Septic Maintenance
Periodic maintenance can prevent this nuisance and financial burden from occurring. A national survey shows that homeowners who have their septic tanks pumped out on a regular basis save 68% over a ten year period and enjoy years of trouble free service.
Failing septic systems can:
- Endanger your family's health
- Pollute the environment
- Reduce your property value
- Be expensive to repair
If the solid material is allowed to overflow from the tank into the absorption area, the area will clog and the system will fail. To avoid this failure, we recommend that an average family of three have their tank pumped annually.
If you have recently purchased a home, we recommend you begin a maintenance program as soon as possible.
Over time a system may start to slow down, and not leach to the capacity it was designed for, in which case there are a few alternatives if caught in time.
We recommend to treat the system with chemicals in order to put the "good bacteria" back into the tank. The bacteria contained in the septic tank contributes to the conversion of solid waste materials into waste water.
In most cases, normal amounts of bacteria-killing materials will not harm your system, but extreme amounts of the following items could contribute to premature septic system failure:
- detergents
- bleach
- polishes
- disinfectants
- toilet, sink and tub cleaners
- acids
- cleaning compounds
- caustic drain openers
- anti-septics
The heavy flow of water from automatic washers and the use of certain detergents are major causes of septic system problems. To lessen the burden on your system, we recommend using biodegradable soaps.