Septic Systems

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Septic Systems

• What you need to know.

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Understanding Septic Systems

• Maintenance and
• Problem Identification

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Understanding Septic Systems

• Maintaining a septic system
• Recognizing and identifying problems
• Causes of problems

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Maintaining a Septic System
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What maintenance is needed?

• Conserve water--50 gal. per day per person.
• Only put domestic waste into system
• Restrict garbage disposal use

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Water conserving toilets
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What maintenance is needed? (cont.)

• Restrict dumping grease/cooking oil down drain
• Know where all components of your system are
  located
• Install a watertight concrete riser over septic
  tank

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What maintenance is needed? (cont.)

• Pump the tank regularly
• Keep grass over the drainfield
• Keep surface water away from tank and drainfield

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What maintenance is needed? (cont.)

• Keep cars off and equipment off the drainfield
• Do not build in drainfield or repair area

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When do you pump the septic tank?

• Varies according to use and size of tank
• Rough estimate 3 yr.

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How do you know when to pump the septic tank?

• Pump when solids are 25 to 33 of the tank volume

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What should not be put into the septic tank?

• Greases/Fats/Cooking oils
• Chemicals
• Disinfectants
• Inorganic material (kitty litter, etc.)
• Hygiene products

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The Pumper
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Are there any additives that are necessary?

• NO!
• Some may be harmful
• Research has shown little effect for sludge
  reduction
• May not be cost effective

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Additives
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How should the drainfield be maintained?

• Conserve water
• Check for and fix leaks
• Proper landscaping
• Divert surface water
• Redirect roof runoff away from system
• Treat your system like an appliance--it must be
  maintained or it will not work properly

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Recognizing and Identifying Problems
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Determining the Cause of the Problem

• Abuse of system
• Construction history
• Age of system
• Are there similar problems in area or with
  installer?
• Maintenance history

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Causes of problems

• Obvious vs Obscure

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Red flags you can see.

• Inside of the house
• Outside of the house
• Landscaping and lot problems
• Drainfield
• Construction
• Maintenance history

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Inside of the House

• Leaky fixtures
• Slow drains
• Garbage grinder

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Outside of the House

• Gutters and down spouts
• Driveway and patio

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Driving on the system should be avoided
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Failure due to water flow
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Landscaping and Lot Problems

• Surface drainage
• Out buildings
• Pool

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Examples
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Swale and lines
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Does the surface water drain work?
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Ditches and swales do backup.
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Ditch maintenance
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Malfunctioning drainage
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Wheres the system? Wheres the water table?
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Mother Natures influence
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Downed tree
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Is there a problem?
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After a 1/4 rain
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Wheres the system
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Drainfield and Tank Area

• Surfacing effluent
• Wet spots
• Areas of standing water
• Growth patterns
• Location
• Pattern
• Bull's-eye patterns
• Odor

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Examples
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Failure due to clogging
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Bull's-eye pattern
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Striping with problem
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Seep on slope
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Wet slope with repair
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Standing water?
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Odor from swamp?
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Or from straight pipe?
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What to look for
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Construction

• Recent additions
• Out buildings
• New cable for TV, phone, electric, etc.
• New water line, gas line, etc.

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Examples
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Cut into line
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Compaction
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Nearby system by same contractor
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Cable
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Lawn mower
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Driving on system
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Maintenance History

• When was the tank last pumped
• How often pumped
• Remember the tank pumper can be your septic
  systems best friend

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The Pumper
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Become a septic system detective.

• Ask the homeowner the questions listed in
  HomeASyst about their septic system
• Look in the house for red flags
• Look around the outside of the house for red flags

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Inspection needed
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What about sewer?
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Sewer plant
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Sewer vs septic systems

• Sewers are generally more costly to build and
  maintain
• Septic systems are appropriate in rural areas
• Sewers are appropriate in urban areas

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Septic systems can be a permanent solution to
wastewater managementif homeowners understand
and maintain their systems.
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Shed some light on the subject