Plumbing probs
June 8, 2017 8:25 PM
Looking for some suggestions to help fix plumbing back up problem.
Occasionally our plumbing system which involves (I think, a septic tank) and a lagoon backs up into our basement. This is typically when we do a lot of laundry and wash dishes all at the same time. It sucks.
We have snaked our our lines with some success, but on this occasion the joy was short lived as it all backed up again (less than a week later).
One of the oddities we have discovered this time is that when the washer is draining out into the lagoon you hear the bubbles. Surely we shouldn't have air bubbles in the pipes?
So problem: Water backs up, doesn't seem to be caused by a clog or did we manage to clog the drain in less than a week??
Maybe a problem: Lagoon has air bubbles when water drains.
Lagoon piping is under the lagoon water (maybe lagoon needs drained?) Google is unclear about this.
Ok things: We don't seem to have any sewer smell back up into the house. Water that backs up seems to be mostly laundry water although I think it may just be diluting the rest of the household water.
Problem is intermittent enough that we haven't called a plumber. We would probably snake the line again if we had to, but hoping that isn't the answer. Any other ideas or good sites to go to?
Occasionally our plumbing system which involves (I think, a septic tank) and a lagoon backs up into our basement. This is typically when we do a lot of laundry and wash dishes all at the same time. It sucks.
We have snaked our our lines with some success, but on this occasion the joy was short lived as it all backed up again (less than a week later).
One of the oddities we have discovered this time is that when the washer is draining out into the lagoon you hear the bubbles. Surely we shouldn't have air bubbles in the pipes?
So problem: Water backs up, doesn't seem to be caused by a clog or did we manage to clog the drain in less than a week??
Maybe a problem: Lagoon has air bubbles when water drains.
Lagoon piping is under the lagoon water (maybe lagoon needs drained?) Google is unclear about this.
Ok things: We don't seem to have any sewer smell back up into the house. Water that backs up seems to be mostly laundry water although I think it may just be diluting the rest of the household water.
Problem is intermittent enough that we haven't called a plumber. We would probably snake the line again if we had to, but hoping that isn't the answer. Any other ideas or good sites to go to?
It will be hard to know what's going on without a plumber sending a camera down the line.
However, I had similar issues due to roots in my sewer line. I've so far managed to mitigate this, and avoid an expensive bill for replacing the whole line, by using a root killer a few times a year, and (most important!) not sending anything down the plumbing except what belongs down there. No flushing anything other than waste and TP. And avoiding large kitchen scraps, even with a disposal unit in place. Anything that can snag on a root can cause a backup. "Feminine products" are notoriously bad to flush.
In my case, like yours, the washer draining was most likely to cause a backup. This is simply because it pushes more water into the drain line at once than anything else, particularly if it's an older top-load machine. A toilet flush, for example, might be a couple gallons, and if the drain is slow, that much can sit in the pipe itself until it slowly drains. You'd not suspect a problem. A top loading washing machine can dump up to 40 gallons of water very quickly, enough to overload a slow drain line.
posted by The Deej at 9:10 PM on June 8, 2017
However, I had similar issues due to roots in my sewer line. I've so far managed to mitigate this, and avoid an expensive bill for replacing the whole line, by using a root killer a few times a year, and (most important!) not sending anything down the plumbing except what belongs down there. No flushing anything other than waste and TP. And avoiding large kitchen scraps, even with a disposal unit in place. Anything that can snag on a root can cause a backup. "Feminine products" are notoriously bad to flush.
In my case, like yours, the washer draining was most likely to cause a backup. This is simply because it pushes more water into the drain line at once than anything else, particularly if it's an older top-load machine. A toilet flush, for example, might be a couple gallons, and if the drain is slow, that much can sit in the pipe itself until it slowly drains. You'd not suspect a problem. A top loading washing machine can dump up to 40 gallons of water very quickly, enough to overload a slow drain line.
posted by The Deej at 9:10 PM on June 8, 2017
One thing I did was hire an excavator, rather than a plumber. The excavator digs at a cheaper rate than a plumber, and is licensed to put in sewer line. I had plumbers offer to charge me $2000+ just to look into the line. The digger put in 90 feet of line to the main, for $1800. This was some time ago, and even three times that much would be cheap. Do not be afraid to get bids for every part of a job like this. Your home insurance will pay for a professional clean up of the goo in your basement, but it should come as a part of some permanent fix. The plumber will hire an excavator on top of his fees sometimes, you see, but the excavator is licensed to dig. Cities often have the plumbing schematics of homes, where and how they connect to main sewer lines. See if the city has yours. If it is happening over and over again, then you have collapsed pipe somewhere, and you may as well replace it all. I'll tell you my life improved drastically after the main line replacement. One summer in August heat, I rented a bobcat my self and dug the line, and fixed it. The next year it had to be excavated again, and the excavator put in a fix for $10 more than it cost me to do it, and he wouldn't let me touch a shovel. It is better to hire a good backhoe driver than to hire a camera.
posted by Oyéah at 10:22 PM on June 8, 2017
posted by Oyéah at 10:22 PM on June 8, 2017
Hmmmm...Thanks for the help.
The Deej, what you mention about a slow leak that then backs up with the washer is probably right. I guess when we snaked it last it just didn't get completely out. I'll look into using root killer , not exactly sure what that entails.
Oyeah, I'm not opposed to big fixes, but I'm guessing I would have to know if I had a collapsed pipe? We have a VERY simplistic sewer system, it basically all runs to one big pipe which goes outside to our lagoon behind our house. We aren't connected to any other lines at all.
posted by aetg at 5:50 AM on June 9, 2017
The Deej, what you mention about a slow leak that then backs up with the washer is probably right. I guess when we snaked it last it just didn't get completely out. I'll look into using root killer , not exactly sure what that entails.
Oyeah, I'm not opposed to big fixes, but I'm guessing I would have to know if I had a collapsed pipe? We have a VERY simplistic sewer system, it basically all runs to one big pipe which goes outside to our lagoon behind our house. We aren't connected to any other lines at all.
posted by aetg at 5:50 AM on June 9, 2017
The root killer I use is Roebic Foaming Root Killer. It pretty simple to use; you just flush it down a toilet, then don't run any more water down the drain for 6 hours.
posted by The Deej at 6:10 AM on June 9, 2017
posted by The Deej at 6:10 AM on June 9, 2017
Your waste isn't treated? It just goes straight out to the lagoon? Is that normal in your part of the world?
I wouldn't be putting anything down the lines without a professional help, you don't want to kill the equilibrium of the pesties that clean up the waste.
posted by Ftsqg at 8:09 AM on June 9, 2017
I wouldn't be putting anything down the lines without a professional help, you don't want to kill the equilibrium of the pesties that clean up the waste.
posted by Ftsqg at 8:09 AM on June 9, 2017
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posted by aetg at 8:28 PM on June 8, 2017