When I’m out on a septic system inspection, I often hear “My old system still works fine. Why do I need a new one?”
The simple answer is that there can be several reasons why it appears to be working, but in reality it is not, or soon won’t be.
We all seem to feel our system is working so long as it’s not backing up in the house, or its not coming up in the yard, but to understand the system a little better we need to realize our septic system is an individual sewer treatment system. It uses the septic tank to separate the solids from the liquids, and it does this by use of a inlet baffle that allows the solids to drop to the bottom while keeping the water in the tank from being churned up. Your septic system does this so bacteria can break down the solids, and allow the broken down matter to flow into the drain field.
The average septic tank is about 1000 gallons for a 3 bedroom home, and if the house is at full capacity the water usages is about 450 gallons a day. This means an empty tank becomes full of waste water in a little over 2 days. It is important for the septic system to be functioning properly in order to keep up with this high demand. If your system in functioning adequately, the outlet baffle will allow only broken down liquids to escape where the soil below the drain field will filter all of the harmful micro-particles before reaching ground water.
The fact that only the drain field, and the soil below it, are the only filters, it is very important that the tank does not leak. The other important factor is that the system is installed correctly or up to code so that there is enough soil separation to protect the integrity of our drinking water.
If you have any questions, or would like a septic system inspection, don’t hesitate to contact Custom Septic Inc. at 763-218-4769
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