What is septic system failure?
(From www.septic-info.com) A septic system is said to have failed when it no longer fulfills its function of absorbing and treating wastewater from your home. When this occurs, wastewater may back up in your yard, or (less obviously but cause for equal concern) may contaminate your well water and nearby surface waters with pathogens and nutrients (e.g., phosphorous, nitrogen). Most leachfields have a design life of 20-30 years, at the end of which their soils are simply too clogged to accept wastewater for treatment. This clogging can happen prematurely if, for example, high amounts of solids are consistently carried over from your septic tank to your leachfield (e.g., you haven’t pumped your septic tank for years and/or you consistently overload your system). While improper care and maintenance is by far the leading cause of septic system failure, poor design and siting can also be a factor: perhaps your leachfield was sized too small for your household, or the soils are poorly draine
