Septic Tank Draining Keystone

Septic tanks are a great solution for remote or urban property owners who either cannot or do not want to be part of a municipal sewage system. A septic system is connected directly to the pipes of the residence or business and serves as an immediate filter and containment unit for water-bound domestic waste. There are certain risks related to the installation and maintenance of a septic tank; such risks have resulted in rules that need to be followed to protect the environment and property especially with the regular removal of the contents of the tank by a vacuum truck.

Frequency

Depending on the size of the unit and the household, a tank must be emptied every three to five years. This is necessary not only because of space limitations but also because the tank needs to be inspected with some regularity to check for cracks, leaks and blockages. Other reasons are as follows:

    • Emergencies – Pumping can also become necessary in cases of emergency. Sewage backup and drain clogging may occur due to blockages which need to be cleared immediately to keep the problem from escalating. Flooding can cause similar problems.

 

    • Precautionary Measure – Emptying the primary container can also be a precautionary measure when there are many household members; parties with many guests; or other circumstances where many people would be using the toilets.

 

    • Odors – Sometimes tanks are suctioned due to permeating sewer odors escaping from the system as that could be a symptom of leaking gas needing to be repaired separately. Evidence of septic failure must be attended to immediately by a professional repair company.

 

  • Selling Property – It is also customary to pump out the septic system before selling property.

Septic tanks serve a very useful purpose for many households. As long as properly maintained by regular pumping, cleaning and inspections, they should correctly function under all conditions and for a long service life. Hopefully this information will be helpful in knowing how a septic tank is cleaned!

Follow these safety tips given below when inspecting your septic system:

1. Septic tank lid
Make sure that the access port of your tank is covered with a solid lid. Make sure that the lid is strong enough. Kids should not be able to open it. If you have no idea as to how to install the system, you can call a professional for help. The company will be more than happy to help with the inspection.

2. The tank opening
You should never lean over the septic tank opening. The reason is that the gasses that come out of the tank may knock you out. You may also fall in the tank, which may prove fatal.

3. Driving Over The septic system
Driving heavy machine on the ground where the tank system is buried is not a good idea. Actually, you may have to bear heavy costs in order to get the broken pipes repaired. So, make sure you don’t drive heavy equipment or machinery on the ground where you buried the tank system.

Contact Info:
Name: Billy Fowler
Email: info@asapadvancedseptic.com
Organization: ASAP Advanced Septic & Drainage, Inc.
Address: 5011 E Busch Blvd, Tampa, FL 33617
Phone: (813) 986-6070

Septic Drain Field Problems and Repair: What to Look for and How to Get the Help You Need

Septic Draining Company

The septic system in the house or the building they own is not something that most homeowners think about regularly. However, this can be a big mistake. When the worst-case scenario happens - you find that the system has failed or is failing - you must get it fixed quickly.

So what exactly is a septic system? Hopefully you are not trying to find the answer to this question after learning you've got a big mess brewing under your lawn!

A septic system is what allows us to dispose of waste at a safe distance from the home. It consists of two parts: a septic tank and a drainfield. The tank is where all the wastewater goes first. The tank holds the wastewater long enough for liquids and solids within the water to separate, and for bacteria to break down the solids. Any clarified water leftover from this process gets pumped into the drainfield, where it gets one more filtering and cleaning before trickling out into the soil.

Don't redirect the sewage to a storm sewer, road ditch, or a farm drain tile. You're just creating a health hazard by polluting the water. Likewise, don't run the sewage into a sinkhole or drainage well as this pollutes the groundwater.

This goes in hand with the "lack of maintenance" angle: Don't wait for the system to fail before pumping the septic tank. It's already too late by then.

Note that repairing physical damage, improving surface and subsurface drainage, and installation of additional lines of absorption may not be enough - you might need to install a whole new system.

 

5 Tips to Keep Your Septic System Running Clean

Best Septic Tank

Septic tanks usually handle waste liquid and scum daily. If a tank is filled to capacity, scum and effluent have no place to go but to back up to into toilets, sinks, and drains. To prevent this embarrassing and disgusting scenario from happening, septic tanks must be cleaned out at regularly scheduled intervals. This process is not something that can be done alone but needs a specialized device to safely remove the sludge, scum and effluent from the tank and carried to a disposal site. An additional thought is that it is a wise idea to clean a septic tank prior to a big gathering or party to avoid the overloading of sewage water into the septic system that can occur during periods of large usage.

Reasons

It is an unfortunate occurrence for a system to back up during large gatherings such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, weddings, summer barbecues or other such parties. The reason this occurs is that the tank is having trouble due to over usage, a problem that does not usually happen during normal use. The increased waste water entering the tank can't freely flow into the drain field. This can cause a blockage in the sewer line which in turn can result in the effluent backing up into the house. Oftentimes, it is not the large amount of waste water but something foreign that has been flushed down the drain that causes the obstruction. Although this could possible be handled by using a plunger to remove the clog, frequently the main problem is in the septic system itself.

Using vacuum trucks, elimination of septic waste is very simple, although this should always be accomplished by a professional that is equipped to handle the job. Vacuum trucks are used to remove the effluent, scum and sludge at scheduled intervals as well as prior to big parties. It is indeed a good idea to pump the tank before a party to avoid clogging the sewer line caused by over usage; however, the best practice is to establish and maintain a regular pumping schedule to extend the life of the system. So have that party and have no sewage system problems to ruin the event!

How To Repair A Failing Septic System

Septic Tank Emptying

In order to ensure that your septic tank has no damages, you need to monitor it regularly. It is necessary to get in touch with the health department in your area to know about the regulations in terms of maintaining a septic tank. In case you face some septic tank issues, you have to hire a septic tank repair professional to take care of the operation. Your local health department can surely help you in finding the professional. But to make sure that your tank is working well all the time, here are some precautions that you can consider.

Always Maintain Your Septic System

There are many things that you can do to maintain your septic tank and you can go online to get some ideas. But one common way is to always be aware of how long you have last pumped your tank. Also, you have to know the last time you had issues with it. A lot of sewer and cleaning services stressed that it is necessary to your tank every three to five years. As a precaution to some tank problems in the future, you should know where your septic system is exactly located.

Be Alert in Determining Trouble Signs

Whenever you suspect tank leaking, you must contact your local health department immediately so the situation can be dealt with. Leakage signs include grass growth abundance in the drain field and overflow of water around the system. If your home is situated near a river or lake you observe that your friends or family have been experiencing illnesses after they swam into the water source, find a professional to test your water because it may be contaminated already. Be alert with unusual odors which could develop around the place.

Septic Drain Field Problems and Repair: What to Look for and How to Get the Help You Need

Drain Field Install Company

An aerobic treatment system or ATS, often called (incorrectly) an aerobic septic system, is a small scale sewage treatment system similar to a septic tank system, but which uses an aerobic process for digestion rather than just the anaerobic process used in septic systems. These systems are commonly found in rural areas where public sewers are not available, and may be used for a single residence or for a small group of homes.

Unlike the traditional septic system, the aerobic treatment system produces a high quality secondary effluent, which can be sterilized and used for surface irrigation. This allows much greater flexibility in the placement of the leach field, as well as cutting the required size of the leach field by as much as half.[1]

The ATS process generally consists of the following phases:[2]

The disinfecting stage is optional, and is used where a sterile effluent is required, such as cases where the effluent is distributed above ground. The disinfectant typically used is tablets of calcium hypochlorite, which are specially made for waste treatment systems.[3] The tablets are intended to break down quickly in sunlight. Stabilized forms of chlorine persist after the effluent is dispersed, and can kill plants in the leach field.

Since the ATS contains a living ecosystem of microbes to digest the waste products in the water, excessive amounts of items such as bleach or antibiotics can damage the ATS environment and reduce treatment effectiveness. Non-digestible items should also be avoided, as they will build up in the system and require more frequent sludge removal.[4]

Small scale aerobic systems generally use one of two designs, fixed-film systems, or continuous flow, suspended growth aerobic systems (CFSGAS). The pre-treatment and effluent handling are similar for both types of systems, and the difference lies in the aeration stage.[1]

Fixed film systems use a porous medium which provides a bed to support the biomass film that digests the waste material in the wastewater. Designs for fixed film systems vary widely, but fall into two basic categories (though some systems may combine both methods). The first is a system where the media is moved relative to the wastewater, alternately immersing the film and exposing it to air, while the second uses a stationary media, and varies the wastewater flow so the film is alternately submerged and exposed to air. In both cases, the biomass must be exposed to both wastewater and air for the aerobic digestion to occur. The film itself may be made of any suitable porous material, such as formed plastic or peat moss. Simple systems use stationary media, and rely on intermittent, gravity driven wastewater flow to provide periodic exposure to air and wastewater. A common moving media system is the rotating biological contactor (RBC), which uses disks rotating slowly on a horizontal shaft. Approximately 40 percent of the disks are submerged at any given time, and the shaft rotates at a rate of one or two revolutions per minute.[1]

CFSGAS systems, as the name implies, are designed to handle continuous flow, and do not provide a bed for a bacterial film, relying rather on bacteria suspended in the wastewater. The suspension and aeration are typically provided by an air pump, which pumps air through the aeration chamber, providing a constant stirring of the wastewater in addition to the oxygenation. A medium to promote fixed film bacterial growth may be added to some systems designed to handle higher than normal levels of biomass in the wastewater.[1]

Another increasingly common use of aerobic treatment is for the remediation of failing or failed anaerobic septic systems, by retrofitting an existing system with an aerobic feature. This class of product, known as aerobic remediation, is designed to remediate biologically failed and failing anaerobic distribution systems by significantly reducing the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) and total suspended solids (TSS) of the effluent. The reduction of the BOD5 and TSS reverses the developed bio-mat. Further, effluent with high dissolved oxygen and aerobic bacteria flow to the distribution component and digest the bio-mat.Doing so on single tank systems where solids do not have anywhere to settle, or there is no a clarifying area can do damage to the field lines as the solid matter is stirred up in the tank.

Composting toilets are designed to treat only toilet waste, rather than general residential waste water, and are typically used with water-free toilets rather than the flush toilets associated with the above types of aerobic treatment systems. These systems treat the waste as a moist solid, rather than in liquid suspension, and therefore separate urine from feces during treatment to maintain the correct moisture content in the system. An example of a composting toilet is the clivus multrum (Latin for 'inclined chamber'), which consists of an inclined chamber that separates urine and feces and a fan to provide positive ventilation and prevent odors from escaping through the toilet. Within the chamber, the urine and feces are independently broken down not only by aerobic bacteria, but also by fungi, arthropods, and earthworms. Treatment times are very long, with a minimum time between removals of solid waste of a year; during treatment the volume of the solid waste is decreased by 90 percent, with most being converted into water vapor and carbon dioxide. Pathogens are eliminated from the waste by the long durations in inhospitable conditions in the treatment chamber.[5]

The aeration stage and the disinfecting stage are the primary differences from a traditional septic system; in fact, an aerobic treatment system can be used as a secondary treatment for septic tank effluent.[1] These stages increase the initial cost of the aerobic system, and also the maintenance requirements over the passive septic system. Unlike many other biofilters, aerobic treatment systems require a constant supply of electricity to drive the air pump increasing overall system costs. The disinfectant tablets must be periodically replaced, as well as the electrical components (air compressor) and mechanical components (air diffusers). On the positive side, an aerobic system produces a higher quality effluent than a septic tank, and thus the leach field can be smaller than that of a conventional septic system, and the output can be discharged in areas too environmentally sensitive for septic system output. Some aerobic systems recycle the effluent through a sprinkler system, using it to water the lawn where regulations approve.

Since the effluent from an ATS is often discharged onto the surface of the leach field, the quality is very important. A typical ATS will, when operating correctly, produce an effluent with less than 30 mg/liter BOD5, 25 mg/L TSS, and 10,000 cfu/mL fecal coliform bacteria. This is clean enough that it cannot support a biomat or "slime" layer like a septic tank.[6]

ATS effluent is relatively odorless; a properly operating system will produce effluent that smells musty, but not like sewage. Aerobic treatment is so effective at reducing odors, that it is the preferred method for reducing odor from manure produced by farms.[7][8][9]

So, these are a few precautions that you may want to take if you are going to work on a septic tank system. This is important should you want to keep you and your family safe around the system. When in doubt, it’s a good idea to call a local septic service in Keystone . Hopefully, these tips will help.

SEPTIC TANK CARE | WHO TO CALL FOR SERVICE IN Keystone

Understanding septic systems capabilities and limits is needed to ensure water quality. A septic system is a type of On-Site Sewage Facility and is a self-contained, underground waste-water treatment system. By using natural processes to treat the waste-water on-site, septic systems do not require the installation of miles of sewer lines, making them less disruptive to the environment. A septic system consists of a septic tank, a distribution system and a soil absorption system, also called a drain field. The septic tank is a watertight box, sometimes made out of concrete or fiberglass, with an inlet and outlet pipe. The septic tank treats the waste-water naturally by holding it in the tank long enough for solids and liquids to separate. The waste-water forms three layers inside the tank. Solids lighter than water float to the top forming a layer of scum.Solids heavier than water settle at the bottom of the tank forming a layer of sludge. This leaves a middle layer of partially clarified waste-water. The layers of sludge and scum remain in the septic tank where bacteria found naturally in the waste-water work to break the solids down. The sludge and scum that cannot be broken down are retained in the tank until the tank is pumped. The layer of liquid flows from the septic tank to the drain field. A drain a series of trenches lined with gravel or sand and below the ground. The drain field treats the waste-water by allowing it to slowly trickle from the pipes out into the gravel and down through the soil. The remaining impurities are trapped and disposed of in the soil. The excess water is eliminated through percolation into the soil, and eventually returning to the ground water, through evaporation, and by uptake through plants and transpiration.The Center for Watershed Protection notes that septic systems can be effective methods of water treatment, however failures are common in many areas. Even properly functioning septic systems can leak and are not designed to effectively deal with most of the phosphorus and nitrogen load found in the water it treats. Pathogenic fecal bacteria are also a concern. The primary concern for a municipality is proper maintenance of septic systems, and in some cases the total load of partially treated pollutants that can impact local drinking water and wildlife. A solid understanding of septic systems capabilities and limits, and a good government plan is needed to ensure water quality.


Hillsborough County Septic Drain Field Contractor

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