Your septic tank is an important cog in the operation of your home. And it’s certainly an asset that you don’t want to see experience problems. A faulty septic tank can be a smelly, nasty mess to deal with. But there are simple steps you can take to properly maintain and protect your septic tank. Here’s a look at four of them.
1. Pump and Inspect
Develop a schedule for pumping and inspecting your septic tank. This doesn’t have to be a yearly effort, but it would be good to get on a schedule of doing so every three years. The right schedule for your home really depends on how many people are in your household, the amount of wastewater you’re creating and the size of your tank.
What does pumping and inspecting do for your home? It allows a professional to come and identify leaks and to look at the scum and sludge layers for emerging problems. You certainly don’t want leaks and you don’t want your septic tank to overflow.
2. Take Care of Leaks
Keep your septic tank healthy by only asking it to work when it needs to. That means stopping your leaking toilet from constantly churning wastewater into the septic tank.
These may be surprising numbers, but an average household uses 70 gallons of water each day per person living in it. A leaky toilet can send up to 200 gallons of water into your septic tank each year. This increases the chances of your tank overflowing, and it’s a serious waste of water.
3. Careful What You Flush
Don't treat your toilet like a receptacle. Just remember that whatever you flush down it has to go somewhere. That's why you should not flush anything other than human waste and toilet paper. It may be tempting to flush down floss, cat litter, paper towels, cigarette butts and other materials, but these can ultimately harm your septic tank.
4. Mind Your Drainfield
The drainfield is an important part of your septic tank system, and it’s one you must take care of. That means no planting of trees or other plants near your drainfield, no placing drainage systems like roof drains near your drainfield and certainly no parking of cars near your drainfield. Make sure you’re keeping your septic tank in full working order by caring for your drainfield.
Call on Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Syracuse
Septic tank or drainfield trouble? At Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Syracuse, we’re your expert source of septic tank service in Syracuse, NY. We recognize that plumbing and septic tank issues at your home represent urgent needs, which is why we respond urgently when you contact us for support.
Get in touch today about service for your septic tank in Syracuse.