The condition of your septic system influences your house and its value, as well as neighboring properties. When it is not working properly, the system can contaminate the groundwater, and that contamination can spread for miles. A nonfunctioning septic system can even keep you from selling your property. Keep your system up and running by watching what you set in the pipes, conserving water and maintaining vegetation across the tank, pipes and leach field at bay.
Septic System Operation
A septic system has four parts: the plumbing waste pipes, the tank, the drainage pipes along with the dirt. When everything is functioning properly, solids settle out of effluents entering the tank and sink into the ground, while polluted water overflows into the leach area. As the water percolates through it, the dirt removes harmful organisms, and by the time the water merges with the groundwater, it has been purified. The system will not function if the pipes are blocked, the tank is full, and also the leach area is jammed or contains the wrong type of dirt.
Preserve the System Clean
Any solids you place into your waste pipes which don’t decompose wind up on the bottom of the tank, and also once the tank fills, the leach area can flooding and cause the system to stop functioning. Among things which you need to put in the trash instead of the waste pipes are coffee grounds, feminine hygiene products, dental hygiene and cat litter. Furthermore, many household substances — such as petrol, paint and paint thinner, pesticides and bleach — can kill the organisms in the tank that decompose waste matter. Refrain from flushing such substances or pouring them into the sink.
Conserve Water
Adequate drainage is essential for appropriate septic operation, and you can flood your leach area by pouring too much water during the system. Low-flush toilets, which have become a simple fact of life in most municipalities, are particularly significant when your home has a septic system. You must repair toilet leaks expeditiously — a typical leak sends hundreds of gallons per month through the computer system. Most homeowners with septic systems create gray- water watering systems for their gardens or lawns, so shower, sink and clothes washing water does not have to experience the septic tank.
Other Protective Measures
Your septic tank is full when the degree of solid matter is within 12 inches of the outlet tee, but you should pump the tank before it reaches that point. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends pumping the septic tank every three to five decades. It’s vital that you keep the leach area and also the area around the tank free of trees. Their roots can develop into the tanks and pipes and make blockages which are expensive to clean. Grow just grass in your groin field, and do not push it. That can compact the soil and affect drainage.