When your home has a septic tank, you may not give much thought to what goes on inside it. However, within the tank, there is an internal ecosystem that helps to process greywater from your home by leeching it into the drainfield and aids in the decomposition of solid waste thanks to the beneficial bacteria that live and feed off of it.
What you put into the tank often determines how healthy this ecosystem stays. Besides having a professional service pump out the tank every few years, there are also things that you can do every day to help protect the health of your septic tank's internal ecosystem.
1. Watch Carefully What You Put down the Drains in Your House
One thing that you can do on a daily basis to maintain your septic tank is to carefully watch everything that you put down the drain. If you use any cleaning products, including laundry detergent, you should check to make sure that they are safe for septic systems. If not, the chemicals will kill off some of the bacteria population.
You also need to avoid flushing anything besides toilet paper as well as keep from putting grease and too much food down the garbage disposal. When you push too many solid objects into the tank, the bacteria have trouble breaking them down. This will make your tank fill up faster than normal, making it necessary to have it pumped out by a professional more often.
2. Avoid Flooding the Tank with Too Much Gray Water at Once
Another thing you can do to help keep your septic tank from filling up prematurely and needing more frequent cleanings is to help maintain the balance of solid waste and gray water. This can be achieved by avoiding flooding the tank with too much greywater at once.
If you normally run your dishwasher, washing machine, and shower at the same time every day, this pushes too much water into the tank, making it take longer to leech out and unsettling the solid wastes.
If your tank is close to being full, it could also make it leak. Try to stagger your showers and use of appliances so that the tank has time to handle the excess water.
The ecosystem within your septic tank is more delicate than you may think. If you avoid pouring chemicals and solid objects that do not belong in the tank as well as grease and excess food particles, you can help maintain that ecosystem. You should also stagger your use of greywater so that it does not flood the system. Along with these tips, the most important thing you can do is to contact a septic tank maintenance service every few years to clean and pump out the system so that it does not overflow.
Check out websites like http://sullivanseptic.net to learn more.
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