Monday, September 24, 2007

Septic Tank Systems

Septic systems are buried in the ground and consist of some piping, a tank and a leaching field.

Septic tanks were first introduced in England about 1900. They organically decompose waste matter through bacterial action. The bacteria that does the work enters the tank with normal household waste.

Leaching fields consist of a network of perforated pipes laid just under the surface of the ground in a pattern on a bed of gravel. Healthy systems are where clear water exits the septic tank and enters the perforated pipe network of the leaching field. The water drains into the gravel, is absorbed by the surrounding soil and evaporates up into the air above the field. Anything other than clear water exiting from your septic tank into the leaching field piping, will cause both the leaching field and the environment suffer.

What can go happen in a healthy septic tank and a septic tank which is unhealthy? The septic tank is a watertight box. Household waste enters this box, organic material floats to the surface where bacteria biologically convert it to liquid. This is called the floating layer. Inorganic material and by-products of bacterial digestion will not float. They normally sink to the bottom of the tank and accumulate, creating a sludge layer. Water in the tank occupies the space between the floating layer and the sludge layer. The large clear water layer is important in a healthy septic tank.

Trouble starts when material from either the floating layer or the sludge layer exits the septic tank to the leaching field. This will sometimes clog the field's piping system and bring harmful unprocessed waste in contact with ground soils and ground water.

What can you do?
A professionally designed and maintained septic system is environmentally friendly and requires no major economic expense over the course of a lifetime.

YOU MUST MAINTAIN YOUR SEPTIC SYSTEM!

Most septic system maintenance has two parts. First, the sludge layer that accumulates at the bottom of your tank-

IT MUST BE PUMPED OUT REGULARLY!

This maintains the depth of the water layer and eliminates any possibility of sludge entering and clogging your leaching field thus contaminating the environment. Replacing your leaching field is an large expense and inconvenience. The second part of septic system maintenance deals with the bacteria necessary for digesting organic solids in the floating layer.

THE BACTERIA MUST BE PRESENT!

They are very sensitive to many household care products and commonly used chemicals. Products and chemicals may be "Anti Septic". If the bacteria are killed or not present in sufficient numbers to digest the floating layer and maintain its size, the harmful solids will exit your tank, clog your drainfield and harm the environment. Some Anti Septic materials include:

DETERGENTS DRAIN OPENERS

BLEACH CLEANERS

POLISHES SOLVENTS

Today many ecologically-safe home care products are available, and we encourage our customers to use them to insure the proper operation of their mini treatment plant.

Yeast, Baking Soda and other Taboos

Rural leaching of waste has been around for a long time and many myths or wivestales exist. Yeast, when added to your septic system, merely provides a "fermentation" environment and does not assit the septic system. Yeast will not provide bacteria. Baking soda raises the pH in your septic tank. It provides absolutley no bacteria. In fact, raising the pH of your septic tank too much can harm the septic process. We encourage you and all our customers to call us for the real story before trying home remedies.

Septic systems are tough mini waste water treatment plants. Properly designed and installed, they will function flawlessly. They are organic, natural and not harmful to the environment.

ALSO, THEY ARE NOT GARBAGE DISPOSALS!

They are not designed to accept cigarette butts, table scraps, kitchen grease, garbage disposal refuse, tampon tubes, harmful household products, harsh laundry detergents and other non-degradible.

When do you Pump Your Septic Tank?

Your septic tank must be pumped on a regular basis. For our customers this happens automatically as we put them in our computer system to remind us and the customer as to when the pumping is due. The frequency of which your septic tank must be pumped is determined by:

The physical size of your tank ( its volume ), the number of people it supports, the frequency of showers, laundry, flushing, etc., how much inorganic material is introduced, the design and condition of your drainfield and the type of soil in the area of your drainfield.

We prepared this page to serve our customers and future customers. Please call 407-481-2750 anytime with questions about your septic system. You will find our technicians and office staff to be courteous and knowledgeable.

Cloud9Service.com