Tell me, how does adding dye to the septic tank tell you if the water
standing in the leach field originates with the septic tank. No matter what,
adding water to the septic tank is going to release some water to the leach
field. The dye will travel with it and show up in any leakage or in a test
hole. This test will show that water is traveling into the leach field but
not if the existing water originated with ground water or from the septic
tank only that the new dyed water came from the tank.

"louie" wrote in message
oups.com...
I've grown up with septic systems and have owned two homes so far with
septic systems.

Sludge in the tank needs to be pumped out, whether it's you or the
buyer who does it will depend on the local codes, the bank, and
negotiations between you and the buyer

The absorption field might just have runoff from the rain/snow. I
think the most commonly accepted test for a failed absorption (leech)
field is a dye test. Has the inspector done this? In order to do
this, a fluorescent dye tablet is put in the toilet and flushed down
(if the house is vacant, the toilet is allowed to run for a couple of
hours first to make sure that the tank is full). After waiting a
while, the ground is inspected for signs of the dye. If the dye is
visible, then the system has failed and needs to be repaired. The
repairs usually mean involving the local officials/engineers and
getting approval and a permit, depending on what part of the system has
failed. If I were the buyer and saw the report of standing water above
the leech field, I would want the dye test to see if that water was
coming from the septic or not.