Drinking contaminated water?!

[abarton769]

Hello i have 4 hens that are producing eggs and two roosters. I keep fresh water every day for them but they seem to like to drink the septic tank over flow out of the ground. will that or can that contaminate the eggs they produce and make anyone sick??? thanks in advance
The Bartons

 

[chad-o]

Scares the hell out of me!

 

[junecleavage]

Is it the water that is coming out of the drain field?

If it is seepage out of the tank because it is too full or not cared for properly, you should not be letting your chickens drink it. If it is a properly kept septic system, and they are drinking the water that leaches out from the drain field there is no issue. The whole point of the drain, or leach, field is to remove the impurities. While it is hard to think of anything coming out of a septic tank as spring water, it really is the same principle. Earth is really a pretty amazing filtration system. If it weren't everyone with well water would be up s#*t creek (literally).

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

You need to repair your septic tank ASAP

Quote: That's not quite correct
It would be "spring water" IF it had been thoroughly filtered be passing through a LOT of soil first

Right out of the septic tank it's still highly contaminated

 

[chad-o]

Just to bring you all up to speed. The septic tank allows the solids to settle out before it goes to the drain field. That is just a tank and does nothing to clean the liquid. The drain field lets the polluted liquid to filter through the stone it is set in and eventually back to the aquifer. If you have water peculating from either YOU HAVE A PROBLEM!!!
Every place I know of has a code that states how close to any part of a sewage system you can put a well. The reason is what is leaching from your drain field is polluted. Yes it is eventually cleaned but only after going through thousands of yards of soil.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you have water seeping out, you need to get it checked. It should not be doing that. Your county health department can probably test a sample to see if it is contaminated or not. It’s something I’d make a priority.

The way a septic tank works is that it is filled with microbes that digest the waste going into it, leaving you some solids that sink to the bottom and what is supposed to be clean water leaving it. Most of what goes in gets converted into water and gasses by those microbes, even the solids. That’s why you can go years without having to get a properly sized and properly working septic tank pumped.

In theory, if the septic system is working right, what goes out of the tank is clean water. It can go into the environment without polluting the environment. It’s the same principle a sewage treatment plant uses. If a sewage treatment plant is designed right and working right, it puts clean water out and it does not smell. I think we all know that doesn’t always happen. Septic systems don’t always operate right either. It may not be designed or installed right, it may need to be pumped, or something may be plugged. That’s why you need to get that water sample coming to the surface tested, not just for the health of your chickens but for your health.

I’ve got the situation here that the people that built this house put the field lines real close to a low area I call The Bog. It has a wet weather seep in it that often has standing water in it during wet weather. I had that standing water tested. It’s clean so the septic is working right.

 

[abarton769]

yeah we bought this house from my father in law and i think it just needs to be pumped.. but my ultimate question is can the eggs carry any harmful things that the chickens eat or drink or does there kidneys and liver clean that all out??? anyone know??

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: I suspect it's beyond that now.
It sounds like the solids have blocked your leach lines, which means the only way to fix it is dig them all up and replace them.

Its dangerous for the chickens to be drinking AND walking in it.
You REALLY need to fix it ASAP

 

[drumstick diva]

just reading this makes me

 

[Ridgerunner]

If that water is raw sewage and not properly treated water coming out of the leach lines, it is not safe. It may or may not contaminate the eggs internally, I’m not sure about that. I’d think their body would probably filter it out but I’m not an expert on the inner working of how a hen protects her eggs from contamination. She probably does a decent job. For thousands of years they have lived in barnyards and eaten and drunk some pretty nasty stuff. We still eat the eggs and they hatch out healthy chicks, but that is not human excrement. Do you wish to risk your family’s health based on a stranger on the internet that is not an expert?

But they are walking in it. It’s getting on their feathers and feet. It’s on the outside of the eggs you are handling. It’s in the bedding in the nests. It’s contaminating where they live and what you touch. It’s contaminating their poop that you step in. To me, it’s not a question of whether the eggs are safe internally when they are laid. Those eggs are porous. Stuff is absorbed through the porous shell.

If it is raw sewage it’s contaminating their environment and yours. I think you have a bigger question than whether or not the eggs are safe internally when laid.