Aerobic septic system question

[Ron Wilsdorf]

I have a 5 year old aerobic system used by my wife and myself. It rained approximately 5-6" over a three day period. I noticed my septic sprinklers operating almost continuously during day 2 and three. Day four (no rain) they operated less and today is day five and they seem back to normal.

My question is; Is this normal, I thought this is a closed system where only liquids and solids in would come from the house?

Thanks
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[Barry Adair]

Appears you have runoff or ground water leakage.

Consult a qualified repair person that has the ability to do leak location detection.

[Emmanuel J. Scanlan]

I own an aerobic system and can completely agree with Barry. The problem can be as simple as loose seals on the final tank lid to other more significant issues. Had the exact same issue as you and it luckily wound up being just seals on the final tank lid and a LOT of runoff. Fixed it myself but I watch mine closely and know at all times what is happening. You're best bet is checking with the installer if it is still under warranty.

[Charley L. Bottger]

I do not inspect septic system but was reading some local code/requirements and noticed something that I was not aware of pertaining to a maintenance log that is suppose to be maintained and passed to subsequent owners. we do not have many Aerobic system in this area but I have inspected where they were present. I will now make reference in my reports concerning this log.

Has anyone ran into these types of requirements.

10-4A-6: REQUIREMENTS FOR INSTALLATION, OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE:
No person shall operate an IAWS or permit another person to operate an IAWS on his or her property without:
A.No IAWS shall be constructed on any lot or acreage of less than one acre and no such lot or acreage, once an IAWS system is constructed thereon, shall ever be subdivided to less than one acre in size.
B.Obtaining and maintaining current all applicable permits from the Oklahoma department of environmental quality and the city of Ponca City for the installation, operation, and maintenance of an IAWS;
C.Obtaining and retaining the services of a maintenance person/company licensed by the Oklahoma department of environmental quality for maintenance of the IAWS to assure that it is operated and maintained in accordance with manufacturer's recommendations and requirements and those of the Oklahoma department of environmental quality;
D.Keeping a log showing the IAWS was installed, operated and maintained in accordance with these ordinances;
E.Providing subsequent property owners a copy of the log and notice of these requirements prior to the time any offer of purchase is made on the property served by the IAWS. (Ord. 6045, 8-14-2006

[Emmanuel J. Scanlan]

Charley,

Sounds a lot like the Texas laws. The Texas Commission On Environmental Quality regulates On Site Sewage Facilities (septic systems). Their main page is http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/nav/permits/on-site.html . At this point they are not approving any new systems other than aerobic, as far as I can tell. With the aerobic systems the owner is required to have routine inspections and maintenance performed on them and quarterly reports made to the county TCEQ Rep. The owner can hire an OSSF technician to perform the maintenance and checks or they can become qualified themselves on their system and do it all. Cheaper just to hire an OSSF technician to perform routine checks and reporting duties.

The one thing I do wish they would change on the WEB site is to add a link to check for proper OSSF system licensing and if maintenance has been done. I generally Google the owners name and county with "OSSF" and obtain reports that way.

[Charley L. Bottger]

Manny
From what I read Okla. DEQ is only requiring maint checks twice a year. Glad I looked at this thread got me to thinking. Okla is a bit Different than TX as we are still allowing the standard tank and leach field. Probably a good thing due to the cost of the Aerobic or folks up here in poor country would be dumping on the ground surface.