THE PARTS OF
THE FIELD BED
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Networking With Effluent

The second key piece of your septic system is the field bed. It's importance is no more or less important that the tank itself, for the whole system is brought down when one of the two are not functioning properly.

The construct of the field bed is very simple, though the designs and directions of its placement must be followed to the letter. The wrong setup can have undesirable results. If you should suspect that your field bed is not properly placed, call us or any licensed septic system inspector and we will determine its safety to both you and the environment around it.

The field bed has a few key features;

4" Perforated Drain Tile - Essentially a network of pipes with a bunch of holes in it, the effluent travels down these lines, slowly draining into the soil that surrounds it.

Gravel Under Tile and Around Grade Board - Since soil surface can change due to moisture and frost, the field bed is usually placed upon a gravel surface to help keep it level.

FIELD BED TYPES

As you can see, the field bed branches out from the distribution box in a fork-like manner. The amount of "prongs" depends on the size of the house, lot, or septic tank on the site.

The Conventional Bed

The most common type.

Used where natural soils are suitable filter materials and the ground is well drained.

Appropriate soil is brought to the site to create a leeching bed high enough above the underground water table.

The Filter Bed

Used where a smaller field bed is required due to lack of space.

Instead of trenches, the bed area is excavated and filled with a layer of sand (specific grain required).

A gravel layer is placed on top of the sand upon which the pipes are placed.

The pipes can be laid close together.

This can be installed in-ground, partially or fully raised.

Just In Case You Weren't Sure...

We had someone come into our office the other day asking us a question about their fieldbed, and we felt that the answer should be made known. He asked if he could drive any sort of vehicle over his field bed, since he was having some work done and might be renting a bulldozer.

Let us stress that it is not recommended that you drive or park any vehicle or heavy object over your field bed area. It is safe to walk over it, and your children will not contract any fatal diseases by running over it while playing, but heavy weight should at all times be avoided. After all, it's only a small amount of topsoil between you and your drainage pipes!