Lackawaxen and the surrounding Pike County area are full of history. Many of us live in homes that have stood for decades, if not longer. These “heritage homes” offer unmatched character, craftsmanship, and charm.
However, they also come with infrastructure challenges. The most critical, and often the most overlooked, is the septic system.
If your home was built thirty, forty, or fifty years ago, your septic system is likely just as old. It was designed for a different era. Families were smaller then. Water usage was lower. Washing machines and dishwashers were not running daily.
Caring for an older septic system requires a specific approach. You cannot treat it like a modern installation. This guide covers the essential steps to keep your vintage system running and explains when you need Triple J Services to intervene.
Understanding Your “Vintage” System
Before you can care for your system, you have to understand what you are dealing with. Modern systems use concrete tanks and carefully engineered sand mounds. Older systems in our area are often quite different.
The Steel Tank Issue
Many homes built before the 1980s utilized steel septic tanks. Steel rusts. Over decades, the baffles inside the tank (which prevent solids from leaving) can corrode and fall off. Eventually, the tank itself can rust through, leading to collapse. If you have a steel tank, you are on borrowed time.
Cesspools vs. Septic Systems
Some very old properties in Lackawaxen may not have a true septic tank at all. They might rely on a cesspool. This is essentially a lined pit that allows liquids to seep into the ground. These provide very little treatment for wastewater and are generally considered substandard by today’s environmental codes.
Unknown Locations
The first step in care is simply finding the system. Older homes rarely come with accurate “as-built” maps. You might not know where the tank lid is or where the drain field lies. This makes maintenance impossible until the mystery is solved.
Step 1: The Inspection Priority
If you have just purchased an older home, or if you have lived in one for years but never checked the system, you need a professional inspection immediately.
We provide comprehensive Septic System Inspections at Triple J Services. We don’t just look for backups. We dig up the lids and inspect the tank structure. We check the condition of the baffles. We evaluate the flow from the house to the tank and from the tank to the drain field.
For older systems, an inspection is a health checkup. It tells us if the system is safe to use or if it poses an immediate environmental hazard.
Step 2: Managing Water Usage
The soil absorption area (leach field) is the lungs of your septic system. On an older home, this field has been absorbing water for decades. The soil surrounding the pipes can become saturated or clogged with “biomat,” a slime layer that naturally forms over time.
An old leach field has a limited capacity. You must reduce the hydraulic load to keep it functioning.
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Fix Leaks Immediately: A running toilet can send hundreds of gallons of water into your older system every day. This will flood an aging drain field quickly.
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Space Out Laundry: Do not wash five loads of laundry on Saturday. Spread them out over the week. This gives your older drain field time to recover and absorb the water between loads.
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High-Efficiency Upgrades: Replace old toilets and showerheads with low-flow models. Reducing the volume of water entering the tank extends the life of the entire system.
Step 3: Pumping Frequency is Key
Modern septic tanks are usually at least 1,000 gallons. Older tanks might be only 500 or 750 gallons. Smaller tanks fill up faster.
When a tank fills with solids, there is less room for the wastewater to settle. Solids get pushed out into the leach field. In an older system, this is a death sentence. Once the soil in the leach field is clogged with solids, it cannot be cleaned. It must be replaced.
We recommend more frequent pumping for older, smaller tanks. Do not wait the standard three to five years. You may need Septic System Pumping every two years or even annually depending on family size.
If you are unsure of your tank size, Triple J Services can determine this during a routine service call. We remove the sludge and scum layers, resetting the clock for your tank.
Step 4: Caring for Old Pipes
The pipes running from your house to the tank are the arteries of the system. In heritage homes, these pipes are often made of cast iron, clay, or Orangeburg (a type of tar-paper pipe).
These materials are fragile. They are prone to root intrusion and can collapse if driven over. They also have rougher interior surfaces than modern PVC, which means grease and debris stick to them easily.
The Hydro-Jetting Solution
If your drains are slow, do not use chemical drain cleaners. These harsh chemicals can damage old pipes and kill the good bacteria in your septic tank.
Instead, rely on High-Pressure Drain Jetting (Hydro-Jetting). Triple J Services uses pressurized water to scour the inside of your pipes. This removes years of grease buildup, scale, and minor root intrusion without damaging the pipe structure. It restores the pipe to near-original capacity.
Step 5: Protecting the Drain Field
In modern homes, the drain field is clearly marked. In older homes, it might be under your driveway, a parking spot, or a large tree.
Compacting the soil over an old drain field destroys it. The weight of vehicles crushes the pipes and packs the soil down, preventing water from filtering through.
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Map it Out: Use our inspection services to locate the field.
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Move the Trees: Roots love septic fields. If you have large trees growing on or near your old field, their roots are likely clogging the pipes. You may need to remove trees to save the system.
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Divert Surface Water: Old fields struggle to handle rain. If your gutters drain onto the septic area, you are drowning the system.
Triple J Services offers French Drains & Drainage Solutions. We can install drainage systems that intercept rainwater and groundwater, directing it away from your septic field. This keeps the soil dry and thirsty, allowing it to absorb your household wastewater effectively.
Step 6: Retrofitting with Pumps
Many older homes relied on gravity to move waste. However, as you upgrade your home—perhaps adding a basement bathroom or a guest cottage—gravity might not be enough.
Sometimes, the old gravity system fails because the grade was never perfect to begin with. We can breathe new life into an older system by installing pumps.
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Grinder Pump Repair & Installation: If you are adding a bathroom below the main sewer line, a grinder pump is essential. It liquefies waste and pumps it up to the main tank.
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Effluent Pump Service & Replacement: If your drain field is failing, we might be able to install an effluent pump to lift wastewater to a new, higher elevation where the soil is fresh. This is often cheaper than a total system replacement.
Step 7: Knowing When to Let Go
Despite your best efforts, there comes a time when an older septic system is simply dead.
If your tank is cracked steel, it must be replaced. If your “Turkey Mound” or leach field is pushing sewage to the surface of your lawn, it is a health hazard.
At this point, Septic System Installation & Replacement is the only compliant option.
The Modern Replacement Process
Replacing a system in Lackawaxen requires navigating Pike County regulations. The soil must be tested (perc test). The design must meet current codes, which are far stricter than when your home was built.
We specialize in Excavation & Utility Trenching. We carefully remove the old, failed components. We bring in the necessary fill and sand. We install modern, durable tanks and piping.
For many properties in our area, the soil conditions require a sand mound system. We are experts in Leach Field (“Turkey Mound”) Repair & Installation. While a mound looks different than a flat lawn, it is often the only way to ensure proper water treatment in our rocky, clay-heavy terrain.
Why Choose Triple J Services?
Caring for a heritage home is a labor of love. You need a partner who understands the unique challenges of older infrastructure.
Triple J Services is locally owned and operated in Lackawaxen, PA. We know the soil types. We know the history of local development. Most importantly, we know how to fix problems that other companies might walk away from.
We handle everything from the initial Emergency Septic Pumping when things go wrong, to the complex Grinder Pump Repair needed to keep things running.
Don’t let an aging septic system become a nightmare. Proactive care preserves your property value and protects our local environment.
Visit our About Us page to meet the team dedicated to keeping your home running smoothly. If you need help with your older system, check out our full list of Services or contact us today. Let’s keep your heritage home healthy for the next generation.
