Septic systems certainly have their own share of problems. If you have a septic system, you might encounter at least one of the more common issues at least once in a twenty-year period of living in your current home. To better prepare yourself for what might happen, here are those three common septic drain line issues, and and how the drain line repair may be addressed.
Pipe Slips Apart
Underground, you have a large sewer pipe that leads from your home to your septic tank. Another, slightly smaller pipe runs from the tank to the leach field, which is also underground. Neither of these pipes is one long, continuous pipe. Both sections are made up of several pipes that are typically joined together. After several years, the ground under the pipes shifts.
Then the pipes feel pressure to shift, too, often with one or both sections of pipe dropping or sliding away from each other at a joint. Now you have leaks in sewage occurring, and the contents in the pipes may get stuck over the "lips" created by the two sections of pipe that have slipped down and/or away from each other. To fix this, the drain pipe repair technician has to excavate the pipe and pull both pipes back into alignment. Added support may be placed under this area of the two pipes, and the pipes are welded back together.
Tree Branches Are Strangling the Pipes
Trees and shrubs have roots that seek out water. The trees and shrubs do not care that the water they find may be swirling in a sea of urine and fecal matter. They will still wrap their roots around the drain pipes and strangle or crush the drain pipes until they gain access to the "water" running inside. It becomes a real problem when all of the excess sewage begins pushing toward the top of your lawn and accumulates into a lake of unpleasantness. Cutting down the tree, digging up the roots, and removing and replacing the pipes are the only real courses of action here. You will also need a septic pumping company to remove the lake of sewage from your yard and help you decontaminate the area.
Wrong Kind of Toilet Paper Blocks the Lines
You should only and always use just the toilet paper that is labeled "safe for septic systems." Sure, you might want to use the four-ply quilted stuff, but it will clog your septic line every time. Those blockages become very expensive drain clearing calls, all of which have to be thoroughly rooted out by an electric auger system.
Share29 September 2019
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.
