How to Remove a Backyard Leach Field

Consult your leach field plans to determine the extent of the drainage area. This will help in determining where and how much you need to dig. If you can't locate the plans, check with your municipal records office to see if there are drawings on file.

Turn off the drain valve on your septic tank, if it is so equipped. This will prevent sewage from flowing into the leach field while you are working.

Drive stakes into the ground with a hammer around the perimeter of the leach field to show where to dig.

Remove any plants or shrubs that may have been planted on the surface of the leach field with a shovel. Use a spade to dig underneath the roots of the plants when digging up if you'd like to replant them over the old leach field or elsewhere.

Use a turf tool to remove the top layer of grass around the top of the leach field. This turf can be kept for replanting, if desired.

Use a metal probe to gently poke through the dirt to help in pinpointing exactly where the leach field pipes are located. Mark these locations with additional stakes.

Use a spade to remove the dirt from the top of the leach field pipes. After the dirt has been removed, you will hit a layer of loosely compacted rocks. Remove the rock to access the pipe. Once you've uncovered the first pipe, make your way down that pipe uncovering the dirt along the pipe surface.Continue this process until you've uncovered all the other pipes.

Remove the leach field pipes from the trenches. The difficulty of this step will depend on the material used to construct the leach field pipes. Newer leach fields are typically constructed with PVC pipes. Use a hacksaw to cut apart these pipes at convenient lengths for hauling away. Unscrew lengths of metal pipe away from the connecting couplings, using a pipe wrench, if necessary. Stubborn pipes can be cut apart with a rotary saw with a metal cutting blade.