This plea for help was posted on Yahoo Answers within the last year. This person states:
I have been having problems with my drainfield. I have had the system pumped this year and about a month or two afterwards have noticed wet spots on my drainfield. I have called in septic companies to look at it and they all seemed to give me the same answers. I had my lines jetted to remove the sludge buildup. He also through a case of chemicals into my septic system to clean out what the jetting had missed. It has been about 3 months since this and I am still having the same problem.
This is a very common failure mode of anaerobic septic systems with gravity fed drainfields. In this case, the drainfield can not absorb any more water; the bio-mat has sealed the gravel bed in the drainfield and the water has no where to go except on top of the ground above the drainfield.
Pumping the tank can only provide temporary relief. The root cause of the problem, the bio-mat in the drainfield, remains intact. Jetting out the drain lines did not hurt the situation, but also did not help it, either.
At this point, the owner of this system has two choices. They can have their system replaced at a high cost or they can install an Aero-Stream® product.
When consulted about failed septic systems, most industry professionals have not heard of septic system remediation and will always recommend the expensive option of system replacement.
Septic system remediation (the restoration or repair of failed septic system) has occurred in thousands of failed septic systems across North America. Before you make a decision to replace your failed system, research the Aero-Stream® solution and save yourself a few thousand dollars.