Remember, don't pump out more than half the volume of the tank. This almost always causes flooding in these areas. Removing more than half the contents could cause the tank to try to float out of the ground and damage the inlet or outlet pipes. When ground water inundates the septic tank, water will leak in through any opening such as the manhole cover, the inlet/outlet pipes or the tank cover and fill the tank with groundwater instead of waste water from the house. In low-lying areas the water table is usually at shallower depths anyway, but during very wet periods, with all the additional groundwater flowing towards these areas, the water table can rise up to the surface causing groundwater flooding. High water tables due to water table management may significantly decrease NO 3-N concentrations in drainage water. It is a common practice to pump the excess water from the septic tank onto the ground but this violates the North Dakota state plumbing code. The severity of the ground water on this project was relatively mild, but the same principles apply regardless of the severity. The water table typically follows the topography of the above-ground land, but sometimes intersects with the land surface, which may be evident from the presence of spring or oasis. You can usually diagnose a flapper problem by ripples in the bowl water and the sound of the tank refilling. 2.  Check faucets, shower heads, toilets, sinks and any other water using device for leaks and repair them as soon as possible. High water tables interfere with septic systems. When high water table conditions occur, you may have to treat your septic tank as a holding tank and have it commercially pumped periodically. Water may actually flow from the drainfield back into the septic tank. Any situation that prevents or slows down the flow of water through the septic system can cause problems. Customize table to display other current-condition parameters. There is a lag, however, between when precipitation infiltrates the saturated zone and when the water table rises. Make sure there are no leaking fixtures in the house. Some trees near water or that grow in standing water will die. A high water table means the water pressure in the soil is high and that the soil is likely to be correspondingly weaker. Don't let water from roof gutters or from the sump pump discharge into the drainfield area. Septic Systems and High Water Tables By Tom Scherer, Irrigation and Water Resources Specialist, Home Septic SystemsNDSU Extension Service. Feel free to use and share this content, but please do so under the conditions of our. Water standing on fields for long periods of time can kill crops or encourage mold growth. A data sourcespecifies which data to index, credentials for data access, and policies that efficiently identify changes in the data (new, modified, or deleted rows). The water table separates the groundwater zone that lies below it from the capillary fringe, or zone of aeration, that lies above it. Risa Edwards is a librarian who works for a small private university. Annual losses of total N from fields with water table management could be 40-50% lower than for conventionally drained fields (Evans et al., 1991). During the late winter and spring when accumulated snow starts to melt and spring rainfall is plentiful, water on the surface infiltrates into the ground and the water table rises. Vegetables high in water include lettuce, celery, bok choy, radish, cucumber, zucchini, watercress, tomatoes, green bell peppers, and asparagus. Groundwater tends to flow from areas where the ground level is high, to areas where the ground level is low. Water borne diseases are lethal and spread from person to person quickly. This can be from unusually high amounts of rain, or excess water from higher elevations. 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