Septic System Help!

Came home today after being gone for 4 days and discovered that I have septic system issues. I initially thought that my line was frozen from the house to the tank (water was starting to back up into the floor drain) – yet when I opened up the inspection caps on the tank I saw that both sides (solid & liquid) were FULL. Egads. I have a pressure bed system – gravity fed from the house to the 2-sided tank and then a pump pushes the water uphill to the drain field. The system is about 8 or 9 years old.

Further investigation revealed that the circuit breaker was thrown. Okay – light bulb moment for me – I realized that I was an idiot. I’ll explain: On Friday, I replaced my dishwasher. Long story short, I mistakenly shut off the power to the septic system pump rather than the dishwasher. After hooking everything else up on the dishwasher – it worked, so my mistake was left undiscovered.

So, I thought I had it figured out. No ice up. Not a frozen pipe or drain field. Just no power. I turned on the breaker and the alarm went off. The pump kicked in and after about 15-20 minutes of constant running, the alarm shut off and the levels in both tanks were down considerably.

Awesome. I never felt so happy to be an idiot.

An hour later, the alarm went back on. And now the pump isn’t working at all. I shut off the breaker for 20 minutes or so and then turned it on – still nothing.

With a long pole, I was able to push the float down, which would shut off the alarm momentarily.

Now what? Aside from pulling up the pump (and how do you do that?) what can I do to troubleshoot this?

Oh – and it doesn’t help that it’s going to be -24 tonight…

This is something for a pro. Our system had a pitched wire two years ago. We paid 250 for a new float and fixed the wire. If you jump in there and I don’t have to I will cut the check.

From what you’re saying, it can only be one of two… things.

No power to the pump.
Pump is shot
Pump is jammed (this would normally trip your breaker)

The alarm is on a separate circuit… at least on mine.

To check operation of my pump, there’s a pvc pipe attached to the pump that I can lift it out of the tank with. If you don’t have that, I guess you’ll have to lift it by the power cord which should come in someplace in the risers.

Once the pump is out (BTW turn off power before lifting the pump out) first check for debries in the pump impeller.

If it turns freely, pull off the cover to the wiring… check the connections and then for 120v.

You’re answer will either be no power or pump is shot. Good luck.

Disclaimer: I’m not an expert septic tank guy, but I do sling lots of crap on the internet.

I’ll take another look at it in the morning…with it being so cold, all I see when I look into the tank is steam with my headlight. The alarm and the pump are on the same circuit with mine. That much I am certain.

I think the pump assembly is “tied off” with a length of romex wire which is attached just inside the access cover. What I can’t wrap my brain around is how the pipe is attached from the pipe to the exit (going to the drain field)…What I mean is – how will I disconnect this fitting from outside the tank? Or?

I’ve never monkeyed with one of these things before.

Sounds like the best thing in this situation would be to call a professional. You could turn a semi-easy repair into a nightmare pretty easily. Especially when the temps are what they are. Just my 2 cents. Go luck! Hope everything lines up for you and you can get it taken care of.

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I’ll take another look at it in the morning…with it being so cold, all I see when I look into the tank is steam with my headlight. The alarm and the pump are on the same circuit with mine. That much I am certain.

I think the pump assembly is “tied off” with a length of romex wire which is attached just inside the access cover. What I can’t wrap my brain around is how the pipe is attached from the pipe to the exit (going to the drain field)…What I mean is – how will I disconnect this fitting from outside the tank? Or?

I’ve never monkeyed with one of these things before.

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The discharge pipe is connected with either a union or a rubber coupler depending upon the system. Each can be disassembled from a ground level. From the sounds of it your pump is on the way out. I suggest pulling the pump, disconnecting it and disassembling the pump itself. Most of the time the fins are just clogged with debri. Shoot me a pm if need be and I can walk you through it step by step…

All I can say.. if it is the pump… lucky for you they aren’t too expensive. We were looking at a total septic system failure last year. Seemed the drain feild was frozen up. By some unexpected surprise, teh daughter ran over the pipe coming up from the ground so it never backed up into the house… was nasty clean up in the spring after everything unthawed and thankfully the drain feild thawed. (put through some chemicals to clean it out a bit).

Again… if it is just a pump… not too bad.

Got to wonder if it over heated on you. I think some have what is called a thermal breaker that will trip to prevent the pump from burning up. Most of those pumps run 20 to 30 seconds and shut off. 20 minutes seems like a long time. Do the out side pumps have a separate cord so you can by pass the float and plug the pump in directly to see if its working?

Get a hold of LenH… he is a septic pro! J/k hope you get it fixed.