Onsite System Inspection, Maintenance and Failure Diagnosis
Diagnose before you condemn
The absorption field is by far the most expensive component to replace. So the diagnostic
discipline in onsite work is to eliminate the cheap causes first, in order, because the cheap
causes are also the most common - and because an unnecessary field replacement is a large sum of
someone's money spent on the wrong thing.
The presenting symptoms and what they mean
Effluent surfacing over the trenches, and sewage backing up into the building
Both together mean the system cannot accept the flow being delivered. Establish where the
restriction is:
- Measure the liquid level in the tank. Is it above the normal outlet invert?
- Check the effluent filter - blinded filters are a leading cause and a trivial fix.
- Check the outlet baffle and outlet line for blockage or