Drainfield Repair & Replacement in Onslow County, NC

What the drainfield does

Your septic tank separates solids from wastewater, but the drainfield does the rest of the work. Liquid leaves the tank, travels through a distribution box or pump, and spreads through buried lines so the soil can absorb and treat it. When that field stops absorbing water, wastewater has nowhere to go, and the problems show up in your yard and your home.

Signs your drainfield may be failing

• Soggy, spongy or wet ground over the field, even in dry weather
• Unusually green grass in stripes over the field lines
• Sewage odors near the tank or in the yard
• Slow drains in sinks, tubs and toilets throughout the house
• Gurgling plumbing
• Sewage backing up into the lowest drains in the home

Any one of these is worth a call. A sewage backup or wastewater surfacing in the yard is a health concern and should be addressed quickly.

How the problem is diagnosed

Not every drainfield symptom means the field has failed. A clogged line, a crushed pipe under a driveway, a distribution box that has settled and is sending all the water down one line, roots in the pipe, or a failed pump on a pump system can all look like a bad field. We check the tank, the distribution box and the lines so you know the actual cause before deciding what to do.

Repair vs. replacement

When the cause is a specific component, a targeted repair is usually the right answer: replacing damaged pipe, re-leveling or replacing the distribution box, clearing a blockage or replacing a failed pump or float. When the soil in the field has become saturated and no longer absorbs water, repairs won't hold, and a replacement drainfield is the lasting fix. We'll tell you plainly which situation you're in.

Working with the county health department

When a replacement is required, the county health department issues the permit and approves where the new field can go and what type of system it must be. Depending on the property, that may be a conventional field or an alternative system such as low-pressure pipe (LPP), drip dispersal or a pump system. We install the replacement according to the approved permit and plan, and we walk you through each step so you know what to expect.