If you live in the country or outside the city limits, your property most likely has a septic tank. If you don’t receive a monthly sewer bill from the city, then you probably have a septic tank.

A septic system has four main components:

1. A pipe from the home or business
2. A septic tank
3. A drainfield
4. The soil

Wastewater from your toilet, bath, kitchen, and laundry flows through a pipe from your home into the septic tank. Then, the microbes in the soil digest or remove most contaminants from the wastewater before they eventually reach your groundwater.

Despite what the package may say, there are some things you just shouldn’t flush. Baby wipes, baby diapers, grown-up wipes, tampons, tampon applicators, dental floss, q-tips, cigarette butts, grease, and toys should never go into your septic tank. Even if they say they are flushable, they will not break down like organic material does.

Household chemicals are another no-no, including gasoline, oil, pesticides, antifreeze, paint, etc. Chemicals kill the beneficial bacteria that is contained in your septic system and can disrupt or even stop the breakdown of solids contained in your septic tank.

Depending on how many people live in your house and how large your tank is you should probably have your tank pumped every three years. If you have five people in your house and only have a 1,200-gallon tank, then you may want to have it pumped more often, roughly every two years. If there is just one of you living in your home, then you may be able to go about five years between pumping.

An easy way to tell if you need your tank pumped is by having risers installed on the tank for easy inspection access. All you would have to do is pop the top and see if solids and toilet paper have built up inside. If they have, give us a call!

You may be able to find the lids or manhole covers for your septic tank yourself by gently tapping a steel rod into the ground, starting about 10 feet from the point where the pipe leaves your house. Or wait for a light snowfall and observe where the snow melts first. Sometimes your local county health department may have the location of your septic tank and drainfield in its files.

Any of these symptoms could indicate trouble with your septic system:

• Odors, surface sewage, and wet spots around the drainfield area
• Plumbing or septic tank backups
• Slow draining fixtures (not due to a local clogging)
• Gurgling sounds in the plumbing