The title of this blog was a question posted on Yahoo Answers. The author of the question describes the status of their septic system below:

… There is a bank our house is built on that rises approximately 4 feet from the road below, and our septic system is leaking out onto the road below. This problem is exceptionally bad in the spring when the snow melts and we get heavy rainstorms that flood our yard. We want to get this problem fixed right away because we can not stand the smell and neither can our neighbors. My dad says that having the system pumped won’t do any good, is that true? If so, what are some ways that we can fix this problem? There are 4 adults in the household, and I’ve had to cut showering down to once every other day! …

Depiction of biomat sealing drainfield; water entering the drainfield from the septic tank can not be absorbed into the ground.

What is happening in this septic system is that the biomat has sealed the drainfield, preventing it from absorbing sewage water flowing out of the septic tank.

The septic tank, as a consequence, remains full because the sewage water can not drain out of the tank. Furthermore, incoming water (from showers, sinks and bathrooms) is restricted from entering the full septic tank. The system is, essentially, unusable.

Septic tank sewage water collecting or ponding on the ground above a drainfield sealed by a biomat.

The sewage water exiting the septic tank eventually collects on the ground above the drainfield; this condition is often called ponding. The ponding is a source of odor and is a health hazard.

The only way a septic system in this state can accept more incoming sewage is for the sewage water on the ground above the drainfield to either evaporate (a slow process) or run off to lower ground surrounding the drainfield. The latter is what is happening in the situation described above.

Pumping the septic tank will only provide temporary relief until the tank fills again. Installing a new septic system is very costly and is only a temporary solution; the new system is prone for a repeat failure.

Aero-Stream® provides a guaranteed solution that eliminates the biomat and returns a failed septic system to its installed operational condition.