Ah see now you're getting me started on the septic system, warning, off-topic ahead. The tubes weren't connected to anything and I don't have any reason to believe they were for a long time, all washers currently drain to the house waste plumbing. We paid for a well and septic "inspection" prior to purchase from a very well-reviewed and pretty expensive company.
They said the leach field was probably saturated (it was winter and there was 6-8" of snow on the ground when they came out) and more than likely we would need a new leach field to the tune of ~$7,000. Absolute worst case scenario according to the inspector was $10-12K to do a mound system.
This was my first well and septic home and I was willing to fix things so we got the seller to cut a check for $4,000 at closing for this potential repair even though they claimed it worked fine.
Since then we've had septic companies come out to pump and we've gotten some more opinions. There appear to be some other contributing issues we weren't aware of when buying:
1) The water table here is high and we have drainage issues, the ground is very flat. Thus, no nearby spot will perk according to one company. We could install a pump and install a new leach field approximately 500ft away on a slightly elevated part of my pasture.
2) This county is a real bitch about septic systems. If we were 1 mile away in another county there would be more options for fixing the system.
3) Of the 3-4 companies we've had come out most appear pretty uninterested in providing a solution. They look around, dig a bit with an auger and go"yep, it's not too good but if it were me I wouldn't do anything until you have it backing up into the house."
Needless to say, my first experience with a septic system has not been a good one.