Household gray water is separate from septic?

[manley]

I'm hoping someone here can help me figure something out... My basement has drains in the floor and the shower empties into this same drain system. It is about 3 feet lower than the exit point of the sewage pipe. I live in a rural area with a well and septic system and all that. My question is: where is this gray water going? As the temperature rises and the rain keeps coming, I'm getting a little standing water in my basement. Something is full, but what? There are no signs of an exit point for this drain system outside. My house sits higher than the road level which would make my basement floor about even with the road. I'd like to get this water out of the basement, but want to make sure there isn't some other problem I'm overlooking.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

All the drains in our house go to the septic tank, then out to the leach field aka the big squishy part of the backyard.
Is water backing up through the drain?

 

[Flysure1]

how old is your system? Some of the older systems drained the non-sewage water into a sump hole away from the house (a hole filled with gravel below the frost line)

 

[Anonymous]

It's still common to run the gray water to a separate line. They do it around here once the inspector does his final. Bleach and phosphates can easily kill the bacteria that is so necessary for a septic system to operate correctly. I would think the water entering your basement would smell very bad if it was coming from either line in the septic system. If you are down grade IMO it surface water that is soaking into the ground and running next to the basement wall. Two things you can take a look at that is the gutters and where are they piped to. Their discharge needs to be piped down and away from the home and at least 20' or more. The other is the front elevation. There needs to be a swell again at least 20' away from the home. This also needs to direct the surface water away and down hill where theres no chance of it entering the home. Are there any standing water in front of the home and does the gutters go into a pipe/storm drain that routes the water away?

 

[fmcm65a]

+1 pm it likely being ground water.

My wife and I have a rental property (wife's premarriage house) that is on septic. The grey water for the washing machine and dishwasher run to a separate 55 gallon drum filled with gravel that is buried separate from the septic tank. This past fall Jacksonville area received mulitple inches of rain in the matter of a couple of days resulting in flooding. We learned that the ground water was filtering up into the grey water tank when our renter tried to do a load of laundry and had water shooting out of the drain pipe. Once the rain stopped and the yard dried out, the problem of water backing up stopped as well.

 

[manley]

Sorry guys, I appreciate the help... work and classes keeps me way too busy some days.

The house was built in 1943. We haven't had any rain and the water level is not lowering. I've been on the search for an eel to borrow to try to determine where the pipe goes outside the house. There is plenty of lower level land in close proximity to my house, but none of it is holding water. None of my yard is lower than the basement. If the pipe exits into a creek or such, it would have to cross under the road or my neighbor's property. Last year, I bought plastic tubing to help direct the gutter runoff further away from my house.

One thing I checked out of curiosity is something in my back yard about 8 feet from the house.... there is a 10-12 inch pipe(?) that runs straight down. The water level inside it is higher than my basement floor. When the water was lower, I could see a metal pipe that I'm pretty sure is connected to a capped pipe inside my basement. I'm not sure if this is an old well or what. What is seeping into the basement at the point where the pipe comes through the wall about 3-4 inches above floor level. This seepage is very minimal but runs right into the drain in the floor. Somewhere the drain in the floor has to get outside the house.... I need x-ray vision!

The water in the basement doesn't smell and is clear. I should have an eel this weekend.... wish me luck!

 

[Flysure1]

Sometimes there are cisterns around older homes (there was one at my house and I filled it in) sometimes they were piped back into the houses for use other than drinking--might be seeping in if it is not capped off.

 

[manley]

I've come to the conclusion that the ground is just extremely saturated with water in my area. A buddy of mine said he knows several people that have had to call someone in to drain the septic tanks due to the water not being able to dissipate, I guess. As I was driving to town today, I noticed water levels in creeks are much higher than normal....especially considering we haven't had any downpours lately. I'm guessing between the snow the other day and the ground starting to thaw, there is still a lot of moisture in the ground. There is no longer any water standing on my basement floor, but the drain pipes are full. I didn't find any blockages with the eel. I used a wet/dry vac to suck about 30 gallons out of the pipes and it didn't change the overall level much. I think I'll invest in a pump some day in hopes that I can pump the water outside, down the hill and avoid and serious problems in the future. Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[Gigantopithecus]

It's been raining heavily at least once a week since we moved to our new place. Factor in poor drainage from over the drainfield and the amount of water we use, and we end up with an over taxed drainfield. I'm going to have the tank pumped in a month or so, and figure out a way to make the back yard clear rain water quicker.