Tips For Maintaining A Healthy Septic Tank

If you live outside the city, chances are that your home is connected to a septic tank system. If you are having septic issues, you’ve come to the right place.

Whether you’re looking for Arvada plumbers or a professional in Arvada, we at Jet Plumbers can help you. We started out as a small, Arvada-based plumbing company that provided local plumbing services.

Anatomy Of A Septic

This topic may feel like you’re reading a science textbook. Don’t worry, it isn’t difficult to understand.

Simply put, there are two major constituents to a septic system.

1. Porous Leach Field. This is the drainage system. There are also two parts to your field – crushed rock for allowing the wastewater to drain properly and the pipes.
2. Septic Tank. These tanks can hold up to 1,500 gallons, which is equivalent to about a week’s supply of waste.

Prevent Problems By Using Water Efficiently

If you want to ensure a healthy status of your septic system, you’ll need to work to prevent problems. One way to do this is to use your water the correct way.

If you are careful not to waste water and use too much water at one time (i.e. someone is in the shower, the dishwasher is on, the washer is on, and you turn the sprinklers on outside – this is simply overuse of water and will cause too large of a water flow in to your septic tank, which causes problems.

A couple of things you can do to improve your water usage is to:

1. Don’t have so many things going on at once that require water to be running. Do a couple of things at once, let your faucets and drains rest, and then do more chores that require use of water.
2. Invest in toilets and showerheads that are high-efficiency, meaning they use as little water as possible to do their job.

You also do not want to toss diapers, paper towels, tampons, etc., down your drain. Each thing in this world has its place and these do not belong in a drainage system. They will only cause clogs and create plumbing issues you may not be able to tend to yourself.

Whatever you do, dispose of any leftover bleach, soaps, powders, cleaning solutions or any other harsh chemical somewhere besides your drain – pouring these things down your drain interrupt the septic’s natural process.

Don’t Pour Hazardous Wastes Down Your Drains

There are numerous types of hazardous waste.

These can include but aren’t limited to:

• household cleaners
• paint
• paint thinner
• oil for your vehicle
• transmission fluid

It is vitally important to realize that should you empty these toxic wastes into your sink or toilet drains, you’re sending hazardous waste into the public sewer system – or your personal septic system.

This is tragic. When toxins are sent in to your septic system and through the drains, those toxins are mixing with waste products and also kill the bacteria that keeps your septic healthy. This means that your septic system will no longer be able to function properly.

If you don’t own a personal septic system and you’re hooked into the public system and send hazardous waste through the central sewer plant, the water is treated and then turned out into local lakes and rivers—water that you and/or your family may go swimming in!

Besides the problems caused from hazardous waste going out into the septic system, these harsh liquids can also get caught in your trap, sending harmful gases up and out your drains. And they can destroy your plumbing pipes as well.

Take Care Of Your Drain Field

The leach field (aka drain field) is essential to your septic system. You will want to be sure to maintain this field properly.

Protect your drain field by:

• not driving over it or parking on it as you’ll be forcing a heavy weight on the soil, which leads to tank or pipe damage, or even other constituents
• keeping excess water from gutters, sump pumps or any other water drain system going in the opposite direction as too much water puts a halt to your septic’s good bacteria system and can also cause your plumbing to back up inside
• not planting trees or bushes over or near your septic as doing so can cause roots to interrupt the pipes and drainage flow – only plant grass on/around your septic

Find Septic Success With Yeast

You can successfully add your own bacteria to your septic with just a few simple ingredients and steps.

Here’s what you will need:

• 2 packages dry active yeast
• 2 cups cornmeal
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 cups water

Here’s what you will do with these ingredients:

1. Pour 4 cups of water into a pot and bring it to a high boil.
2. Add 2 cups of sugar, stirring continuously until sugar dissolves.
3. When this combo has reached a lukewarm status (ensuring that you don’t kill the yeast), add 2 cups of cornmeal to the mix.
4. After letting this sit for 10 -15 minutes, add the yeast packages. Combine well so the yeast dissolves and wait for it to froth. This process takes about 20 minutes.
5. Once the mixture has frothed, add all of it to your toilet boil. Flush a few times so you can’t see any of the mixture left.
6. Do not use this toilet until the next day. It’s easiest if you do this remedy at bedtime.

Make this remedy a monthly occurrence to maintain a healthy septic system.

Having your septic system properly equipped with a good –sized tank (depending on your family size), leach field, and ample amount of active good bacteria in your septic will ensure your septic’s – and your – happiness.

Take Note

However you decide to care for your septic tank, it is essential that you make the time to set up an appointment with a professional who can inspect your septic tank and drainage system for you. If there is a problem, it can be take care of right away.

You need your entire septic system inspected at minimum once every two to three years. Your tank needs to be pumped every three to five years, says The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. If you do not follow this recommendation, your system will accumulate an excess of sludge and become unable to operate and do its job.

Let us at Image Plumbing provide you a free consultation for all of your plumbing needs. We can help your septic plumbing needs –plus more! Our team has been in business for 10 years. We provide top-notch plumbing services in the Arvada and Denver Colorado area. We take great pride in adhering to all rules, codes, and regulations.