If the home you are about to move into is equipped with a septic tank, you may have to adjust your daily water usage if you want to keep the tank in good working order. In addition to changing how you perform certain household tasks, you should also ensure that no one in your family dumps something down a drain that will not play well with the tank. To that end, here are a few tips to keep in mind to prevent damage to your septic tank.
Change Your Shower and Laundry Patterns
Septic tanks need time to recover after receiving a deluge of water. What this means for you, if you have big family, is that you are going to have schedule out specific times for everyone to take a shower or do laundry. Taking multiple showers in a row or putting in multiple loads of laundry could both result in your tank not being able to keep up, eventually leading to an overflow problem. Talk to your family today about expectations going forward.
That Doesn't Go Down There
At the same time you are keeping an eye on your water usage, you should also make it clear that your home's drains are not garbage cans. Let everyone know that they are not to throw anything in the toilet besides toilet paper, and that the kitchen sink is not a great place to scrape off your leftovers. Have a trash can handy in any room with a drain so that items can be properly disposed of.
Get a Regular Inspection
For best results, reach out to local plumber or septic tank specialist for an annual inspection. Your septic tank will need to be pumped every so often, but you should invite someone out on a regular basis to help you understand exactly how much waste is currently in the tank. This expert can also inspect your septic line and warn you of any potential problems in your yard, like a tree that might be spreading its roots too close to the line.
If you are moving into a home with septic tank, you and your family might need to change how often you use major sources of water or dispose of certain waste products. Sure, the tank will fill up eventually no matter how hard you work to take care of it, but you also don't want to deal with a nasty clog or other issue because you got careless. Contact a septic tank repair specialist like Chuck Keene Septic Tank Pumping Service to set up a regular inspection.
Share14 March 2018
Hi there, I am Wes Nelson. When I lived in my first home, I discovered the plumbing connected directly to a septic system on the land. The septic system consisted of a tank, lines and leach field that processed the waste. I had to quickly learn how the septic system worked to keep it in good shape. I had to pay close attention to the substances I sent down the drains or flushed down the toilet. I did not want to disrupt the colonies of bacteria hard at work processing the waste products. On this site, I would like to help others keep their septic system in good working order by sharing the information I discovered. Please visit again soon.
