Catastrophe Leads to Unique Tough Job

Replacing failed vertical seepage pits is a common job for Bob Willis of Bob’s Septic Service in Escondido, California. He expected nothing unusual when three 11-year-old pits failed on a mansion built into a Rancho Santa Fe hillside.The homeowners reported consecutive months with $1,300 and $1,700 water bills. Plumbers had located and repaired the leak, but not before it hydraulically overloaded the 4-foot-diameter pits.Willis’s crew drilled three 70-foot-deep seepage pits at the opposite end of the property to preserve the landscaping. The repair also involved setting two 1,500-gallon septic tanks and a 300-gallon surge tank (Infiltrator Water Technologies) with a 1 hp