Every August the same calls come in from the same parts of Marion County: the flatwoods south of Ocala toward Belleview and Summerfield, the forest lots east of Ocklawaha, the low ground near the rivers. The tank was pumped two years ago, nothing has changed in the house, and the drains are slow and the yard over the field is wet. Nothing broke. The ground filled up.
Central Florida gets most of its rain between June and September, and in the flatwoods the water table can rise to within a foot or two of the surface by late summer. A drain field built at the minimum separation in a dry March is sitting in groundwater by August, and a field in groundwater cannot drain.
The first day
- Cut water use hard: short showers, no laundry, no dishwasher, for two or three days.
- Keep everyone and every pet off the wet area over the field; it is sewage-tinged water.
- Do not add a chemical or an additive to the tank; nothing in a bottle drains a flooded field.
- Call for a pump-out if drains are backing up. Emptying the tank relieves the field and stops the backup for days to a couple of weeks.
- Check the downspouts and the sprinklers. Roof water and irrigation dumped onto the field are the two things a homeowner can move that make a real difference.
When it happens every year
A field that floods once in a wet decade is a field to live with. A field that floods every August is a field that was built too low for the lot, and the permanent fix is a raised or mounded system that keeps the required separation from the seasonal high water table. That is a permit job with a site evaluation, and on small lots inside the springs areas it may have to be a nitrogen-reducing unit. The time to plan it is the dry season, when the ground can be worked and the permit office is not busy with emergencies.
What does not help
Bacteria additives, enzyme packets and the yeast trick do nothing for a flooded field; the field is full of water, not short of bacteria. Digging a trench to drain the field into the ditch is illegal and puts sewage in the neighbor's yard. And pumping the tank every week is a stopgap, not a plan.
Useful links
- Florida DEP Onsite Sewage Program – repair permits and system rules
- Southwest Florida Water Management District – water table and rainfall data for the western half of Marion County
Questions on this
Will my drain field recover after the rain stops in Ocala?
Usually, within one to three weeks of dry weather, if it was only the water table. If it stays wet into the dry season, the field itself has failed and needs a look.
Should I pump the tank during a flood?
If drains are backing up, yes; it stops the backup. If the field is merely wet with no backup, save the money and cut water use instead.
Does a raised field need a pump?
Almost always. Effluent has to be lifted into the mound, so the system gains a pump chamber, a pump and an alarm, which is part of why the price is higher.