Most homeowners give little thought to their septic system, until they have seepage in the yard or a backup into the house. Not only can these situations be expensive, but they are inconvenient, messy and harmful to the water supply and health of the community.
General Information About Your Septic System
Your septic system contains three main components, a sewage inflow pipe from your home, a septic tank, and a drainfield. Wastewater flows into the airtight tank. Grease (scum) floats to the top and solids (sludge) accumulates at the bottom. Natural bacteria help break down these substances and the waste liquid flows into the drainfield. Waste is further broken down by bacteria and filtered through the soil.
In order to maintain this system in proper working order, regular inspections and tank pumping must be done periodically. Usually every 3 to 5 years, or more if you have extra people in your household or if you use a garbage disposal often. Tank pumping removes excess scum and sludge from the tank. If it is not done regularly, waste has nowhere to go be back into your home.
You also need to inspect the inflow pipe to make sure it doesn’t leak and you need to make sure your outflow (T box) is in good repair and not allowing waste into your yard instead of the drainfield. Sometimes, your drainfield may fail because it has gotten full or collapsed and you will need to reroute the path of the wastewater to a different drainfield.
Heritage Plumbing can help you maintain your septic system. We have a full line of services including video inspection, septic tank pumping, septic tank replacement and repair and drainfield replacement and repair. We recommend that you call us for regular maintenance before a very smelly, very messy and very expensive failure occurs. You can also receive the benefit of our experience by following some tips from our plumbers: Tips for a Healthy Septic System
