Cess pool sounds like a failed drainfield to me.

Do you mean septic tank?

Any chance of a picture of the area?

Mike

No, these old houses just had a deep hole in the ground lined with dry stacked rocks and capped. The result is a more concentrated leach area.

I would extend the leach field to cover a wider area and drain it that way.One day with a backhoe and a dump truck or two of drain rock should do it. Oh, and a permit. ;-)

I didn't know any of those old cess pools still legally existed.