"cmiles3" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Mar 26, 3:23 pm, wrote:
My wife and I were planning to sell our home in Central NJ (clay dirt)
with very high water table. We have a septic and the septic appeared
to be fine but figured that we should have it tested so we don't have
any problems when we sell.

The inspector from a septic company tested the leech field he said it
is failing because the distribution box has water in it and the
distribution box should be dry if the system was working properly. He
also poked a few holes into the ground and showed me the water coming
to the surface.

After he left the holes he poked into the ground is now flooding my
yard. I tried plugging up the holes but that didn't work. The
inspector from the septic company said his boss would call. The boss
called and said we need a new septic system and would run $30,000.00.
We do not have sewer close enough to hook up. Do you have any
suggestions?

Water flowing on the surface of your leach field means it is
overloaded or not working.

Even if someone poked through the ground (possibly through piping!) and
caused a path for the underground fluid to flow above the ground easier then
draining into the field? Did I miss something here?


The leach field is supposed to keep the
water below the surface under all conditions short of Noah's flood.
Assuming it worked properly when installed, your soil is plugged and
will not allow the effluent to saturate the surrounding subgrade. The
amount of laundry indicates this may be part of the problem; detergent
interferes with biological activity in the septic tank and leach field
that makes everthing work. When the leach field is plugged, the best
response is a new leach field. Everthing else is just a bandaid.

New systems to consider are new leach field; raised bed leach field;
aerobic treatment system (chorinates & sprinkles effluent on the
surface). The aerobic system may be the cheapest to install, but uses
pumps, chlorine and electricity, so adds a small operating cost.