Septic system

I lifted the lid to a septic tank today and there was a continuous flow of water. I checked in the house and found that a toilet was not seating and was running. I shut the toilet off and returned to the septic tank to find the water was still continuous. Is this normal for a septic tank. My first inspection by the way so be kind.

Either the water from the pipe had not emptied yet or you still have water running somewhere. Takes a few minutes for lines to empty sometime though. No water should be running into the tank unless there is waste coming from the house.
First inspection of 100th, we learn everyday! Hope this helps

If you stopped all the water leakage from the house, then there should be no water flow into the tank on the inlet side. Was the water flowing into the tank from the inlet or outlet of the septic tank ?

Is there an electric effluent lift pump in the basement? That might go on even after the water is turned off. Also, are you sure your lid is to the septic tank? Maybe it is the lid on a concrete distribution tank and there is a siphon dosing pump at the septic tank that flipped.

Are you thinking it’s a pressure distribution system? Those are mainly commercial out here.

Or dosed. They can trick you because they dose without electricity. They work on a siphon. They are much better than gravity fed systems that find the lowest point and saturate only that part of the field. Anyway, they can flip regardless of whether or not you have water entering the tank.

Also, make sure the lid you pulled is to the tank and not the distribution box. I install full concrete distribution boxes (so that they don’t move and disconnect from the runs during back filling)… and the lid is identical to the tank’s.

My guess would be that the leach field was saturated because of the leaking toilet, and the effluent was back-draining from the field after the water was turned off. Could be as you said, too, Nick about the siphon dosing has “flipped” but siphon dosing is pretty rare now a days (in my area, anyways). I’ve only seen 1 siphon dosing setup. I would hope Billy Clark would know the difference between the lid on the tank and the D-block.

It’s different out here, or maybe I’m just different. I only design systems that dose because IMHO, there is no way you can keep your runs so perfectly level that water distributes evenly. It’s all going to run to one corner or another unless you dose. You might get it level for inspection, but then you bury it and it drive over it and it settles over time and… so much for being level. That’s my thinking anyway.

Nick, I’m curious about the dosing system, got any picture’s?
How big is the D-Box?

Dosing is the way to go for even distribution of the entire leaching field, and especially if the D-block has shifted out of level. I was only referring to a siphon dosing system as being rare, as apposed to an electric pump for the dosing.

This happened at my place. Its probably at the pump in the basement. There is a check valve in the pump. It’s located on the front of the pump. Usually a couple of screws. Take emery cloth and clean the mating surface. Be sure the check valve is installed in the right direction of flow. It has a lead weight in the center. If it is worn it will allow a continous flow of water to the septic tank. The replacement part is around $10.