Septic Holding Tank question

[3Roosters]

Looking for any input/answers/things to check.

2 yrs ago next month, we had a licensed installer/inspector install a 1500 gallon capacity septic holding tank on our lake property. We currently have a camper there but decided to go with 1500 gal. in case we ever decide to build a cabin or whatever somewhere down the line...just the wife and me. There is clay soil so drain field wasn't an option, we will need to go with a mound system. Until we do a mound..if we ever do..we plan to just get tank pumped each fall.
Fall of 2015 when we had it pumped..well paid for it..billing statement said it was about 1/2 full. Spring and summer and part of the fall of 2016 we used camper on weekends. We had septic pumped last Nov. 1st..well paid a bill...and he said it was about 1/2 full again.
We go to lake prop a couple weekends ago to open up slide outs , etc, get ready for another summer of weekend use. This time when we showed up the visual alarm had popped out signaling the tanks were at least 75% full!! WTH..it was emptied the previous Nov.! I contacted installer and he said they had a lot of rain recently and snow melt...which is weird as there is a burning ban! He said his worker said there was some settling around tanks.
okkkkkk...it had settled previous year as well.. Not sure I am buying it filling up 1200 gals from Nov til April with no use. What say you guys?
Pics are right after it was installed and also after they covered it up....I don't have a current pic as ground around tanks did settle a few inches..still not sure how h20 would get in.. the white pvc pipe in front is where RV is attached...that we keep hooked up..and you can see the visual alarm pvc pipe in background where it is down...when we arrived a couple weeks ago that visual alarm pipe was like 3 ft up in the air.
Thoughts??
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[SerchforPerch]

had similar issues at the lake cabin with our septic tank - high level indicator was going off.. Installer came out and figured it was because of a leak/superficial crack in the vault, etc.. Anyhow, they re-lined it a hadn't had a problem since.

 

[KDM]

Yep, I suspect a crack as well. No other explanation that makes any sense. Also, a drain field lined with pea rock and covered with about 18 inches of dirt works pretty well in our clay soils around here. We have 3 fingers about 150 ft long that works for our house. Something to think about if you ever want to build.

 

[Kurtr]

yep a crack in the concrete and i have the same thing as kdm with a diiffuser system

 

[3Roosters]

I may have to look into the leaking thing...and if there is warranty for such things?? The thing isn't 2 yrs old. Another thought that crossed my mind...perhaps its possible we got the bill each fall for emptying but that it was never done?? Not sure if this guy would risk doing that for the $125 he charges to pump as I could have surely checked to make sure he had emptied each fall if I wanted to.
This is in MN...of course with all their reg's...with our soil type,... drain field isn't an option..has to be mound.

 

[deleted member]

drain fields can certainly be put down in clay soil. but, you need to remove it and replace it with something else. so, i guess, they technically aren't laying in clay soil once done. but, the surrounding soil is clay. at this point, that isn't going to be an option for you because it appears your system is too high now and the drain field would just freeze up. besides a crack, its entirely possible that the settling caused the intake pipe to break free a bit and exposed the intake between your RV and the vault and then the melt water and rain water just followed the existing pipe and its trench into the vault. and that's my guess. i have my doubts that the vault cracked already. but, who knows. one reason it may have cracked is because it is not deep enough to prevent freezing if it isn't being used and filled with heat producing shit and bio waste. so, whatever was left in last fall (or may have drained in before or during winter) froze solid and cracked the vault. anyway, i am not a big fan of mound systems up here. especially for campers. they aren't used enough and aren't deep enough to prevent problems associated with freezing up during the winter months.

 

[LBrandt]

Mr Espringers knows his stuff, right on the money.

 

[wby257]

I would get someone out there to pump it out. Then you can look inside to see if water is running in. The water table is as high as I have ever seen this yr in MN.

 

[3Roosters]

I would get someone out there to pump it out. Then you can look inside to see if water is running in. The water table is as high as I have ever seen this yr in MN.

Yep..it has been pumped so shall take a gander at it this weekend to see what is what. Add this to my list, along with putting in the dock. Fun fun. Breaking out the brewski's for sure! Thanks!

 

[eyexer]

I've put numerous drain fields in clay soil. I currently live on the hardest damn soil I've ever seen. Works like a champ. Number of bedrooms and the type of soil dictates the size of the field. I would put the drain field in asap.

 

[wby257]

Yep..it has been pumped so shall take a gander at it this weekend to see what is what. Add this to my list, along with putting in the dock. Fun fun. Breaking out the brewski's for sure! Thanks!

It may be full before you get there.

 

[Retired Educator]

Proper drain fields work fine when installed properly and per the rules. If I'm not mistaken, one of the rules in ND is a minimum size lot to have a drain field. Thought I read where a minimum lot size was one acre of land for a drain field. Not many lake lots that big.

That does not explain your problem. If I had a guess I would suspect a leak instead of a septic tank service provider not doing their job. Just seems like too big a risk for someone to short a customer who is going to be a regular customer. There is a valid point to leaving your septic tank full during the winter. Sewage should give off some gas that should help prevent the tank from freezing as well as help keep it in the ground from frost pushing it up.

Then again if it was empty it would seem that it should be more likely to lift out instead of sinking. Looking for a leak would be my first suggestion as has been mentioned by others.

 

[BrokenBackJack]

Check where the pipe goes into the tank. Had this happen twice in two different houses. Sealed it up and fixed the problem. Hope it is this rather than a cracked tank.

 

[dgully]

If its just ground water, pump it out on the ground and see where the leak/crack is. Fix it. rent a track hoe and install your own leach field, the thing I don't understand about the mound system is the waste has to go down in earth no matter what. So instead of being down a couple feet the mound is on top ground on a bed of sand. I just installed one, finished yesterday. went to first district health, they said I had to install a mound system, which up'd the cost by a lot. Looking back I would have just installed a leach field myself

 

[BrokenBackJack]

You get caught installing something else rather than what they say you have to install and you will be ripping out the one you installed and installing what they wanted to begin with. I dislike mound systems too but if they say install it that is what we did as it was inspected before and after we completed the project.

 

[3Roosters]

You get caught installing something else rather than what they say you have to install and you will be ripping out the one you installed and installing what they wanted to begin with. I dislike mound systems too but if they say install it that is what we did as it was inspected before and after we completed the project.

Yep. Exactly what we are doing. Lots of can and can not do's in Mn lake country that is for sure. We had a site eval done 2 yrs ago. It was determined we would need a mound system. Driving around the lake it appears that most of the year round dwellers have mounds. Soil type pretty much the same it appears. Decided not to go through with that at the time because of the cost and that we are just seasonal,so just went with the holding tanks and have them pumped each fall..or every other fall if not needed. Somewhere down the line if we were ever to build a cabin, we could do the mound at that time.
My advice is not to just go do something, check things out or it may end up costing you, either in fines, construction costs or both.

 

[dgully]

Ahh yes I didn't see you were in MN, I then wouldn't take a chance, It costed me $17k to have mound and new tank installed