If you have a septic tank, you probably don’t want to have anything to do with it. It is the underground tank that holds all sorts of unimaginables – where everything that goes down a drain, pipe, or toilet in your house ends up. Maybe you’ve just moved into a house with a septic tank, and you don’t have a clue how to maintain it, or yours just started to smell and you need it to stop. What you need is some septic servicing.
A poorly looked after septic system is a health risk, and they can become hazardous to your health and overpoweringly, distastefully smelly if you don’t take care of them.
How Does a Septic Tank Work?
The main function of a septic tank is to remove the solids, oils, and grease from drainage water before it is pumped into the ground.
If you were to go look at your septic tank now, you would see two large concrete circles. What you are looking at is the top of the tank.
There are two tanks because the liquid is drained into the first one for initial treatment. The liquid is then further treated in the second tank.
Treatment makes it sound like a complicated process, but all that is really happening is that the heavier chunky bits of waste will sink to the bottom of the tank, and they will stay there to be treated by bacteria. This is called the sludge. The liquid that passes into the next tank, and we call this liquid effluent. More sludge is collected in the second tank.
The effluent can now drain away, when it is pumped into the ground, without polluting the ground with any of the solids that now sit in the bottom of the tank. The effluent is not clean enough that you can pour a glass and drink it – you would get very sick. But it is fine to pump into the ground and let it drain away.
Natural processes will continue to clean the effluent in the soil, and that is really all there is to it.
Septic Servicing – Have The Septic Tanks Pumped Out Regularly
The effluent might drain away, but all that sludge remains in the tank, and it builds up overtime. This is why you need to have your septic tank cleaned or pumped every once in a while.
How long is ‘every once in a while’?
How often you need to pump you tank depends on the volume of sewerage you put into it. A rule of thumb is that you have your tank drained once every four years for a four-person family.
You will need to pump your tank more frequently if there are more people in the household and not as often if there are less.
Call us on 0408 869 607 or Contact Us Here to find out if you are due to have your septic tank pumped.
How to Look After Your Septic System – on the Inside
Not taking care of your septic system can result in a lot of problems. Septic servicing is the answer.
Sewerage water can back up into the house pipes.
The ground around the system becomes soggy, and it can start to smell really, really bad.
The ground can end up polluted.
Leaving these problems untreated can be a health risk.
The easiest way to take care of your septic tank is to be careful of what you put down the drain.
Fats and grease are a no go for a septic system. Fats and grease from the kitchen sink should go into a Grease Trap.
Some chemicals can kill the bacteria that keep your septic tank clean – don’t flush or drain anything you’re not sure about.
Kids flushing rubber ducks down the toilet (seriously).
Kitty litter.
Buy cleaning chemicals that say they can be used with a septic system on the bottle.
Coffee grind.
You need to think about what you are putting down the drain, will break down over time? Most people have a good idea of what is and isn’t bio degradable. If you are in doubt dispose of it in the garbage with care.
How to Look After Your Septic System – on the Outside
It is not enough to just watch what you put down the drain. You need to maintain the septic drain field.
The septic drain field is the name given to the area that the effluent is pumped into. If there is anything stopping the effluent from draining away, it will result in a problem with your septic system.
Divert run off water from other sources, gutters, patios, and driveways.
Don’t drive vehicles over the septic drain field or septic tanks. This will compress the drainage trenches and inhibit the draining away process.
Don’t plant trees in the drain field. The roots can clog up the drainage trenches and in extreme circumstances even unearth your septic tank.
It is not hard to have a healthy septic system. You just need to be aware of what will impede its ability to filter your waste. They are one of the best ways to filter waste. Septic systems minimise pollution, they can be more cost effective than connecting to local sewerage, and they can last for a very long time if well maintained.
If you want those benefits you have to look after your system properly, and that is where we come in. I’m Your Plummer can take care of your septic system. We can help you with your regular septic servicing, pumping your tanks, and maintenance and repair. Call us on 0408 869 607 if you would like to hear more about septic servicing, or you can request a quote via our Contact Us Form.