Manifold and Lateral Cleaning Guidelines

Changes in orifice sizing mean cleaning the pressure manifolds or laterals is a good practice when maintaining pressure distribution septic systems.

Jan 04, 2017 | by Jim Anderson, Ph.D. |

Onsite Septic Systems Laterals

Manifold And Lateral Cleaning — When pressure distribution systems are installed for mounds, at-grades or pressurized shallow trenches, they are installed (or should be installed) with accessible clean-outs to facilitate regular maintenance and checking of pressures at the distal end of both the manifold and each individual pressure lateral.

When I started working in the industry about the only time you saw a pressure distribution system was in the bed of above-grade mound systems. In Minnesota and Wisconsin, a lot of these have been designed and installed over the years due to the large percentage of areas with high watertables. Design recommendations for the distribution network were to use 1/4-inch-diameter holes (orifices) in the 1 1/4- to 2-inch distribution laterals. Part of the rationale for this recommendation was that the velocity of water moving through the 1/4-inch orifice would have a scour velocity such that they would not plug

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