Overview: If you live in a rural area or an area where there is no public sewage disposal system, you must care of your home sewage and waste water treatment system. Rural sewage and waste water disposal consists of a septic tank and a leach field. These two items process the sewage and waste water from your home. The septic tank requires periodic septic tank maintenance to insure that the leach field is not clogged with solid material. The septic tank works with a leach field as a complete waste treatment system.

Waste water and sewage leaves your house through a four inch sewer pipe to a septic tank. The septic tank is a large concrete structure that is beneath the ground where the sewage and waste water begins the treatment process. Although most septic tanks are constructed of concrete, fiberglass septic tanks are becoming more popular because there lighter weight is easier to work with. The size of the septic tanks depends on the number of people residing in your home as determined by the number of bedrooms. The average septic tank is 1,000 gallons, based on a three bedroom home.

The septic tank design consists of two or more chambers. As the waste material passes through the first chamber the heavier solid material settles to the bottom of the chamber and the waste water passes through to the next chamber. More of the solid material settles in the second chamber and the waste water flows out of the septic tank to the leach field through a distribution system of sewage pipes. The pipes have holes in the bottom that allow the waste water to leach down into the field.

It is imperative that septic tank maintenance be performed periodically to remove the solid material from the tank before it becomes overloaded and runs into the leach field. Septic tank maintenance is limited to having the tank pumped. If the solid material reaches the leach field it will clog the leaching pipes and field. If the leach field becomes clogged with solid material it will have to be replaced.

Replacing a leach field can be very expensive, usually several thousand dollars. Replacing the leach field requires that the entire field be dug up and removed, replacing it with new material and pipe. This can be avoided by having the septic tank periodically cleaned. If your leach field fails you will soon know it as well as your neighbors. The unprocessed sewage will leak through the sides or top of the leach field causing a very toxic odor.

Septic tank cleaning consists of pumping the solids form the tank. Each chamber has as entry cover that is buried just below ground level. The septic tank pumping service removes the covers from each chamber and pumps all the liquid and solids out. It is important that each chamber be pumped. Some pumping service companies only pump the first chamber. The solid waste in the second chamber is denser with a sludge consistency that settles on the very bottom of the septic tank. It must be removed during the cleaning process.

Of course the frequency that your septic tank should be cleaned depends on the amount of sewage that flows into it. Usually every five years is adequate if you have a 1,000 or more gallon tank. However, if you have a garbage disposal or other high generator of waste material, it should be cleaned more often.

If you are buying a used house insist that the leach field be no older than twenty five years and that the septic tank is pumped before signing a sale agreement.

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