ABOUT YOUR SEPTIC SYSTEM

If you are not a city dweller then you may find yourself not connected to the city sewage system. If that is the case than you likely have your own septic tank system. That means that the raw sewage is treated on your property instead of being transferred to an offsite location for treatment. Around twenty five percent of all North American homes still use a septic tank system most of those are used by rural homes.

A septic tank system is actually a very efficient structure. There is a tank that will have a capacity between one thousand and fifteen hundred gallons. At one end there will be a pipe through which comes the waste and at the other end a pipe that sends the treated waste into the septic field, this is sometimes called weeping tiles.

The wastes enter the septic tank system leaving the solids in the first chamber to be anaerobically absorbed which diminishes the amount of solids in the system. The liquid wastes continue on to the second chamber where it then flows out into the septic field. It works by gravity and only the odd time because of the placement of a septic tank system will a pump be necessary to help it work.

This liquid waste will just become part of the ground water and feed the soil or whatever plants are around it. Drive by a rural home and youíll frequently see a patch of greener grass. This is often where the septic field is located.

Some waste never gets decomposed and so periodically the septic tank system must be cleaned out. There are services that do this for a reasonable price. They have all the necessary equipment and its better to let them come in and take care of this for you. If your system gives you no problems, then once a year, or every couple of years, will be sufficient.