Do not use any water for washing clothes, doing dishes, taking showers, flushing the toilet, or anything else that uses water because all drains lead to the septic system. When this alarm sounds, it may indicate that a pump has failed and a septic backup into the house is imminent.

To find out what kind of system you have, you should now call an on-site septic maintenance professional. The type of alerting panel that we will need is the most crucial piece of information. If you need to access it, don’t panic; it’s on the side of the house or in the garage and has never seen sewage or septage. Your neighbourhood septic repair professional will be familiar with all the different types of panels.

First scenario: If you “Don’t” have a timer and are only “On-Demand” dosing, kindly turn off all of the water. Typically, a system of this kind won’t clean itself; instead, one of four things could

1: It might be something as basic as a circuit breaker or GFI trip. Untripping it will save you the most money; if it happens again, something is wrong and needs to be checked out more thoroughly. An appointment costs $125.00.

2: A dead “on/off” float switch is one possibility. The sewage level will trigger the high water event alert if the pump is not turned on as a result of this signal. The replacement cost for the repair is about $150.

3: Maybe it’s just a poor pump. Do not let this one entirely catch you off guard because pumps only last in a septic system for roughly 10 to 15 years. A repair will typically cost between $400 and $600.

4: It could be plugged components or transfer lines to subsequent components. Depending on the system, unplugging the next component can cost anywhere from $325 and more. If the system is cleaned out annually by a qualified professional, this can be avoided. If suitable equipment was installed at installation, our annual check, which includes flushing of components, is $125.00.

The second scenario: features a timer that limits how much waste water your system can process. You will need to collaborate closely with your on-site septic maintenance provider when using this system.

1: It’s possible that you overfed your septic system. Stop all indoor water usage, give it six to eight hours, and if your alarm still doesn’t go off, try scenario number one for troubleshooting.

The third scenario: entails a groundwater intrusion breach. Your system is receiving rain or surface water, which causes a hydraulic overload. How can you tell whether you’re ingesting ground water? It’s a little difficult to describe, but I’ll try.

1: Your Onsite Septic Maintenance Provider will have a dissolved oxygen kit. At this point we start to look like lab-technicians instead of septic maintenance providers. We pull samples from all over your septic system to find out where ground or surface water is getting in. For example, your septic system should have zero dissolved oxygen in the water. Septic means no dissolved oxygen in the water. If we take samples from the system and get zero dissolved oxygen everywhere until as certain point then, just like that, we found the area of the intrusion. Leaks for the most part are easy to fix but hard to find.


I truly hope this helps everyone in understanding the Septic Alarm. If you have a question that I may have not answered please go to the upper right hand corner of the screen and submit a message to me. You don’t need to provide me with any personal information and email is optional, but if you need immediate assistance please include a phone number or an email address to ensure speedy service.