Septic Drain Field Solutions

A crappy topic. My drain field is showing signs of failure, such as surface water spots.
Research has convinced me that chemical additives are a temp fix, if a fix at all.
Replacement is a $20k plus deal.
What does have my attention is converting from an anaerobic bacteria system (slim is a by-product) to a aerobic bacteria which eats everything.
This is achieved by introducing oxygen into the septic tank.
A product that does this is the Septic Genie (google it for a description).
The claim is that the bacteria double every 20 minutes and within a couple of weeks, the tank water is clear and the drain field clogging will be improved and on the way to being restored from the new bacteria moving through the system..
I would be interested in comments from those who have experience with this technology.
Thanks.

Really good discussion here on City-Data

Septic Genie (house, converting, water, soil) - Rural and Small Town Living -Relocation, moving, countryside, farms, health, schools... - City-Data Forum


Here is what I have learned over the last 12 years :D before which I knew NOTHING NADA ZIP...

Moving into a rural settings has it's own learning curve not unlike SR shaving :p I learned about Septic systems and well systems, what and how to use a PTO all kinds of neat and cool things I never needed to know in my first 42 years on this ball of rock..

Two things I have learned about my septic system

1. Never use anything commercial (Rid-X Septic Fix etc: )

2. Either use simple live Yeast every 2-3 months or the Live Bacteria that your Local Septic Pumping Company most likely has on hand.

A visit from the local company to pump out the system, with a hot cup of coffee in hand, taking the time to talk with the chap doing the work will most likely garner a ton of useful information targeted to your area.. They explained my system and what to use to keep it going better then everyone else I had talked with... The best part was that he was very interested in SR shaving too, so after shooting the **** we talked quite a bit about shaving :)

I was told one time to dump an occasional quart of milk down the drain to promote bacteria instead of Rid-X or similar product.

Man I don't know if this is going to help or not but when I started having problems with my septic system an old codger got us to start flushing liver down the toilet once a week.

It was cheep, and it seemingly worked.

Not long after, my wife found a natural product. The jugs cost a small fortune, but it was awesome stuff.
EcoEthic - Products

I don't know if they ship stateside or not.

Growing up all we used was yeast and pumping out when needed to keep the septic system going. Unlike the being in the city you simply can't send certain things down the drain or you will be begging for trouble too.

Bob

One of the things I have learned with this research is that the anaerobic bacteria that has been active in septic fields for more than the last hundred years secretes a slim by-product. This creates a biomass that clogs the drain field sand/gravel and pipes. Typically limits the life span of these systems to about 20 years. Some much longer due to size/type gravel bed, and some shorter.
By introducing oxygen and aerobic bacteria (the kind that live off oxygen vs anaerobic bacteria that don't need oxygen), the tank and field are cleaned up of the residue. Solids are consumed in the tank within 24 hours and only clear water exits to the field. The oxygen is toxic to the anaerobic bacteria, ending the source of the biomass.
Sounds like a magic bullet, but university studies and actual use reports support the claims.
It's just that I get goosey dropping $2.5K on something unfamiliar to me.
Think of all the razors that would buy.

We've lived on septic in two different geographic settings for the last 20 years, first with a family of 5 and all that goes with that, then 4, now 2 as the kids have grown and moved out.

My experience (and my conversations with the septic inspection and pumping folks) is that as Gssixgun suggests if a system is periodically inspected and pumped (if necessary), it will last way longer than 20 years. All of the additives are like all of the other snake oils solutions to other problems that are for sale....they don't work, and they can make things worse.

We used to live in a farm-like suburb outside of DC in Maryland, and had several acres. We had 3 kids at home then and I had the system checked and pumped about everything 5-7 years, for $100-125 each. We now live in a beach community with sandy soil and a very high water table and we are with 1/2 mile of the ocean and a tidal Sound. Our town is VERY picky about septic systems (because the byproducts fairly quickly find their way to recreational swimming, boating and fishing waters) and the whole area is on septic, so they give a discount on our water bill if we have it inspected every three years. Like Glenn, I talked with the guy who was doing the inspecting this year, and he said if the inspection is by a professional, and he measures the sludge and slime levels (bottom stuff and top stuff) and you had it pumped when either got too thick, the system would be fine. He also said keep grease and other slime builders (paint, etc).out of it, and add NO "boosters". Otherwise, he said, things can get out of whack and solids can make their way into the drain field, ruining it. If that happens, he said, there is no fix except excavation for a new field.

The aerobic/anaerobic thing makes no sense to me because the reason you don't want grease, etc, building a heavy slime layer is that it shuts off contact between the "cooking" household waste and water and the air....killing the bacteria that break it down into liquid. Septic systems depend on air/oxygen to work, as I understand them.