dig a post hole, I worry about hitting rocks but dread hitting an old piece of redwood- some of the chunks I've taken out of the ground have been too big for a back hoe to move. All you can do is break them up into pieces and take out what you can.