Proper Septic Tank Care: Prevent Common Issues

Septic tank maintenance is crucial for homeowners to maintain the health of their septic system. If you have a septic tank, it's important that you keep up with routine inspections and pump-outs.

You should also avoid doing any activities that could potentially harm your septic tank such as dumping grease into the drain or allowing sewage to backflow into your home from an exterior pipe.

The following are some tips on how to care for your septic system so that you can prevent common issues:

1) Keep Your Septic Tank Clean: Without frequent cleanings, the sludge builds up in the bottom of the tanks and will eventually clog pipes and make it difficult for water to pass through freely. 

2) Another way to keep your septic tank clean is to have it pumped out every three years.

Some of the problems that can arise if you don't keep up with maintenance are:

- Septic tanks backing up; 

- Sewage backflow into a home or business due to an exterior pipe break, which could potentially cause serious health hazards and you definitely don't want that to happen.

- A malfunctioning septic system can lead to frequent sewage backflow into the home or business, which could eventually cause personal property damage, and even worse, health hazards for those living in the house. 

3) A third way to keep your septic tank and system operating as it should is to make sure that the area around and under your tank has a clear path, so as not to impede water flow.

- Septic tanks are designed for gravity drainage which means you don't want any obstacles in the way of returning wastewater back into the ground.  This was probably the easiest way to keep your tank from getting backed up.

- Similarly, you want to make sure that the ground around and under the septic system is sloped towards it so as not to cause water backup - this was probably a little more complicated but can be accomplished by digging channels out in a radial pattern or even just removing any large rocks.