Deep septic riser

Today I performed a septic inspection/dye test on a system that had a new riser at the ground level and the riser appeared to be over 10-12 feet to the tank. There was no manhole and only one main inspection port. The upper part was 2.5 foot wide and about 3 feet deep plastic type culvert and then 3 ceramic tiles below of about the same size down to the top of the tank. Never seen a system this deep and no obvious inspection ports or view of the entry to the leech field. Any comments? See the photos attached.

John, how old was the home? Years ago the mentality was the deeper the better. I’ve seen systems this deep and the problem is there is no way of knowing the condition of the leech field, usually the first sign of failure is when it backs up.

Another issue is where is the water table. Here in NH, systems that are in the seasonal high water table are considered in failure and should be replaced.

The house is 37 years old. The riser looked new and had recently been pumped according to the sellers. The well head was about 150 feet from the tank riser in the opposite direction of the leech field. There is a gully behind the house about 250 feet out from the rear. It’s called “Dry Creek” and is about 30 feet deep. I seen water in it in the past, but mostly it is dry. Ohio has some new rules coming in about ground water and septic systems, however old systems are grandfathered if in proper working order…

It might be that low because there is plumbing in the floor of the basement and it has to flow by gravity down to the septic system.

If you don’t mind me asking what was your final analysis of the system?

I stated that the tank and drain field were very deep and even after running the water through the system for over 40 minutes and reviewing the field after 2 hours, no obvious leaks or areas of concern were noted. I also stated that it may be several days before any signs of leaking may become apparent and to monitor. I also suggested that they contact the local county health department because new rules regarding septic systems and ground water protection go into affect on Jan. 1st, 2015.

I also noted that the well riser and septic riser are over 150 feet apart and the drain field is approximately 200 feet from the well riser.

In a case like this that’s about all you can do.

I’m not a big fan of only loading a system as I’ve seen to many systems that are in poor to failing condition without showing any signs of backing up or breakout. Check out my septic thread, I just inspected a system that was loaded and worked fine, I dug up the D-Box and leech bed and the system was completely flooded.

Proper method for inspecting septic systems - Ancillary Inspection Services - InterNACHI®️ Forum Post # 235

Thanks for you your help and feed back. When you see something that you’ve seen before it’s great to come out to this site to get some good information.

Nick, your right about the basement drains/discharge. Many of the newer houses we see today have a macerator and pump to push the sewage up to the drains.

Can anyone point me in the direction to learn more about these septic riser’s?

I put a new leach field and tank in for some people 15yrs ago, the old one was 10’ deep:shock::shock: and it lasted 25yrs. Changed all the waste drains and added a pump for the basement, big job but it all worked out great. and everything is up to code for then anyway.
The kicker is the guy who built the house originally was the local building inspector at the time when he built it for his self :roll::roll:

Thanks, I appreciate any comments any information I can get.