Recognise failure signs and respond

Catching a failing system early protects your health and your well, and can save the drainfield.

How

Warning signs: sewage odours, wet or spongy ground or pooling over the drainfield, slow drains, gurgling pipes and backups into the house (US EPA).
First response: cut water use at once and stop using the washing machine.
Check the obvious causes: a tank that needs pumping, a blocked outlet or broken baffle, roof water draining onto the field, or a leaking toilet.
Call a licensed septic professional to inspect. Do not open or dig into a failing system yourself.
Test your well water if sewage may have reached it, and use another drinking water source until results are back.
For greywater: if basins pond or smell, divert to the septic system, rest the area and enlarge or re-mulch the basins.

Safety: Treat surfacing sewage as infectious. Keep people and animals away and wear gloves and boots.

Decentralized Systems Technology Fact Sheet: Septic Tank Soil Absorption Systems (EPA 932-F-99-075). US Environmental Protection Agency, accessed 2026-11
How to Care for Your Septic System. US Environmental Protection Agency, accessed 2026-11
Septic Tank Maintenance (EC 1343). Oregon State University Extension Service, accessed 2026-11