Septic Leach Field Description
If you live in the country, well outside of city limits, chances are you have your own septic system. Your system should include a large holding tank and a leach field for drainage. This field helps your septic system run smoothly. If you are a homeowner with a septic system, learn how it works and where all parts of the system are located. Does this Spark an idea?
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How a Septic System Works
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When a toilet is flushed or a load of laundry is washed, the waste and water travel to some type of sewer or septic system. A typical septic system includes a holding or septic tank, into which waste and water is released. This septic tank is buried outside the home and should hold about a thousand gallons of water. As new waste and water enter the tank, the excess flows through trenches or perforated pipes covered in gravel and dirt to an area with beneficial bacteria, also known as a leach bed. The bacteria break down solids so they can be safely absorbed into the soil surrounding the leach bed.
Conventional Leach Field System
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The most common field is the conventional leach field system, which contains several parallel ditches that take fluid from the holding tank and disperse it into the existing soil. These ditches are filled with gravel and/or crushed rock to filter solids and covered with mesh to prevent the gravel from clogging the soil from above the ditches.
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Mound or Raised-Bed Leaching System
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A raised-bed leaching system is a type of conventional system. It is useful on land that cannot be excavated. The outgoing fluids are carried above the groundwater level into drainage mounds that are made of crushed gravel and dirt. The waste water is absorbed and filtered into the gravel and dirt.
Dry-Well Leaching System
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A dry-well, or seepage-pit, leaching system is a system of much shorter ditches that lead into a rock- and gravel-filled pit. The outgoing liquid travels through the short ditches into the pit and is absorbed into the soil surrounding the pit. This system operates much like the conventional leach field system, and is also suited for land that cannot sustain a system of longer trenches or pipes.
Single-Pipe Leach Field System
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Here a pipe with holes, which is covered with nylon fabric to keep dirt and other solids from clogging, is used to direct outgoing fluids. The pipe leads liquid from the septic tank to the leach bed to be absorbed into the surrounding soil. The pipe is inserted into a sand- and soil-filled ditch that leads, with fluid running downhill into the leach field.
Multiple-Pipe Leach Field System
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Very similar to the single-pipe version, the multiple-pipe system may use up to 12 pipes grouped together with the top center pipe leading the outgoing fluid into the surrounding pipes. The pipes that fluid flows into will have beneficial bacteria in them that will help break down solids and turn them to liquid that will be safely absorbed into the soil.
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