Septic & drain-field questions for the Red River Valley

A drain field (also called a leach field or absorption field) is the network of perforated pipe and gravel or chambers where effluent from the septic tank soaks into the soil. Most drain fields fail because the soil under them stops accepting water, not because the pipes break.

Over the years a black, slimy layer called biomat forms where effluent meets soil. A thin biomat is normal and helps treat wastewater; a thick one seals the soil. Add compaction from vehicles, livestock or heavy equipment, and the field can no longer absorb what the house sends it.

Wet or spongy ground over the field, black or gray ooze surfacing, sewage odors in the yard, gurgling drains, slow drains throughout the house, and sewage backing up into the lowest drains are the common signs.

Lush, bright-green grass over the field in a dry spell can be another clue. If you see sewage on the surface, keep children and pets away from it.

EarthBuster is a patented deep-soil decompactor: a steel probe on a loader is driven into the drain-field soil, and shots of compressed air fracture compacted soil and biomat so liquid and oxygen can move through it again.

The manufacturer describes driving the probe up to six feet into a drain field and delivering repeated shots of air. Our unit is mounted on a compact track loader, and with EarthBuster Plus we can inject a liquid treatment at depth during the air shot.

Usually, yes, when the field is a good candidate. Replacing a field means design, permits, excavation and new materials; restoration works the existing field in place without trenching the yard.

We don’t publish prices because every field is different. Call 701-799-2843 and we’ll talk through your system before quoting.

Restoration can’t fix crushed or broken pipe, a system too small for the people living in the house, a field that sits in groundwater, or a septic tank that is failing or sending solids into the field.

Those problems need a repair or replacement designed and permitted through your local health unit or county. If we see one of them, we’ll tell you before any work starts, not after.

No trenching is involved. What’s left behind is a pattern of small probe holes and the track marks of the loader, and we take care to keep those to a minimum.

One customer whose field we restored wrote that other than a few small holes in the lawn, she could hardly tell where the equipment had been.

Yes. The tank should be pumped by a licensed pumper before restoration, so the field gets a rest from fresh effluent while the soil is opened up. We’ll help you coordinate the timing.

Lenzyme Field & Line Cleaner is a soil conditioner made to break down biomat, sludge and crystallization in the soil, and Drainfield Biological Activator is a concentrated blend of bacteria that helps restore biological activity in the field.

With EarthBuster Plus we inject them at depth, right where the biomat is. We use them where the field needs them; clay fields benefit most.

It depends on why the field failed and how the system is used afterward. Fields restored with EarthBuster have kept working for years, but no one can honestly promise a set number for your field.

What we can tell you is what helps: pump the tank on schedule, keep vehicles off the field, fix running toilets and leaks, spread out laundry, and keep grease, wipes and chemicals out of the drains.

Because the valley floor is the bed of glacial Lake Agassiz, and the fine clay it left behind passes water very slowly. A field in clay has little reserve capacity, so a thickening biomat or a little compaction is enough to tip it into failure.

Clay also smears and seals when it’s worked wet, and the valley is so flat that water lingers. That combination is why many fields in this area are sized large and why biomat treatment matters here.

Sand takes water easily, but it can pass effluent through too fast and is often paired with a high water table. Around McLeod, on the sandy Sheyenne Delta, the water table is usually the bigger concern than compaction.

Septic rules require separation between the bottom of a drain field and groundwater for that reason. Where the water is too close, systems are often built up, like a mound.

A flooded or saturated drain field can’t absorb effluent, so the house drains slow down or back up. Floodwater can also push into the tank through lids and risers.

During flooding, use as little water as possible. Don’t have the tank pumped while the ground is saturated, because an empty tank in wet soil can shift or float; ask your pumper. After the water goes down, watch for slow drains and soggy ground, and have the system checked if they don’t clear up.

Not in a way that lasts while the water stays high. Restoration opens up soil; it can’t lower groundwater. If your field is wet only in spring, we can talk about surface drainage and timing, but a field that sits in groundwater needs a design solution.

Yes. The same air fracturing re-opens compacted soil so surface water can soak in instead of puddling. After the probe comes out, pea gravel can go in the holes to keep them open, like small French drains.

On flat valley ground we often pair it with grading so water has somewhere to go.

The usual recipe is hard cold with little snow cover, especially after a dry fall. NDSU Extension points to dry soil, very cold air and long stretches without snow as the causes, and notes that new systems on bare soil often freeze their first winter.

Low use makes it worse: a house that’s empty for days, or a single person using little water, doesn’t send enough warm water through the lines to keep them open.

Deep. In eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota, frost regularly reaches several feet, and in a cold winter with little snow it can go deeper than the lines and tanks of many older systems are buried.

Where the sewer line leaves the basement wall is a common freeze point, as are bare, wind-scoured spots on the north and west sides of the house.

Keep snow on it. NDSU Extension notes that about ten inches of fresh, fluffy snow insulates like six inches of fiberglass (around R-18). Don’t plow, drive, or let snowmobiles run over the tank or field, because packed snow insulates poorly and pushes frost deeper.

Put up a snow fence to catch snow over the system, add a layer of straw or hay over bare soil before winter on a new system, insulate exposed risers and inspection pipes, fix dripping fixtures that can ice up a line, and use water normally rather than in tiny trickles.

Stop using water as much as you can and call for help. Don’t pour antifreeze or additives down the drains, don’t try to thaw the tank or lines with open flame, and never open a tank and lean into it.

A pumper can often pump the tank to buy time while the line or field is thawed by someone with the right equipment. If sewage is backing up into the house, keep people and pets out of the area.

Yes. We winterize plumbing and blow out sprinkler systems, and property managers have used us for that work for years.

A septic system at a vacant property gets no warm water all winter, so it’s worth talking through how to protect the system too.

For a typical household, about every three to five years, with the system inspected every few years. The right interval depends on tank size, the number of people, and whether you use a garbage disposal.

A pumper who measures the sludge and scum layers can tell you whether to go sooner or later. Pumping on schedule is the cheapest way to protect a drain field.

Only toilet paper and human waste should go in the toilet. Keep out wipes (even “flushable” ones), paper towels, feminine products, grease and cooking oil, coffee grounds, cat litter, medications, paint and harsh chemicals.

Spread laundry through the week instead of doing it all in one day, and fix running toilets: a leaking toilet can send hundreds of gallons a day into the field.

No. No product replaces regular pumping. The Lenzyme treatments we use are injected into the drain-field soil as part of restoration, which is a different job from pouring something into the toilet.

No. Vehicle and equipment weight compacts the soil, which is one of the main reasons drain fields fail, and it can crush pipes. Keep trucks, trailers and livestock off the field, and keep trees and shrubs away from it.

Never enter a septic tank or lean into an open one. Septic gases such as hydrogen sulfide and methane, and the lack of oxygen, can kill within minutes, including people who try to help.

Keep lids secured and children and pets away from open tanks. Leave tank work to pumpers and installers with the right equipment.

Stop using water right away, keep people and pets out of the area, and call. Sewage is a health hazard; don’t clean it up without protection.

The cause might be a blocked line, a full tank or a failed field. A pumper can tell you quickly whether the tank is full; if the tank is fine and the field won’t take water, call 701-799-2843 about restoration.

Installers are licensed by the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, and before working on a system they must get a permit from the local public health unit and follow local codes.

Your local public health unit is the place to ask what permits your project needs. Around McLeod that’s Richland County’s public health unit; in Cass County it’s Fargo Cass Public Health.

It depends on the county. Minnesota state law doesn’t require a compliance inspection at sale, but many counties and cities do by ordinance; Wilkin County, for one, requires an inspection when property changes hands.

Sellers must also disclose the septic system to buyers, and the MPCA notes that a disclosure is not a substitute for a compliance inspection. Compliance inspections must be done by an MPCA-licensed inspector.

North Dakota doesn’t have a statewide point-of-sale septic inspection rule like many Minnesota counties do. Your lender or your purchase agreement may still require one, and it’s smart to ask for one anyway.

Have the tank pumped and inspected, find out where the field is and how old it is, and look for the warning signs: soggy ground, odors, slow drains.

The South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) administers the on-site wastewater rules in ARSD chapter 74:53:01. Counties and cities can adopt stricter local rules, so check locally too.

In North Dakota, ask whether the installer is licensed with the Department of Environmental Quality and whether the work needs a permit from the local public health unit. In Minnesota, look the business up on the MPCA’s licensed SSTS business search.

Ask for proof of insurance, ask who will be on site, and get the scope in writing. A good contractor will tell you what the work can’t fix as readily as what it can.

Requirements vary by health unit and county. Some treat restoration of an existing field differently from repairs that change the system; Wilkin County, Minnesota, requires a permit to install or fix a septic system.

Before work, check with your local public health unit (North Dakota), county (Minnesota) or DANR and your county (South Dakota).

Site prep, grading, gravel driveway repair, tree pulling, material handling, roto-tilling, demolition cleanup, and brush and pasture mowing are the jobs we do most.

Yes. We’ve turned dirt drives that couldn’t handle North Dakota weather into solid gravel driveways: digging out sod and soft material, laying a base, then spreading and packing gravel.

Yes. After a storm we clear fallen trees, broken branches and debris so the property is safe to use. Stay clear of any downed power line and call your utility before anyone works near it.

Yes. We demolish sheds, small buildings, fences and decks and haul away the debris, leaving the site clean for whatever comes next.

Yes, snow removal is part of our winter work. If you have a septic system, tell us where it is so we keep plows and piles off the tank and drain field.