Drain Field & Field Line Repair

Alabama Septic Tank Services repairs drain fields and field lines in Bessemer, McCalla, Hueytown, Hoover, Brookwood and Tuscaloosa. We have dug out failing lines with a backhoe, added crossover lines, repaired header lines on old systems and installed extended field lines – see the photos in Our Work.

The septic tank only separates the solids. The real treatment happens in the drain field (also called the leach field or field lines): perforated pipes or chambers laid in gravel trenches, where the liquid from the tank soaks into the soil and is cleaned on its way back to the groundwater. When the field lines clog or break, the water has nowhere to go – it surfaces in the yard or backs up into the house.

• Soggy ground, standing water or a dark, wet stripe over the field lines – especially after rain.
• Sewage surfacing in the yard even though the house still drains.
• Bright green grass over the lines in dry weather.
• Slow drains and gurgling that come back soon after the tank was pumped.
• A sewage smell in the yard.

• Overdue pumping – solids wash out of a full tank and clog the gravel and soil.
• Broken header or crossover lines – the pipes that feed and connect the field lines crack or come apart, so part of the field gets all the water and part gets none.
• Roots from nearby trees and shrubs growing into the pipes.
• Driving or parking over the field, which crushes the lines and packs the soil.
• Too much water – leaking toilets, gutters draining onto the field, or a household that has outgrown a short field.
• Heavy clay soil, common across western Jefferson County, which drains slowly to begin with.

1. Pump the tank and look – sometimes a full tank is the whole problem. A customer called because sewage was coming up in the yard but not in the house; after pumping, the issue was fixed.
2. Check the lines – we dig open the header and the field lines where needed to see how the water moves.
3. Repair – broken header lines and crossover lines replaced, clogged sections dug out and re-laid in fresh drain rock, roots removed.
4. Extend or add lines when the field is simply too small – an additional crossover line or extended field lines give the water more soil to soak into.
5. Replace the field as a last resort, under a permit from the county health department.

You get an upfront price for each step, and we explain what we found before we dig further.