Of course, as with all septic systems, you should have a file labeled “Septic”, which contains your engineered design, soil test, permit and, most importantly, the “As-Built” drawing. Copies of these documents can be provided to you by the local health department.
Low pressure pipe systems are also known as “Bell-Patt” or low pressure drip systems. They consist of one or more fields, divided into sections usually numbering from 4 to 10. The effluent is demand dosed into the field from the pump chamber, usually in 150 – 250 gallon doses, once or twice a day. The flow of effluent into each section is controlled by a 2” ball valve, attached to a manifold with all the other field valves. The valves and manifold are housed inside one or more large green plastic sprinkler control boxes, or a wooden box made by the system installer. The valve box(es) are located at the head of the field on the upslope corner, at the opposite end from the observation ports, which look like a series of white soldiers spaced 8’- 12’ apart
When we install these systems, we mark the field section number, compass direction and up or down slope of each valve with indelible marking. The #1 valve controls the uphill section closest to the valve box(es), and the last numbered valve is furthest away from the field and controls the lowest down slope section. For example, in the illustration, if the field is to the left and down slope from the valve boxes, the #1 valve is to the left, controlling the upper and the #6 valve is the closed one to the far right and controls the lowest section in the field.
The system is designed oversize by one section so that you can rest one section at a time. If you have 5 sections, 4 will be on and 1 will be off. The section should stay off for 6 months allowing it to dry. Then, you turn that one ON and the next one OFF, so rotating in sequence — forever. This prolongs the life of your field.
