Some of what follows may not apply to your situation as you say you have a new leach field, but I am going to include it for anyone that may be looking for cesspool, septic tank, leach field problems.
I think I would try to figure out where your old leach field was supposed to drain off to, in a perfect world it would just go into the field and drain down through the gravel/dirt layers. Some though run through these fields and have an outlet down a ways, a bit of a drain. (Not having this myself... but let's say a friend had a leach field that drained into the neighboring creek. So I would not recommend drinking creek
water.)
This post that I am quoting here from a forum I will give a link to below it speaks volumes about septic tank problems and leach fields and is from an old real estate broker that probably gives great advice, it all sounded smart anyhow.
Vermont Vermont is offline
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I don't want to pretend to be an expert here; I'm just Real Estate Broker who looks at these things from a slightly different perspective . . . . and I've also lived with my own On-Site Waste Water Disposal System in a neighboring State for over 25 yeas.
My experience with other people's Septic Systems and Cess Pools, is that they're most likely to fail shortly after the transfer of ownership and new utilization patterns are employed. Shortly after new occupants move in, they have a tendency (for a few weeks) to use more cleaning compounds, bleaches, ammonias and other caustic chemicals . . . . many of which are detrimental to the beneficial bacteria that need to be kept active inside the Septic Tank. Once they're killed off, it's difficult to re-establish the colony.
And I also know that some new owners will often dispose of kitchen and cooking scraps in their Septic Systems, just as they used to do when they were hooked up to a Municipal Sewage Treatment facility. Some people look at me strangely when I tell them that disposing of old bacon grease down the kitchen drain will ultimately cause problems. There ought to be a law that prohibits kitchen sink garbage disposals from co-existing on the same property as where a Septic System is used for waste disposal.
Also, new Owners may not consciously distribute their usage of water and, consequently, the load placed on the leach field; especially during the spring thaw. Nobody educates "new" or first time Septic System owners on how to properly treat this important part of the their investment.
The Leach Field that successfully served the little old couple who previously lived in the same house for 40 years may now suddenly develop problems that seem like they must have also been there before, and the previous owners "should" have known about them . . . . when the real culprit is just a mis-understanding of how to manage the sewage system to keep it both healthy and functional.
Septic Systems have to be treated gently and thought of as living things . . . . they are. I know I might sound like some kind of hippy tree-hugging do-gooder; but my thoughts here are just based upon the observation of what often happens with First-Time Septic System Owners in my area . . . . and also, my own limited experience here, which includes replacing an entire Septic System in 1987, and arranging to have the tank pumped in about 1997. The man pumping the tank at that time remarked that from his point of view, " it looked like we could have waited 20 years before having to pump that tank" . . . . it's all a question of how you manage it.
I hope that in this instance, the bacteria in the Septic Tank can be re-established and the Leach Field cleared or un-clogged so as to absorb future effluent without a big expense. With an understanding of what is going on inside the System, it may slowly resolve itself !
Remember, no harsh Cleaning Agents, no Pampers, no Feminine Hygeine products, no Condoms . . . . and NO Bacon Grease !
Last edited by Vermont; 04-08-14 at 02:37 PM.
Leach Field Help
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Septic Drainer to restore leach fields.
