Question:
Can someone give me advice on using a jetter to clean a field line? Do you clean the whole line as far the jetter will go, or just the header pipe going to the field line?
Does this help the field line to start taking water? Do you give your customer any type of warranty?
Answers:
In order to help with your question, I would need a little more information. What type of drainfield line are you dealing with? Is this a pressurized drainfield line, such as in a low-pressure distribution system, mound, sand filter, etc.? Or are you dealing with a gravity drainfield with 4-inch tile, or 4-inch perforated PVC pipe? Do you know for sure that the line is “clogged?’’ Or is there another reason the drainfield is not accepting effluent?
If this is a LPD, or pressurized system, with 3/16-inch or 1/8-inch orifices, typically the lateral ends should be exposed and vacuumed out using a pump truck. Vacuum all of the laterals separately. Vacuum the pump discharge line as well. You may then run the jetter up each lateral line to its origin and vacuum again.
If this is a gravity type system, it is important to determine if the line itself is clogged or if the drainfield infiltrative surface and trench walls are clogged. Jetting the lines in a system that is “failing” due to clogged infiltrative surface will not likely remedy the problem. However, in some cases, vacuuming the lines using a pump truck and flushing the lines with freshwater several times can help revive the drainfield to some extent.
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I’m trying to understand how a jetter works on field lines. I’ve heard people say they jetted the field lines on a gravity drainfield with 4-inch perforated PVC pipe and it helped the problem. I was interested in getting some feedback on how the process works and if it does help.
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I do a fair bit of jetting. It often helps if the tank has been neglected and solids have been flushed into the field. I have recovered a number of fields this way. I vacuum and jet all the lines from the D-box and load-test them afterward. But you have to know the nature of the failure, and I don’t attempt it unless I’m fairly certain it will help. I never give a warranty. I always tell my customers that it is a Band-Aid solution.
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The few ways jetting will help a lateral is to clear accumulated debris in the line. The debris is usually from a bad baffle or poor maintenance and typically accumulates in the first part of the line. Even a high pressure/high volume jet is not capable of clearing debris that has passed through the system, through the D-box, out through the lines and down through the media to the bottom of the trench. The pipe is typically 4-inch perforated with 1/2-inch holes, and the holes will only allow so much water to pass at a given volume. At best, the water pressure will blast the media directly beneath the holes. When trenches are saturated, it is usually — but not limited to — excessive biomat formation on the trench bottom and sides. Jetting will not relieve that condition. If the trenches are failing due to poor soil conditions, poor installation or poor design, jetting will not overcome those concerns.
We see very few occasions where jetting will solve lateral problems, and we are a jetting company as well, on a small scale.
Question:
Do you have any suggestions for a grease softener to be used in a scum pit before pumping it into a digester tank?
Answers:
I had a plumber one time tell me he would put a couple of gallons of dish soap in a pit to help break down the grease. I’ve never tried it, but the plumber said he has done it several times.
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The dish soap will help emulsify or liquefy grease, but not break it down. Most grease trap or floor drain additives will do the same. Caustic chemicals will also work, but be aware of safety aspects.
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Most biological grease trap treatments do not simply emulsify grease and send it down line. They have the ability to completely digest grease, leaving behind basic compounds such as carbon dioxide and water. Even in applications where bacteria cannot keep up with the amount of grease in a trap, its use may keep the grease from forming a solid, tightly packed grease cap. This will result in easier pumping. To achieve this, additives should be used regularly as a maintenance product as opposed to a quick fix.
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I’ve heard muriatic acid will help break down solids in septic tanks and leachfields. Any truth to that? Any problems? I know it works great for taking off the concrete on portable restrooms. If it works on a septic system, how many gallons in a 1,000-gallon tank/leachfield?
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Occasionally, at wastewater plants, we drain our aeration basins for maintenance. Part of this project is scrubbing the diffusers (bubblers) with muriatic acid to remove mineral deposits. Muriatic acid is simply a diluted hydrochloric acid. When we are finished, we thoroughly flush the basins to remove any residual acid. Any remaining acid could upset or even halt the biological breakdown of organic material because the bacteria only live in a certain pH range. The effect would be the same in septic tanks. Also, your local environmental regulators would not allow acid in the leachfield.
