Is there a product I can buy that will unclog/ clean out my drain field and/or kill roots?

4 Responses to “Is there a product I can buy that will unclog/ clean out my drain field and/or kill roots?”

1. Comment by fluffernut

   There are products, usually copper sulfate, that is flushed down the toilet that kill roots invading the plumbing system. (you can find the stuff at hardware stores) Problem is with a leach field you first have the settling tank and I wonder how much copper sulfate would be trapped there and not allowed out into the field. Also copper products may not be legal in your state.

   I doubt mechanical removal with a router through the pipes would work since it is a leach field, not a straight line sewer pipe.

   Another option is it may not be tree roots. It could be your leach field is saturated, sealed from soaps and salts over the years and the clay soil underneath is no longer letting water drain down through (happened to us). Option is to extend your leach field into “virgin” soil.

   Finally, it may not be the septic system at all. If leaves or other stuff have fallen down your home’s sanitary stack (those little pipes on the roof that act like air pressure valves in the home’s waste system), your system isn’t getting the proper air. (Hold your nose and swallow…how many times can you do it without opening your mouth?) Those need to be cleaned by someone who knows what they are doing least they break the brittle plastic and cause severe grief inside your walls.

   And finally, finally, you house may have lost it’s water cushion…do your water pipes bang a bit. This is due, in part to loss of that water cushion (also relating to the sanitary stack) This is easily corrected. To restore air to the chambers, turn off the water at the main shutoff valve. Open all the faucets to drain the system. Close the faucets and turn the water on again. The air chambers should fill with air.

   good luck

2. Comment by James M

   Your assumption that the maple tree is causing septic problems is most probably incorrect.

   The finger system of your septic is buried in about 2 feet or crushed rock and below a level of earth about a foot deep. Even the maple doesnt root down that far.

   Pumping out a septic often does no good whatsoever. The properly working tank of bacteria needs a cleaning once in 5 to seven years.

   Somehow you are killing off the bacteria in the septic tank and preventing the “eating up ” of waste.

   The culprit almost 100% of the time is laundry wash water from the Washing Machine. You are using bacteria killing detergents and Chlorine, the most powerful bacteria killers around for home usage.

   So to stop this in my system, I have a hole dug in the back yard about 4 x 4 x 4deep and covered with soil and grass. To that rock filled hole I run my laundry water with the chlorine and detergent.

   My septic hasnt been pumped in 7 years and we have 6 fully grown people living here in this duplex.

   The cost to do this is so cheap compared to the bad experience of a non working tank. So get that hole dug and filled with rock and run the laundry water into it. Your septic tank will have lots of bacteria then to eat up the waste and you wont be killing it off with detergents and chlorine.

3. Comment by laney

   the old saying is put
   vinager in your toilet once a month. one quart
   and the roots will die.
   if you cut the tree the roots live for seven years.
   also invest in renting
   a rodder from a shop
   it isn’t that much money.

   hope i helped
   laney

4. Comment by saaanen

   No