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Collecting the nfomation suggsted by Tim Foster may help narrow the options and is supported. However ultimately you will almost certainly have to access the septic tanks, if not to identify problems then to effect remediation. Speculating is unlikely to beneficial, so adopting a systematic process of elimination with easiest tasks / access first would be my suggestion. Its a relatively simple calculation to calculate the expected accumulated volume in the tank (based on pit type and if water is used for flushing / anal cleansing, number of people per household, cubic volume of pit [plumb the depth if need be]) and this may give an idea if the tank is due for cleaning. I would suggest based on the limited information and a rough calculation with assumed pit depth and anal cleansing / flushing practice and , there is a good chance the pit is due for cleaning and this would in any event be a good starting point, and routine maintenance. It may produce initial mprovement provide access to the tank (if adequate access / cleaning hole). It is not clear from the post if it is discharging into the leachate field or directly to the river (latter is what seems suggested). The next step then seems to be to expose the connection of the pipes to ascertain connection to the tank and if the pipes are blocked - again possibly routine maintenace required. RedR manual and Helvetas latrines manual give guidance on infiltration rates for differing soils, however remember infiltration reduces over time. It is quite simple to do a rough infiltration field test and this may remove another variable as to soil suitability.