It is important to have your septic system pumped (that is, to have the solidified wastes removed from it) on a regular basis. Read on to find out why.
To keep your home's drainage system in good working order
If you do not hire a professional to perform a septic tank pump out at least once every couple of years, you may end up inadvertently damaging your home's drainage system.
The reason for this is as follows: if the solids in the tank are not pumped out, they will continue to accumulate until there is no space left in the tank for any further wastewater. This is the point at which your property's drainage system may begin to develop problems.
If there is no room in the septic tank for the wastewater your household generates, this water will remain stuck in your home's plumbing pipes. Over the course of a few days, you may begin to notice that your toilets start to overflow or that there is standing water in your house's sinks and showers.
If this happens, two problems could arise. Firstly, you may be unable to use your toilet, shower or sinks until the tank has been pumped. Secondly, the pressure placed on your property's plumbing pipes by the backed-up wastewater could result in one of these pipes bursting. This could inflict major damage on your property, which could cost thousands of dollars to repair.
It would be far more economical to simply have your septic system periodically pumped, as it will cost a fraction of the amount you would have to spend repairing the damage caused by an excessively full tank.
To prevent your septic system from harming local wildlife
If your septic tank reaches maximum capacity, some of the wastewater inside it may start to seep out of the tank into the leach field before it has been completely broken down by the tank's microorganisms.
The presence of untreated wastewater in your leach field could be highly problematic, as this water is likely to contain a substantial number of pathogens which could harm the wildlife in your local area.
For example, if some of this water reaches some pastureland near your property, the cows, horses or sheep who graze on the grass in this field may end up becoming seriously ill.
Likewise, if this water seeps into a nearby river or stream, the animals who use this as a source of drinking water could ingest some of the pathogens and become very sick.
Share20 March 2018
We aren't on the main sewer line on our property and it's always been an issue getting the septic tank emptied in winter when the road gets muddy and trucks get bogged. As a result, we decided to switch to composting toilets in the home. It's been a great option to get our toileting waste minimised and to help the environment at the same time. It's a bit of an adjustment period when you move to a composting toilet so I thought I'd start a blog explaining the process. I hope it will be useful for other people who have septic tanks and are contemplating making the switch.
