Septic repair (help please)

Hi,

Sorry to barge in here but, some of you know me from living there. I am a constant lurker.

I have a house in alamos that is on a septic. It needed cleaned this spring/summer and ever since then it is leeching into the yard and needs to constantly be cleaned. It would appear that either nearby construction (of which there is plenty) has disturbed the system, something is broken or the system has failed.

The easiest and most painful solution is to replace the entire system which is between 20 and 30k (pesos) for many reasons I don't want to do that but, we are having extreme trouble getting people to diagnose and return for the next step. I have my sister in law living there so us being long distance.

If anyone knows someone who can repair a septic please let me know.....

John

 

my best suggestion is to get a very long straw and start sucking.......DO NOT SWALLOW.............. BITE THE BULLET AND SPEND THE MONEY...........

 

i got no problem spending the money but, can't believe that a normal life span on a septic system is 5 years.

Thanks for the advice

 

johndish - I am not a soil engineer nor a septic tank designer either...BUT there are so many factors which can affect the lifespan of a septic system.... In the USA - a septic system starts with an outflow from the home to a large concrete tank (septic tank) and from there...there are a number of pipes exiting this tank with a number of holes in them leading to a "leaching field" which is an area of "prepared soil with sand" allowing the effluent to seep into this prepared underground area and as they pass thru the soil......are "cleansed"......!!

The quality of the concrete I have seen in Cancun is just terrible and this is just my opinion for crumbling concrete (sidewalks, etc) is that the concrete mix may be made of cement with limestone (The whole Yucatan is limestone.even the beach sand!!) rather than REAL sand...........

The perforated pipes leading away from the septic tank are GENERALLY made of PVC pipe....

Further more...before any septic system can be installed in the USA, a percolation test is performed on the soil to determine how quickly water drains away. Not even sure if the same standards exist in Cancun OR whether the installer needs to be licensed...... GOOD LUCK

Ken

 

Not even sure if the same standards exist in Cancun OR whether the installer needs to be licensed.
Ken[/QUOTE]
:bandit:Hummmmmmmmm!

 

The septic systems in Cancun are quite a bit different than the states i believe.

There are three tanks or things like tanks. The last of which is the actual filtration. I believe the last tank or the filtering tank has gone bad and have been told this. This piece is about 5k mexican pesos plus labor extras etc.

I hate to just replace the whole system when the whole system is not bad. Here is a typical Mexican system. Una opción sustentable para el sistema de DRENAJE , que le facilitará la vida a la vez que ayuda al medio ambiente

 

John, as Steve suggests I would ask Brian Schaefer. If someone builds something that breaks, Brian can fix it. I have contact info if you don't.

Yours may be beyond this kind of help but this site gives a do it yourself recipe for a bacteria activator. Mine was constantly backing up and I gave it a dose of this remedy and have had no further problems.

Bacteria activators: keep your septic system healthy - DIY Life

You are right about construction running rampant in your area. There is new stuff on 3 sides and the 4th side was already there when you left. It is hard to imagine how that could break or damage your system, assuming the neighbors are not just pumping it downhill onto your property. My guess is that the solids are not being dissolved somewhere along the way between the various tanks and when they do not break down as intended, the system back up and there is nowhere for it to go but to the lowest point, probably your yard.

Good luck. Don't you wish you had Florida sandy soils here for things like this and drainage of all things wet?