If you’ve just moved with a septic tank, or just want to familiarize yourself with the proper rules of septic tank care, then please read this section carefully. We will explain some of the common causes of septic failure, as well as some preventative maintenance.

HOW IT WORKS
• The Septic Tank
• The Field Bed

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
• What NOT to Use In Your Septic System
• What TO USE in Your Septic System
• Common Causes of System Failure

PROPER CARE & MAINTENANCE
• Why Additives?
• When Should It Be Pumped?

Healthy Septic Tank

Plugged Septic Tank

Once sludge backs into the drain field, the chances ?????

A LOOK INSIDE
THE SEPTIC TANK

The Bits & Pieces

Your septic tank is on of the two crucial parts of your septic treatment system. All the waste from your home flows through here, where all the “magic” happens.

In the diagram above you can see the following parts labeled.

Manhole-The lids which give us, the pumper, access to the contents within. Most tanks have two “sides”-the liquid side and the solid side. In these cases, the solids are closest to the house, while liquid side is closest to the field bed.

Inlet from House-This is from where everything exits your house and enters the septic tank.

Scum-Floating solids that must not be allowed to enter the field bed. These particles have yet to be broken down into clear liquid, at which point their solid content would sink to the bottom and form the sludge. These solids should not get any thicker than 4 to 6”.

Sludge-The sludge is the by-product of our septic system-the very thing you call upon us to pump out. While the liquid side of your tank will constantly fill up and empty out on its own, the solid side will slowly build up until you get it pumped out or it plugs up the inlet or outlet tee.

**NOTE**

Between the scum layer and the solid layer is the clear liquid. This, and only this, is to pass through the outlet tee and into the field bed.

Why Additives?

Septic Tank: An underground tank in which waste matter is decomposed through bacterial action:

These bacteria – killers are in products that we all use every day. Toilet disinfectants that get dispensed with every flush kill bacteria before they even get to the septic tank. Garbage disposals and water softness also challenge the bacteria needed for proper septic tank operation. It’s no wonder there are so many failing septic systems! Is there any word to look for that won’t kill bacteria?

Sure: Biodegradable: capable of being readily decomposed by bacterial action.

A lot of knowledge can be shared between neighbors on topics such as lawn care, household maintenance, or automotive repairs. In over 40 years of business, however, we have noticed some bad advice being thrown back and forth over the fence which can seriously harm your home and/or pocket book.

We receive the same call quite frequently-someone stating that they haven’t had their tank pumped in x number of years because their neighbor hadn’t either, and their system was running just fine. If their neighbor says so, and their system works fine, then the same should apply. We have had people with tanks that had not been pumped in ten years!

This is the problem. It has to be relayed to those on septic systems that a tank in good repair and kept under careful maintenance is pumped out at the most every three years. Every two years if you have a large family or above-average water usage.

It’s a gamble. The home owner who hadn’t pumped his tank in ten years may have not had any problems, but he did have a rather large bill after the time it took for us to pump his tank. The solids that remain in your septic system solidify over time to an almost concrete-like mass, so if you can imagine ten years worth of hardened……

Many septic tanks have had to be replaced due to this negligence. A regular pumping schedule of not more than three years is highly recommended.

The next time your neighbor tells you not to pump your tank because he hasn’t had to do his in the last 5 to 10 years, tell him that he’s in for a surprise when he does have it done.

Be neighborly-set him straight.

Knowing What to Look For

Nothing does more damage to your septic system than not knowing what to be careful and mindful of. Your system can throw out all sorts of warning signs but they won’t mean anything to you unless you know how to read them.

So what are these warning signs?

• Sluggish drains in the home
• Plumbing backups
• Gurgling sound in pipes and drains
• Outdoor odor around field bed and septic tank
• Soft and/or wet ground over field bed or septic tank
• Unexpected swimming pool emerging in basement

The Three Deadly Sins

There are three major contributing factors to septic system failure. They are easily overlooked and therefore are all too common. With a little due diligence you can help avoid problems that stem from any of the following.

1. Chemicals: Chemicals kill bacteria and prevent the digestion of waste. Many household products are lethal to the bacteria in a septic system.
2. Overloading: When too much water is used at one time, the septic system does not have enough time to break down the previous wastewater. The extra volume forces the unprocessed waste into the field bed.
3. Inorganic materials: Fats, oils, grease and other inorganic materials are slow to break down, if they break down at all.
   

If you don’t take proper care of your septic system, you’re not just threatening your own finances. When a septic system fails, a series of “natural disasters” occur. The groundwater can become contaminated, or the wells, lakes, streams, and rivers nearby. This can release pathogenic organisms, such as viruses and E. Coli bacteria, or just plain rotten smells, upon you and your neighbors.

Know Where to Build

You must be careful when building additions on your property or when planting new trees and/or shrubs. Any one of these can damage your field bed, even at a distance.

Buildings & Additions - We’ve heard a story of a man building an above-ground swimming pool on top of his field bed, though we hope for his sake that this isn’t true. However, some people just don’t realize how delicate their field beds are. Sheds, decks, and home extensions should be built well away from the septic system, for the sake of your system and your new project. Maybe your new dining room extension isn’t hurting your field bed, but should that field bed back up or malfunction, all your hard work had better be water-proof! And on top of that, be prepared to rip up that new flooring to access the field bed in order to repair it.

Plants & Trees – The most damaging thing we’ve ever seen, time and again, are toots infiltrating a septic system. Roots naturally seek out moisture, and normally find it in your field bed area. Sometimes this will happen, no matter the distance, since age old trees have a vast and far-reaching network of roots under the soil. However, you can avoid future occurrences by planting your new trees and shrubs away from you entire septic system.

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Networking with Effluent

The second key piece of your septic system is the field bed. It’s importance is no more or less important that the tank itself, for the whole system is brought down when one of the two are not functioning properly.

The construct of the field bed is very simple, though the designs and directions of its placement must be followed to the

The field bed has a few key features:

4” Perforated Drain Tile – Essentially a network of pipes with a bunch of holes in it, the effluent travels down these lines, slowly draining into the soil that surrounds it.

Gravel Under Tile and Around Grade Board – Since soil surface can change due to moisture and frost, the field bed is usually placed upon a gravel surface to help keep it level.

Field Bed Types

The Conventional Bed

• The most common type.
• Used where natural soils are suitable filter materials and the ground is well drained.
• Appropriate soil is brought to the site to create a leeching bed high enough above the underground water table.

The Filter Bed

• Used where a smaller field bed is required due to lack of space.
• Instead of trenches, the bed area is excavated and filled with a layer of sand (specific grain required).
• A gravel layer is placed on top of the sand upon which the pipes are placed.
• The pipes can be laid together.
• This can be installed in-ground, partially or fully raised.

Just in Case You Weren’t Sure…

We had someone come into our office the other day asking us a question about their field bed, and we felt that the answer should be made known. He asked if he could drive any sort of vehicle over had field bed, since he was having some work done and might be renting a bulldozer.

Let us stress that it is not recommended that you drive or park any vehicle or heavy object over your field bed area. It is safe to walk over it, and your children will not contract any fatal diseased by running over it while playing, but heavy weight should at all times be avoided. After all, it’s only a small amount of topsoil between you and your drainage pipes!