I am not an expert on Septic Systems but in 31 years of selling homes I do have some experience and I believe an owner has some inexpensive alternatives to replacing their septic system or hooking up to city sewer. It's important to understand how a system works and the following site will explain that very well.http://home.howstuffworks.com/sewer.htm. Septic tanks should be pumped out about every 5 years on average. Some more often depending on the size of the tanks and the soil. The National Association of Realtors has a free brochure you can download at http://www.mirealtors.com/News/septicbrochure.html
There are additives that can add bacteria to your system and possibly turn a failing system into a passing system. I have not used any of these products personally because I've always had city sewer so I would welcome your feedback so I can post them on this web page, but I believe all of these products have guaranteed results. Here are some of them and I'm sure there are more...http://www.rex-bac-t.com/, http://www.amerisep.com/
I also found an interesting site with a gadget that adds aerobic bacteria to your system instead of the anaerobic type, and they have a video explaining their system. It uses no chemicals and also is guaranteed to work. http://www.aero-stream.com/ This is basically an aeration system that you can find more of the same but this one may be quieter and it is designed to be turned off after it cleans the system while other systems are designed to run 24/7.
My choice for solutions is http://www.biosafeone.com/ After talking to a salesperson there they may have the most successful solution available, but it's not cheap. Their scientists who designed their product also engineered the Exxon Valdez clean up with a similar product. They have a 98 to 99% success rate and he said you won't find one complaint on the internet. Not bad for a company that has been in the business for 53 years. If anyone tries this company I would love to hear how well it works, or doesn't. They say they can clean up a failed system for $800 to $1200.
A new drainfield will run anywhere from $3,000 for a normal system, to $10,000 or $15,000 for a mound system. City sewer is usually more than that to hook up so these low cost solutions are worth a try. I take no responsibility for any of these solutions. I provide them for information purposes only. Please let me know any results you have or of any other sites I should list here.
Dan Stegman |