What do I do if my septic tank is flooding? Flooding is one of the most common problems with septic tanks and there are many reasons which may cause a septic tank to flood. These can range from something as simple as an outlet ‘dip pipe’ being blocked to more serious problems involving the receiving soakaway [...]
Excessive draining of cooking oils and grease can cause the inlet drains to block. Oils and grease are difficult to degrade and can cause difficulties with the emptying. Disposing of non-biodegradable items such as nappies and baby wipes will rapidly clog the septic tank and these items should not be discharged to the tank at any [...]
Older drainage fields / soakaways can fail due to a build-up of sludge solids. The level of sludge solids passing through the septic tank are due to a number of reasons, including size of the tank, nature of the wastewater and emptying frequency.
Excessive use of detergent based products i.e. dishwasher tablets, washing powders etc. will lead to eventual failure of the soakaway. This is caused by a process called sodium binding where the sodium present in detergents cause any silt or clay particles in the sub soil to bind together to form am impervious layer. The same effect [...]
You should monitor any additional waste water entering the septic tank. A septic tank and the receiving drainage field / soakaway are designed to cater for a certain volume of flow per day. If the flow being discharged to a septic tank increases and the tank is not designed for this additional flow then problems can [...]
Physical damage to the drainage field / soakaway. In some cases a septic tank can flood due to the receiving soakaway pipe work becoming damaged and broken. This can often be due to heavy machinery moving over the soakaway and crushing the pipes. Older ‘but-jointing’ soakaway systems were constructed using clay wear pipes and it is [...]
The drainage field / soakaway being constructed in close proximity to trees and shrubs. Roots of trees and shrubs planted too close to a drainage field / soakaway can enter the drainage pipe work and block the pipes. Root ingress into drainage fields / soakaways is the cause of many systems blocking and as a result [...]
Naturally High Water Table refers to the drainage field / soakaway being under the natural water table. This can often be the cause for septic tank soakaway systems failing during winter months only. When a drainage field / soakaway is operating underneath the natural water table the septic tank, soakaway and foul drainage pipework will be [...]
The soakaway being constructed in ground conditions which are non-permeable such as sandy clay, silt clay and clay. This would result in the effluent that discharges to the soakaway filling the soakaway and subsequent flooding of the septic tank, or potentially effluent bursting out of the ground causing a health hazard. It is important that the [...]
The effluent from a septic tank is disposed of to a drainage field / soakaway. Under no circumstances should it be allowed to discharge to a ditch, stream or river. Such a discharge is an offence under the Public Health and Water Resources Acts and renders the offender liable to prosecution by the Statutory Authorities. In [...]
