Maintaining Your Septic System

By Author: Dan Bartels
Total Articles: 311
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Without a doubt, for those of you that have one, a septic system is one of the most important parts of your house, and if something goes wrong there you and your family are in for a couple days or more worth of inconvenience. The best way to make sure that your septic system always runs smoothly is to keep up with good maintenance practices. It`s actually fairly easy to do the maintenance required on your septic system, and is thankfully not as involved as you might think. Here`s a quick run down on some important steps in maintaining the functionality of your septic tank.

Preventative maintenance! By far the biggest reason why septic tanks have problems is in items that should not be going down the drain becoming stuck somewhere in the system. Accidents do happen and you may find that you flush something down the toilet by accident, but for the most part the items which cause septic systems to plug are fairly common. Toilets are the main culprits, and people use them to flush everything from garbage to pets (living or dead). Showers can also lead to septic system problems, particularly in families which include people ...
... with long hair. Filters should be put in the baths of each bathroom to keep hair from plugging up the system.

Scheduled pumping. No matter how careful one is about a septic system, eventually solids will build up in the pumps or in the tank. It is important for home owners to schedule a septic tank pumping on a firm time schedule just to get this accumulated waste out of there. Most plumbers recommend calling a truck in to pump the system once every two or three years; it`s a lot easier just to schedule with the company after each appointment. That way you won`t forget.

Water conservation. The less water that gets into your drain field, the better for the system. Make sure that you repair any leaky faucets, and that your toilet completely shuts off after a flush. Also, water running from other areas of the house and yard, such as that from sprinklers or rain gutters, should be redirected to try and keep excess water from the drain field.

Every home owner needs to ensure that their septic system stays functioning normally in order to avoid the hassles and incredible inconveniences attendant upon repairing it. Proper maintenance means that you will get the maximum life out of your system, with the minimum amount of interruptions!