vanity: possible sewage line break in my Mom's yard: how do I tell?

self | 05/19/2010 | Racebannon

[puppypusher]

Hi!Race.When you say sewage line do you mean a leach field to a septic system or a line to the public sewer system?

If its to a septic system you'll soon have a very soggy lawn just above the septic system and the smell will be unbelievable.

That should occurr as well with the line to the public sewer service though you may have a back-flow from the main line onto your property.

Either way its one hell of an expense.

[Dem Guard]

ROFLMAO!

[agere_contra]

Taste is the only real way to be sure.

Nuke the site from orbit. That's the only way to be sure.

[Ramius]

I would suggest that if it were a broken sewer line or septic system, there would be no doubt about it whatsoever. That’s not the sort of thing that happens and you have to wonder what’s going on. It’s pretty clear.

My guess is first some kind of insect problem, or maybe something toxic was spilt on the ground?

[1776 Reborn]

Plant a wheeping willow or two. Those trees will suck the tank dry. lol

[LibLieSlayer]

Erma Bombeck’s book. Great title.

LLS

[John W]

Typical sewage line break-

[count-your-change]

And have all those roots as a freebie!

[crazyhorse691]

Unless your mom dumps her meth lab waste and a couple of pounds of salt daily down her toilet I doubt that you have a sewer line break...those are usually identified by soggy ground, actual soil settlement, growth hot spot, and smell(dogs will come from miles to frolic there). It is possible that it is a bug infestation of a hot spot, so, you would do best to dig a slit trench down several feet to check the soil for foul odor and soggy soil...the easier the digging as you go down increases the chances of an actual line break. Or you can pay several hundreds of $$$ to have a camera inserted through the nearest washout. And those are as only as reliable as the operator.

[1776 Reborn]

Yeah, weeping willows might be good at sucking up oil too.
:-)

[InvisibleChurch]

Do you see this guy?

[Raycpa]

I go with grubs or other infestation. They are probably more around the septic because its warmer.

[Marine_Uncle]

Could be a fungus infestation, due to the cool weather, little sun light, and higher then average rains you folks probably got this spring. In which case if you have not already done so , appropriate fungizides are available.

[righttackle44]

If there is a wet spot on the lawn or water coming from a
strange place, that is one way.

[ABN 505]

Looks like Shit, Smells Like Shit, wonder what it tastes Like?

[SaraJohnson]

Maybe you will find this lawn question and answer useful.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Lawns-725/spreading-circles-dead-grass.htm

The question is at the top of the page and the answer way down lower. It goes through many possibilities from grubs to fungus.

[trooprally]

I’ll second the lawn fungus. The picture of the lawn in Post 12 is not yours and I hadn’t seen you say that it looks like yours.

So I’ll go with lawn fungus.

[Mr] T

[Wings-n-Wind]

Is the home line connected to a public sewer system?
Or does the line run through a septic tank then draining into a prepared drainage field... (usually on the back of the property).

Sometimes the failure of a septic system isn't necessarily a broken line or ruptured tank.... BUT--- actually the need to recondition the drainage field.

Bro.... get a hazmat suit...

[Little Bill]

Go into the basement locate where the pipe exits the wall mark that location on the outside of the wall. Measure out from the wall to the spot, dig down. The lines are run in a straight line to the street, if the soil is wet around the pipe you have trouble.

[RaceBannon]

You guys are all right, I dont care what DU says about you!

I was told by a friend tonight, the sight of the birds feeding off the area confirms it is a bug site for sure, the sod coming up with the grass indicates the roots are dead, the brown patch itself goes with that

so it all leads to bugs eating my grass

and the suggestion was to treat the ENTIRE LAWN, not just the spot, so, tomorrow it is off to Home Depot for the lawn treatment