Situation: slow drains and water back up
Background: This house was built in 2015. It has a 1000 gallon septic tank and a large drainfield. Two older people live here. There are two toilets, a bathtub, a shower, three bathroom sinks, one kitchen sink, one utility sink, a dishwasher and a washing machine. Nothing goes into the toilet that has not passed through our bodies first except for toilet paper. We now use little toilet paper since we got the bidet seats on both toilets. We do not put foreign objects, paper towels, or wipes down the toilets. We do not grind food scraps in the disposal or put food scraps down the kitchen sink. We do not put coffee grounds, fats or greases down the kitchen sink. The septic tank was pumped in the summer of 2020, and it was approximately half full and was ‘healthy’ as per the description of the septic service. The service said that with only two people, we should have the tank pumped every 4 years or so. It rains a lot of up here and so far this month, 3.7 inches of rain has fallen.
About two weeks ago, the shower drain was not draining, and a small amount of water backed up into the shower. I poured some enzymatic cleaner down the drain and snaked it to 25 feet. It started draining again with no water backup.
A week ago, the shower drain was not draining and both toilets were not emptying completely. My first thought was a clog and I plunged and then augured both toilets to six feet and poured some Drano down the shower drain. This did not fix the problem and a substantial amount of water came back up from the shower drain.
My working theory was a clog and I called the plumber. They came out the first time, pulled one of the toilets and augured to 100 feet out into the septic tank. There was some resistance at the end of the augur, but the toilet was flushing and the shower was draining at that point, albeit slowly. The plumber came back the next day and ran a camera down the drainline and then a jetter. They spent about seven hours here over two days. They never actually found a clog and wondered if it could have been pushed out into the tank.
The plumber is now wondering if the tank is full. The tank alarm showing a high level has not come on. Other people in the neighborhood have had their tank alarms come on during times of heavy rainfall. This is our first clog/drainage issue since we moved in during the summer of 2015. I toss one of those Green Gobbler enzyme septic packets down the toilet once a month and have been doing that for several years. Because it rains so much, the grass around the buried tank is wet and sodden, but then again my whole yard is wet and sodden. I was down on my hands and knees sniffing around the grass over the tank and I did not pick up any hints of sewage and there is no ponding or pooling of sewage in the yard or up at the drainfield.
Assessment: I am not sure what is going on. As of this morning, everything is flushing and draining properly. I ran the dishwasher and then the washing machine with no problems. The tank alarm is still not on.
Recommendation: Where do I go from here? The plumber was $ 2200 dollars. Was this just a temporary excess water plus a clog that has resolved itself? Do I call the septic service people and spend more money? My neighbor next door wondered if the baffles in the tank are plugged. Is there anything more that I as the end user should be doing?
Any expert advice from the Collective is appreciated.