"Unplugger" Opens Up Compacted Septic Drain Fields

"Unplugger" Opens Up Compacted Septic Drain Fields FARM HOME Miscellaneous 26-4-27 Here's a quick and relatively inexpensive fix for plugged-up septic systems. It's a process called TerraliftÖ which is said to revitalize and rejuvenate troubled septic system leachfields. Terralift, Ltd., Stockbridge, Mass., owns the patents on the process and the machine. They've been selling franchises to run the machine across the country. When Wayne Baird, Newberg, Oregon, retired after 45 years as a plumber, he bought a TerraliftÖ machine and he's been busy ever since. "Leachfields eventually become saturated or sealed and water no longer percolates down. In many cases, effluent from the septic tank seeps to the surface, leaving wet spots and even standing smelly water in lawns," he says. Done the traditional way, rebuilding a septic drainfield can cost from tens of hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars and take several days to complete. "With Terralift, it's all done in less than a day and any lawn over a drainfield is left intact," Baird says. Price depends on the size of the leachfield but Steve McBrian, president of Terralift Ltd., says a job usually runs from 30 to 50 percent of the cost of rebuilding the leachfield the normal way. Here's how it works: A long narrow probe and a pneumatic hammer penetrate soils three to six feet deep, depending on the depth of the leachfield. Once the probe is in the soil, air is forced through it a high pressures, loosening compacted soil and creating a network of cracks. These cracks, Baird says, break up the æbiomat' pan that develops over years in the drain field. The same high-pressure air that fractures the soil also blows polystyrene beads into the cracks. These beads hold open the cracks, maintaining passages for liquids to percolate away from the drainpipes. This process is repeated every 4 ft. throughout the entire drain field. Terralift, Ltd. franchises machines and business territories under the name Sgt. Septic. To find a franchise near you, call the company or look up dealers on their Website at www.terralift.com. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Terralift, Ltd., P.O. Box 532, 104 East Main Street, Stockbridge, Mass. 01262 (ph 413 298-4272; fax 413 298-3481; E-mail: teralift@bcn.net; Website: www.terralift2000.com); or call Wayne Baird at 503 554-0915.

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