SEPTIC SYSTEM MAINTENANCE

WE CAN HELP!

The U.S Government Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Public Health Service says, "A septic tank system will serve a home satisfactorily only if it is properly designed, installed, and adequately maintained. Even a good system which does not have proper care and attention may become a nuisance, and burdensome expense."

Septic system maintenance means two simple things. First, sludge that accumulates in the bottom of the tank must be pumped out periodically. How frequently depends on the size of the tank, the use it gets, and the condition of the system. There is no additive that you can put in the tank that will deal with the sludge. IT MUST BE PUMPED OUT. If not pumped out, it will eventually overflow into the soil absorption area. This will clog the system, and it will need to be rejuvenated or replaced, at enormous expense and inconvenience.

The second part of the septic system maintenance involves the bacteria necessary for solids digestion. If bacteria-killing products are used in the home-as they are-the bacteria must be replenished. If the bacteria are not replenished, the septic system will fill up with solid material and overflow into the soil absorption area. This will clog the system, and it will have to be rejuvenated or replaced.

Your septic tank could be overflowing solid material into the soil RIGHT NOW, and you won't even know it until it blocks the soil so badly that no more drainage is possible. This blockage takes varying periods of time depending of soil structure. But this is fact: a negative system WILL get blocked; it WILL overflow; it WILL have an obnoxious odor; it WILL contaminate and pollute. It will probably have to be replaced or rejuvenated. The first septic system "emergency" usually marks the beginning of the end. Repair costs vary from $1200 to $25,000.