How To Find A Drain Field

Only Where to Look to Notice the Septic Drainfield

Mail service a QUESTION or Annotate almost looking for the septic drainfield or soakaway bed or leach field

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How to utilise visual clues to observe the seepage beds or leaching field:

Exactly where should y'all look to find the septic drainfield or soakaway bed? This commodity helps y'all notice a septic tank, D-box, soakaway bed or drainfield and other components past identifying locations at a building site where those components could fit and should take been placed.

Nosotros besides provide an Commodity INDEX for this topic, or yous tin try the page top or bottom SEARCH BOX as a quick way to find data you need.

Visual Clues that Indicate Drain Field Location

Septic Location Video Part three - Likely Drainfield Location at a Site - by visual clues

This article series and our accompanying SEPTIC COMPONENT LOCATION VIDEOS explains how to find the leach field or drainfield portion of a septic system.

Nosotros include sketches and photos that help you lot larn what to expect for, and we describe several methods useful for finding cached drainfield components. (Septic drain fields are also called soil absorption systems or seepage beds.)

Too meet How to Discover the Septic Tank.

The septic organisation video#3 at right describes walking an 18 year old homesite by a lake to discover the septic system components. We observe one surface area that by its space and absence of trees and rocks is almost certainly the drainfield location - a fact later confirmed by the possessor.

This item drainfield is uphill from the septic tank and the home which it serves. A septic pumping system will be needed.

More videos on septic system location & maintenance are at SEPTIC VIDEOS.

Suppose we have no documentation and no thought where the drainfield is located. Yous can walk the edifice site looking for where a septic field could possibly be placed based on space, soil, and terrain weather as well as distances from property boundaries and from a well if i is present. Our video at the top of this page gives a site walk through example of that procedure.

PHOTO of an apparent drain field location where fill has been added.

If y'all cannot find any candidate locations for a drainfield, go back to "square one" and starting time with our SEPTIC TANK, HOW TO FIND article. One time we can find the septic tank itself, the septic tank outlet defines the location of the effluent drain line that leads to the leach field.

But call back that a drainfield may not be installed at all. In that location could be a seepage pit, or nothing, yet the septic system may appear to be working, depending on the level of its usage and soil characteristics.

An experienced contractor or inspector can frequently tell where the leach field is by a simple visual check of the property since due south/he knows the typical size, elevation, and soil requirements - in other words, we look to run across where a leach field could possibly be fit at a holding.

In the photo our client is pointing to a filled-area at the front end of his habitation - which we determined was the probable drainfield area. Unfortunately the installer put his fill up right beyond a creek bed (expect in the upper photo at the natural lay of the land). And so the drain field did not have much of a life before its effluent leaked into groundwater, actualization in our test every bit pinkish-dyed effluent in a nearby stream.

Our article SEPTIC DRAINFIELD SIZE discusses how to locate the septic field and how to make up one's mind septic field size for a conventional drain field. Knowing these most basic design considerations can tell you where to look for septic fields at a building site by knowing where a working field might be expected to exist installed.

PHOTO of a stepped-mound system with inappropriate plantings on its sides.

If a property has an culling design system such as a mound or raised bed or other special assimilation field designs, those will be more obvious equally a terrain feature. You'll encounter a rather big, rather apartment surface area of raised soil or filled soil on the property.

Sizes can vary widely but a minor constructed drainfield fabricated of fill might exist 30' broad x 50' long. In the photograph a two-level or "tiered" septic mound was installed perhaps 20 years agone; the lower mound is visible in the foreground.

The shrubs are a bit shut to the septic field, which we found was in failure - dyed septic effluent appeared in the driveway in the shut foreground, and could be seen quickly in this bleed bowl intended nosotros were told to remove water from the driveway. Actually it was removing septic effluent from the bulldoze.

At that place may be good visual clues that indicate the drainfield location, peculiarly if you know what to look for.

Lawn shown is a candiate for locating septic tank and drainfield

Areas Cleared of Rocks and Major Trees Oftentimes Marks the Location of an Older Drainfield

This older and mature lawn is free of large copse and rocks though those items are plant at other areas of this building site. This is where nosotros expected to find the septic tank and drainfield.

Ofttimes it is possible to see long parallel depressions which mark leach field trenches. You cannot see them in this photograph (a tank and seepage pit were found later) merely you tin can come across them in the adjacent section of this article. These depressions are caused by earth fill settlement over the drainfield trenches.

They may be visible in systems of near any age. Long parallel depressions, perhaps 24 to xxx" wide and many feet long, perhaps xx' to 40' and spaced perhaps 4' to half-dozen' autonomously are suggestive of bleed field trenches.

Areas of Snowfall Melt may Show Drainfield Layout, Trench Lines, Location

In northern climates when there is low-cal snow encompass, the drain field depressions may be easier to see for a couple of reasons:

the snow cover forms a shine blanket which more hands shows-up depressions, especially in late afternoon light when the sun is low in the heaven and shadows are more than obvious.
Considering septic effluent is flowing into an in-employ drainfield the trench areas may be a bit warmer than the surrounding soil, causing snow to melt or exist thinner over the trenches, and adding to the "depression" issue.

Wet Areas may Prove a (failing) Drainfield Location

Image of a failed septic system and deep snow cover

Information technology's too bad, simply sometimes the leaching bed or drainfield location becomes obvious considering it is in failure mode.

If a drainfield is declining past pushing effluent to the surface that is a rather obvious clue of the field location.

The effluent breakout most-often occurs at the low-cease of the declining drainfield line(s), merely it can occur anywhere that a pipe is clogged, damaged, or leaking. In this photograph, which we discuss in more detail beneath, the septic organization failure and thus the septic field location was visually evident fifty-fifty under deep snow encompass.

Often it is possible to run into an area of raised-fill which was built to business firm the leach field.

VISUAL CLUES LOCATE the DRAINFIELD contains boosted clues that telltale where you tin can expect to notice the septic drainfield.

Commendation of this article by reference to this website and brief quotation for the sole purpose of review are permitted. Utilise of this information at other websites, in books or pamphlets for auction is reserved to the author. Technical reviewers and content suggestions are welcome and are credited at "References."

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Go on reading at VISUAL CLUES LOCATE the SEPTIC TANK or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete Article Alphabetize.

Or come across SEPTIC TANK, HOW TO Discover for details about finding the septic tank or chamber or drywell or seepage pit.

SEPTIC DRAINFIELD INSPECTION & TEST - home

SEPTIC DRAINFIELD LOCATION - home

How to Find the Septic Tank. More videos on septic system location & maintenance are at SEPTIC VIDEOS

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SURPRISING DRAINFIELD LOCATIONS
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VISUAL CLUES LOCATE the SEPTIC TANK

SEPTIC DRAINFIELD RESTORERS?
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