DIY Septic Tank Drain Field Restore (Leach Bed Flush)

i didnt even know what a septic tank was before this video, but i watched it anyway because p83 makes anything interesting

2 years later? Now THATS dedication!! Thanks..

I have no need for septic solutions and probably never will, but your videos are always really informative and great to learn from. Thanks for sharing! EDIT: I'm now interested in the transmission fix

Two years in the making! and no quality difference, truly a time we live in.

Just found your video and I can honestly say I can’t disagree with anything you said. I have a pump up system installed about 25;years ago. Everything goes into main tank, effluent rises and goes into second tank with pump and high water alarm and out to drain field. Perks on down through different aggregates and at the bottom there is perforated collection pipes, which take the water to the front of my house and into a catch basin. Paid EnCon 90.00 a year for the discharge of the filtered water. BUT the last year the water wasn’t perking into the ground. Found the end of my laterals, cut the ends off(4inch lateral) and jetted the 3 laterals all the way back to the distribution box. (50 feet per lateral). Lots of crap got cleaned out. The Biomat just finally clogged up the laterals. Going to add Roebic K-57 into each lateral from D-box. I am by no means an expert but from what you,did sounds exactly right. Well, this was my 2 cents. Little late here….

Thank you for continuing to upload for us. These videos really are important to us all. Much appreciated.

It says a lot about your consistency that, other than the audio quality, I wouldn't have noticed that the majority of the video was recorded two years earlier. Thanks as always for sharing this process with us, I doubt I'll ever even need to touch a septic system, but maybe I can impart some part of this on somebody else one day.

Not something I'm ever going to need to do but it was absolutely fascinating all the way through (and yes, I read all the notes). Got an insight into how a septic system works, some more good ideas on how to go about problem solving and some much needed attitude adjustment (don't get disheartened when the first attempt doesn't work). I'd rate this as 30mins very well spent!

thanks for the primer on septic tanks, i had no idea it was more than just a big tank that the "product" went into.

It's always interesting to learn about new, practical things. Thank you for sharing!

I miss your insight in your videos. please more long winded videos. I never comment on videos but I was delighted when I saw you posted a video. I may never need help with a septic system but I could listen to you anytime. I wish you well and hope you continue making videos.

This procedure worked on my chamber system which was backing up. I skipped the jetting as I didn't want to move too much earth. Thanks for the video!

Sorry you had some negative comments, when what you did obviously worked. I designed and installed my own gravity Fed system 30 years ago and it’s still going strong. People can’t argue with what works! I intend to follow your advise and add bacterial product to my distribution box at the drain field rather than the toilet or tank. Thanks for the idea😊

@6:43 reflection confirms that Pocket does, in fact, have a head. I had previously assumed he was the gestalt intelligence manifested by buckets of golf balls and pvc fittings. That said, I find septic systems interesting because they seem very much to be the kind of passive infrastructure that wants as few moving or dynamic parts as can be managed in order to avoid maintenance and catastrophic failure. We had a drain field collapse on a rental we lived in and it was backhoes and tractors for 2 weeks. Plus the guys uprooted 2 trees that they just chipped instead of restoring the yard and turned over the top soil into the sand below so not even grass ever grew quite right in that yard again. I can't say I relish interacting with such systems but the ingenuity and reliability to function unattended for 2+ years a t a time is a wonder in it's own way.

You already know this, but I discovered when redoing some of the piping here (~1600s farm house) that the plumbing "it's all just water" gremlins had struck. All of the gutters at one side of the house had been rerouted to run into the sceptic tank... Flushing it completely into what we jokingly refer to as the leach-field - which is a clay pipe drain that leads away into a local stream after about a mile, 30m of vertical drop and a large quantity of added surface water. I don't think what we have is compliant with... anything. But flushing out the sceptic tank with excess flow is almost as bad as not having one, since there is no processing happening. Your system is far better than ours!

One thing I notice is the caps on these 4 lateral flushing/inspection pipes. I do believe that on a pressure mount laterals system, water will come up and out when a cap is removed for flushing the laterals. If you mound is like mine, there is only 60 holes total in the 4 laterals. Those he's in mine are barely 1/8" in diameter. Not nearly.enough escape for the 32+/- gpm your pump puts out. What they should do every 3 years or so is flush the laterals then some sort of pressure test with all 4 ends capped. The pressure test is compared over time to look for resistance to draining increases that can point at future issues in the mound. Love the video and unfortunately, I'm having similar issues thank to my septic installer not installing the outlet baffle/filter when this system was I stalled 3.5 years ago.

I appreciate your dedication.

Wow, you are not getting over 5 years with only 2 people in the house? Thanks for the video work.

You have a very dry sense of humour! Great video 📹

I've never seen a pumped septic system before. Cool!