Ok, so we broke down and called a plumber: vent stack had a major block and when that didn't stop the gurgling in our toilet, plumber installed secondary vent under bathroom sink. The gurgling stopped when water is running and we thought issue was resolved. Tonight however, I ran water to do dishes and when I let it out, gurgling. Two of the three times I refilled the sink it made the toilet gurgle when I let water out. What in the heck is the problem now?? Drainline is clean, vent is clean, septic line is clean and tank isn't full. I'm beyond frustrated at this point.
Plumbing – More plumbing issues
drainageplumbingtoilet
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I've been a victim of this before. This is bad news.
In my (rare) case, the roof of my apartment building drained to the middle of the building and down the sewer pipes. During phenomenal downpours (twice in five years), the flow of water coming down that pipe was faster than the flow of water leaving the building. The water backed up to the lowest point where it had an exit which was my primary bathroom. It did so with such intensity that water was violently sloshing out of the toilet bowl, the stopper on the sink was forcefully ejected, and the bathtub was backing up at the same time. The only good news in all this mess is that it was fresh water.
Clearly, this is not quite your case. However, it is an indication of the same similar fact: you have a flow going in the wrong direction in your sewer line. Before the astonishingly violent discharge and water flowing everywhere, the toilet would gurgle.
Since it's a septic tank for you, you need that serviced now.
The reason the flushed water level is lower is probably that the siphon link between the bowl and the sewer line isn't being broken.
This sounds like your leach field is possibly blocked. That's the disaster scenario where you not only need the tank pumped, but the yard dug up and a new field placed.
Water from your laundry coming up in your tub is a sign that it's not draining to the septic system. This is either because there is a block in the system before the tank or because the tank is unable to accept any more water as it is plugged on the discharge / leach field side.
When I opened up the clean out pipe clear water came out (about ten gallons). I shoved the hose down about 25 feet and it was running full force but it seemed like all the water coming out of the hose was draining back out of the clean out pipe.
... and that's the sign that it's doing option #2: the tank is full and failing to drain.
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Best Answer
Based upon your description and comments, I am going to guess that the trouble lies with your septic system not draining (or barely draining).
If you are new to septic systems, there is a lot of useful information online about the theory of operation and the different models commonly in use.
Regarding the "pump the tank again in 2 years" advice, that is boilerplate advice from a septic pumping company and it says nothing about the condition of your system, other than the tech servicing it thought it was working. With a properly functioning conventional system and 2 people living in a 3-4 bedroom home, provided no one flushes a garbage disposal or anything nasty down the drain, the pumping interval can often be extended to 5 years.
On the other hand, if your drain field is mostly plugged then you will begin having trouble about 1 month after it is pumped, since that is roughly the time it takes for the empty tank to fill. A failed drain field will not necessarily cause water to pond near the surface. For example, one such failure occurs when more than just clear effluent leaves the tank into the drain field. After awhile, that condition looks like this:
If the drain field pipes look like this then there will not be visible wetness and the sewage is going to go the only other place it can --back into the house.