Septic Seep?

[FLFKY]

Has anyone used this product? I have a drain field that is starting to fail and supposedly this product can correct it.

[Cabin Fever]

I am a soil scientist who is involved in our State’s program for septic systems. Since I never heard of Septic Seep, I went to their website to obtain information. The product they market is claimed to rejuvenate soils that are impacted by sodium. It has been known for centuries that high levels of sodium can reduce the permeability of fine-texture soils, like clays. The addition of calcium and/or magnesium to soil can counteract and prevent the negative impacts of sodium. Septic seep is a calcium-based product. So, if your septic system was installed in a clay soil, and you know that the soil is impacted by sodium, then Septic Seep might help. (Of course, so would other calcium-based materials like pulverized limestone or gypsum slurry).

However, I have two questions you might like to answer? When was the last time you had your septic tank pumped? Septic Seep makes no claims regarding the recovery of a drainfield that has been plugged by sludge that has overflowed a full septic tank. Have you had significant rainfall during the last few week? Many parts of the US has had a lot of rainfall recently that can lead to temporary failure of septic systems. Once things dry out, these systems should return to normal operation.

[MorrisonCorner]

In my experience nothing will prolong the life of a failing field.. and believe me, I think we tried everything on the market. What DID help a failing field was pumping the septic tank and then not using it for several months. Very, very, inconvenient, and even then, it won't really solve the problem. But it might give things a chance to recover and dry out a bit.

[FLFKY]

That was going to be by next step. I was going to move my grey water discharge from my washer to some place other than the septic, hoping it would help. My wife makes her own detergent using borax and her homemade soap, so I'm not too worried about poisoning the ground.

We have had a lot of rain this year, but the section of the field in question is in the lowest point of the yard. It has always been kind of wet and grass grew very well there. Gravity at work I suppose.

We pump the tanks on a regular basis, every two or three years. The last guy that came out to pump said it really could have went a few more months. But I try to be regular with this thing.