First and foremost, stop running all water; no laundry, dishwashing, showers, toilet flushing, or anything else that requires water as all drains lead to the septic system. When this alarm goes off it means a pump may have stopped working and septic backup into the house is eminent.

At this time you will need to call an onsite septic maintenance technician to determine what type of system you own. The most important information we will need is the type of panel that is alarming. Your local septic maintenance technician will know all the types of panels and if you need to access it then don’t worry, it’s on the side of the house or in the garage and has never seen sewage or septage.

Scenario Number 1: assuming you “Don’t” have a timer and are strictly “On-Demand” dosing, please stop running all water. In most cases this type of system will not clear itself, instead there are be 4 things that could be

1. It can be as simple as a tripped circuit breaker, or a tripped GFI. This will save you the most money: un-trip it and if it happens again there is something wrong that requires further inspection. A service call runs $125.00

2. It can be a dead “on/off” float switch. This is what tells the pump to come on and if it fails to turn the pump on the sewage level will set off the high water event alarm. The repair is usually $150 dollars to replace.

3. It can be just a bad pump. Pumps only last in a septic system for about 10 -15 years, so do not let this one throw you completely off guard. A repair will usually run anywhere from $400-$600 dollars.

4. It could be plugged transport lines to next components or plugged components. Unplugging the next component can range anywhere from $325 and up, depending on the system. This can be avoided if the system is flushed out annually by someone certified. Our annual inspection, which will include flushing of components as long as proper equipment was installed during installation, is $125.00