How to Clean a Leach Field

Domestic wastewater or effluent is made up of blackwater from toilet waste and graywater from sink, shower and laundry waste. This effluent flows into a sealed, underground, dual-chamber septic tank, where solid waste settles at the bottom and grease drifts to the top. The relatively clear effluent that lies in the middle is forced from the first to the second chamber, from where it flows out to the leach field. These fields are a series of shallow rock-filled trenches where the effluent is purified as it leaches through the soil. Over time, leach fields become clogged from particles that have escaped from the septic chamber and require cleaning.

• 1

  Remove the soil from above the 4-inch-diameter perforated pipes that drain septic-tank water into the leach field. Load this soil onto the wheelbarrows.

• 2

  Request that the assistants remove the soil from the general area of the leach field.

• 3

  Remove the decomposing straw that is immediately above the 4-inch perforated pipes. This straw prevents soil from falling into and clogging the perforations in the pipe. Do not damage the 4-inch perforated plastic pipe.

• 4

  Load this straw onto the wheelbarrows and remove it from the vicinity of the leach field. Dispose of this decomposing material once you have cleaned the leach field.

• 5

  Carefully remove the soil and additional straw from around and below the pipes.

• 6

  Load this soil and straw onto the wheelbarrows and remove it from the area.

• 7

  Remove the layer of 0.75- to 1.5-inch gravel pieces from beneath the pipe.

• 8

  Load the gravel onto the wheelbarrows and remove it from the vicinity of the leach field. As with the straw and soil, this bed of gravel has become smothered with a bio mat: a film of waste that clogs the area around the 4-inch perforated pipe and prevents the leach field from functioning correctly.

• 9

  Allow the sun to dry out the area you have uncovered for an hour, and then gently loosen any impacted soil below the pipes.

• 10

  Fill the trench you have opened up beneath the pipes with 12 inches of 0.75- to 1.5-inch gravel.

• 11

  Pack straw carefully around the pipe, particularly on top of it.

• 12

  Carefully fill the remainder of the area that you have opened up with new soil.