Septic Flow test Narrative

Anyone have a good narrative for a septic that has performed well for a 25 min flow test?

Did you calculate how many gallons of water you put through the system?

It would seem that there are too many variables for that to mean much, if anything.

For instance, was the home vacant? If so, for how long? Was the flow just leaking out of the back corner of the field? How many gallons a minute were running and was the flow continually consistent? Etc., etc., etc.

Peter, from the north east, should be along soon and will have an expert’s opinion on the matter.

I’ll see if I can find a link to his educational postings. :slight_smile:

Hi peter. Man, I type slow while cooking. :mrgreen:

Here’s one of his educational links: http://www.nachi.org/forum/f21/proper-method-inspecting-septic-systems-61273/

HaHa. I just saw that.

When conducting a hydraulic load test on a septic system you should know the daily design capacity (if known) or a good estimate based on experience. Then a decision of how much water to run through the system should be made base on actual data. You should never run water into a septic system just for the sake of ‘’ seeing if it works’’ typically 100 gallons or less is enough.
This would represent approximately a little less than 1/3 of a daily load for a three bedroom system rated for 450 GPD. Load tests should also only be conducted after the treatment tank has been inspected and a couple of inspection holes dug into the EDA, effluent disposal area. No sense in flooding a septic system that’s already in trouble.

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No test has been done. I am building a general comment library. I have just added a septic section to my software.

Here, try something like this…

I conducted a hydraulic load test where I introduced XXX gallons of water through the homes plumbing system, into the treatment tank and subsequently into the EDA (Effluent Disposal Area). No backups or breakout was observed and I consider this system to be in XXX condition.

If your inspection holes start to fill with effluent then you can say… inspection hole #XX filled with effluent to approximately XXX up from the bottom of the hole. Best to use the location within the bed IE top of EDA or bottom.

Hope this help. Also, you can replace EDA with leech bed, drain field, what ever terminology is used in your area.

PS most banks will except this for lending purposes.

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Found this tool that would address a lot of the concerns that were mentioned.

http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/page.aspx?p=71523&cat=2,2280,33160

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