2006 Gulf Stream park model plumbing mystery

Oh another thing DutchmanSport--the septic tank was used for an old house that was originally on the property and not just installed for the barn. My friends built the barn there because septic was already available.

K Charles, I guess I was unclear about the purpose of my post. I have been trying to troubshoot this issue on my own and was looking for suggestions and more ideas on what to try next, short of moving back into town. I do NOT miss gunfire down the street or the crime, even if it means living "cozy". My country air and horses are doing me just fine. :)

The septic system was originally on the property and in use before the barn was built over it. That was done specifically to utilize the septic system for a barn bathroom. Before the trailer was plugged in, that bathroom worked fine. No backup, odors, or any kind of problem, even in wet/freezing weather. Since it was working, I haven't rechecked the septic. yet. What you're all saying about saturation makes sense though, so if I have exhausted all efforts checking out the trailer then I will indeed have to start on the septic system.

The one check we did do in the barn was to look at what the drain in the shower did when we flushed the toilet. There was no variance in the shower drain's water level (I would think it would back out through the p-trap if the line to the septic was plugged) and the shower and toilet join up close together before entering the septic tank.

I'm in this trailer alone and just do not use much water. I appreciate your feedback! I will follow up with every idea that I can, so please keep them coming!

Sounds like the drain line is frozen somewhere. Might try running hot water down the drain to see if it improves.

You say the septic system is "fine" so what is the question,or what do you want the answer to be. I think the line is to long it's to cold to leave it out or you don're use enough water but I know your septic system is not fine.

We're on a septic system at home. Our home sits on 2 levels, half on a concrete slab, the other half on a block foundation. It has 3 toilets. Two toilets on the foundation (typical ranch style formation), the 3rd is on the slab portion. The slab is ground level.

The only time we have trouble with the slab portion of the house toilet is when we've had excessive rain or melting snow and the ground is saturated completely (which happens about twice a year, early Spring and late Fall). Although we never get water back-up around the toilet (on the slab), the shower does, but only when the washing machine is running ... well ... the old washing machine. We now have front loaders, energy and water efficient and it just does not use that much water any more.

I guess what I'm saying is, it sounds like the ground around the septic tank and fingers is completely saturated, which means your septic tank is 100% full and there's absolutely no where for anything to run off. So it's just backing up into your trailer.

If that's not the case, then the leaching lines (if there are any) are full, causing the tank to be completely full, causing back-up in the trailer.

I've lived with septic tanks pretty much all my life and the only time toilets don't flush and water back-up in sinks and showers is when the tanks are full and cannot drain.

Try disconnecting the drain (outside) from the trailer, run some water, and see if it comes out the pipe. (or if you have a valve, open it, but remove the outside plumbing). If water drains, the problem is with the septic tank.

Edit: it might be time to have the septic tank pumped out also. If it's not been used much, the sludge in the bottom is probably rock hard or built up so much, you simply do not have full capacity of your tank any more. Either way ... full of sludge or full of water unable to drain, I be your septic tank is 100% full and cannot leach off like it's suppose to.

Another Edit: You said you're attached to a line used for a barn toilet. More than likely, the septic tank is nothing more than a barrel in the ground to support a single toilet. Now, you are using your trailer 24x7 and running a lot of water into a very small septic system that was installed for the purpose of a single toilet, and maybe a sink. You're now adding shower and cooking to that. For what you're doing, I also have a good guess the septic system was just never designed for that much use. (I know about that too ... I've lived around barns all my life too, and I know how some of these old timer farmers plumbed their barns - if you call that "plumbing" at all)?