Is it possible for a septic tank to be pumped and four months later be backed up again?

Question

My dh and I had out septic tank pumped in March and once again we are having problems with out toilets not draining properly. Is it possible that the septic tank is full again?

Answer 1

Yes,and it maybe the drainfield that's no longer working....hopefully you have room to add anothe 150 ' or so...if you can find you "d" box it could be plugged but not very often..........have some one check it.........and if you can avoid the inspectors and just have a back hoe come in and dig you some new lines and regrade and seed your lawn...that's the quickest way and least expensive.....if you get the health dept involved it's going to get exspensive. nite There's a lot of good guys out there who are not afraid to help you if you ask........it doesn't cost that much for pipe and gravel and they can do it in 1 day easy. Then its up to you to rake and get the grass seed in..........I had mine all rototilled before I planted which I had done the following day and seeded that afternoon..........so in three days I was watering grass seed:)........good luck   ..

Answer 2

Do you use a treatment such as Rid-x once a month? I would try a good dose of that before I call someone to dig it up. The bacteria will digest alot of the solids making more usable space. I really dont think it should be full within 4 months unless it's a small tank and normal for your home. Maybe a phone call to who drained it?? Is it possible they didn't completely empty it the 1st time? Another thought might be tree roots growing in the lines...which might cause all kinds of trouble. I believe there's a septic product for that too. Good Luck.

Answer 3

Yes, if you have a toilet running all the time. Good thing is.... fix the toilet... wait a few days and you don't need to pump out the tank.

Answer 4

yes it is possible if you dont have enough field line or if there has been awhole lot of rain and the ground becomes too saturated to soak up the waste water from your tank or if yor field line has colapsed underground or if you have too many people using the restroom over a period of time since septic tank sizes are based upon the number of occupants the #of bathrooms and bedrooms when the home was first constructed.if there are more waste going in than what the bacteria that decompose  the waste can handle then eventually you will have a problem. i would also check to see what everyone is dumping down the drains sone things do not break down easily or the people who pumprd it could have done a crappy job. next time i think that i would try someone else

Answer 5

Yes, it is possible, but not normal. You obviously have something wrong going on.

* The leach lines could be plugged and the excess water is not draining.

* The septic tank could have a crack in it that is letting ground water in.

* The sewer line going to the septic tank could be plugged with something.

* the septic truck may not have vacuumed all the waste out.

* leaky faucets and toilets are adding abnormal amounts of water into it.

Maybe others have more ideas I missed!

Answer 6

my sympathies.... I had to replace my drain field.  what a mess.

have you snaked the main vent line?  If that line gets gunked up, the water won't move right.  worth a try - cheaper than a new drain field.

good luck

Answer 7

Sounds like your field drain isn't working well enough. Talking to a septic tank cleaner and he was telling me the worse thing for septic tank field drains is washing powders, fabric softeners and normal bar soap play havoc on field drains. Once blocked the only remedy is to dig them up and replace.

If the toilet is backing up then it maybe closer to home than the septic tank. There should be a mushroom at the tank that sticks up out of the ground and will be lower than the toilet so if the field drains are blocked then water should be coming from there .