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Caring for Septic Tanks

By Scott Rodgers

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 03Apr2009 Word count: 593 Viewed: 265 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

A large number of people think that whenever something leaves the drainage system inside their own house, they don't need to be afraid of anything going wrong afterward. However, what we often forget is that septic tanks don't always work perfectly without maintenance, especially if we take into account the several inappropriate things we send through drainage lines. While it's true that you can have a very good septic tank that won't give you much trouble if you use the drainage lines properly, you still need to take care of maintenance before it's too late.

Let's first see how septic tanks function properly for so long without maintenance. Whenever something goes out through the drainage lines in our homes, it goes to the septic tank initially. Visualize of it as a gigantic tank that is usually made of concrete though very old ones are probably made of steel. The drainage lines enter the tank through an inlet tee near the top, while there is another outlet tee at the other end from where liquids leaves the tank and goes to the drain field into the soil.

When water enters through the inlet tee, the solids usually go down and pile up at the bottom of the septic tank forming sludge. Some solids that don't sink inside the water gather at the surface along with grease and oily liquids forming scum. Since the outlet tee is at a certain height, solids from the sludge usually don't pass on to the drain field. Similarly, the pair of tees keeps the scum away from the outlet and inlet.

Bacteria inside the septic tank help liquefy solids continuously so that the sludge doesn't get high enough to enter the outlet. This is how septic tanks keep working in good shape unless something wrong happens, which usually does eventually. The problems mostly occur when either the sludge or the slum grow up so much that they reach the inlet or the outlet. So the only way to keep the system running smoothly is by pumping the waste out of the tank before the sludge or scum become overgrown in volume.

Nevertheless, you still need to be careful in your routine life to increase the performance of septic tanks. Firstly, the drain field should not be damp with rainwater; if it is already overloaded with water from other sources, it would not be able to efficiently absorb the water coming from the septic tank. Similarly, see that your internal drainage lines aren't sending loads of water unnecessarily into the septic tank. A common reason for this can be leaking faucets or overrunning showers. So fix these problems whenever you come across them.

Secondly, never plant trees near the septic tanks as they may grow inside the ground and their roots may eventually penetrate into the tanks causing permanent damage. And don't throw all sorts of garbage into your drainage system. Diapers, condoms, napkins aren't usually broken down into liquids by bacteria and would quickly pile up the level of sludge inside the septic tank. Also take care not to use chemical cleaners in large quantities; these cleaners typically eliminate bacteria inside the tanks and hinder the processing of liquefying solids. And most importantly, never drain grease or other oily liquids; these would gather inside tanks as scum and may even harm the soil and drain field if they escape through the outlet.

Take all these precautionary steps and you will rarely face problems with the septic system.

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