How to Protect Your Septic System and Plumbing
The condition of your septic system affects your property and its value, as well as neighboring properties. If it isn't working properly, the system can contaminate the groundwater, and that contamination can spread for miles. A nonfunctioning septic system can even prevent you from selling your home. Keep your system up and running by watching what you put in the pipes, conserving water and keeping vegetation around the tank, pipes and leach field at bay.
Septic System Operation
A septic system has four parts: the plumbing waste pipes, the tank, the drain pipes and the soil. When everything is working properly, solids settle out of effluents entering the tank and sink to the bottom, while contaminated water overflows into the leach field. As the water percolates through it, the soil removes harmful organisms, and by the time the water merges with the groundwater, it has been purified. The system won't work if the pipes are blocked, the tank is full, or the leach field is flooded or contains the wrong kind of soil.
Keep the System Clean
Any solids you put into your waste pipes that don't decompose end up on the bottom of the tank, and once the tank fills, the leach field can flood and cause the system to stop working. Among items that you should put in the garbage instead of the waste pipes are coffee grounds, feminine hygiene products, dental floss and cat litter. Moreover, many household chemicals -- such as gasoline, paint and paint thinner, bleach and pesticides -- can kill the organisms in the tank that decompose waste matter. Refrain from flushing such chemicals or pouring them into the sink.
Adequate drainage is essential for proper septic operation, and you can flood your leach field by pouring too much water through the system. Low-flush toilets, which have become a fact of life in most municipalities, are especially important when your house has a septic system. You should repair toilet leaks expeditiously -- a typical leak sends hundreds of gallons per month through the system. Many homeowners with septic systems create gray- water watering systems for their lawns or gardens, so shower, sink and clothes washing water doesn't have to go through the septic tank.
Other Protective Measures
Your septic tank is full when the level of solid matter is within 12 inches of the outlet tee, but you should pump the tank before it reaches that point. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends pumping the septic tank every three to five years. It's important to keep the leach field and the area around the tank free of trees. Their roots can grow into the tanks and pipes and create blockages that are expensive to clear. Grow only grass on your leach field, and do not drive on it. That can compact the soil and affect drainage.
Chris Deziel has a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in humanities. Besides having an abiding interest in popular science, Deziel has been active in the building and home design trades since 1975. As a landscape builder, he helped establish two gardening companies.