Trees and Septic System

jtruck618

Glad I found this site! This is my first post and I hop it is in the correct place. I have a septic system located in my backyard. It is one year old and the field is made up of the plastic chambers instead of the pipe and gravel setup. The rear of my house faces the west and I really need some shade. My question is...how close can I plant a tree to the field? I have read horror stories about tree roots plugging up septic pipes but the chamber system is different. They are totally open on the bottom. I know some trees are worse than others and I have done some research but not found much about the chamber fields. I have three, one hundred foot sections right in the back of my yard. Not an ideal place but the county is hard to deal with and having a pond further out on my property made the county even harder to deal with. I am hopeful some of you pro's have knowledge in this area. I have planted many Maples, Oaks, Pines, 1 Ginko, Crabapples and a few Norway Spruces and I hope to plant many many more trees this fall. Thank you.

Eric Frei

Are the pipes solid or have slots etc in them?

Like how could roots get inside? That's the first thing we need to know.

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jtruck618

There are actually no pipes. Chambers were used instead. They are plastic squares that are totally open on the bottom. I have three rows which are 100feet each.

olyman

never heard of these, but i can tell you this. trees will find any available water, no matter where--even if its on the underside of these chambers--guaranteed!!!! older plumber told me--you got a 90 ft tall tree?? keep the septic system at least 120 foot from tree!!!

Eric Frei

Well, without knowing the dimensions, engineering etc I can't say.

Olyman was being conservative about tree roots, they can go a long way. The fine roots get inside and grow, matting the joint up like cobwebs blocking things.

Need to see a plan, that's how I do things anyway, show me the drawings and dimensions and I'll give you the solutions.

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