Septic systems professional firm in Copperopolis, California? Pump your septic tank. Most septic tanks need to be pumped every 3-5 years. The frequency depends on how many people are in your home. The more people living in your house, the more often you should pump your septic tank. Take care of your drain field. Make sure all water is diverted away from your soakage area. Additionally, only landscape your soakage area with grass. If you want to add plants, be sure to only pick ones with shallow root systems. Finally, never park a vehicle on top of your soakage area. Vehicles can put a strain on your soakage area and may lead to ruptured pipes.
Septic cleaning products are available to break up blockages in the pipes. Tree roots are a common blockage in older septic systems. Root killers, available at local hardware stores, can be used routinely to help prevent their spread. A pump tank is controlled by either control floats or timer controls. It also requires electricity to operate so limit water use if there is a power outage. If the capacity in the tank is too high or too low or a malfunction occurs, most systems are equipped with a red alert alarm (located on the top of the control panel) to warn the homeowner. Limit water use through a couple of pump cycles (10-15 hours) to see if the alarm goes out on its own. If the red light goes out, the system is working properly. If not, continue to limit water use and consult a professional septic service provider for advice.
Think of it like this: You would not take a car; you are potentially going to purchase, to a mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection / evaluation and ask the mechanic to check it out but to not open the hood. This would defeat the purpose of the pre-purchase inspection with a restricting limitation of not being allowed to open the hood. Additionally most counties require a person or business conducting septic system inspections and evaluations to be certified through COWA and NAWT, (California Onsite Wastewater Association & National Association of Wastewater Transporters). Although COWA and NAWT teach Pumping is Mandatory and “Must be Done” prior to a system inspection/evaluation, this is generally not enforced. Discover more details at this link.
To keep your septic tank and drain field in working order, having the tank pumped on a regular basis is essential. How often you will need to have your system pumped depends on the size of your household, total wastewater generated, the number of solids, and the size of your tank. The official EPA recommendation is that you have the system pumped every 3-5 years, but it’s a good idea to have it inspected and serviced more often than that. In addition to regular tank pumping, the most important thing you can do for your septic system is to be careful about what goes into it.
Slower percolation rates due to poorly draining soil with clay, bedrock, high ground water, proximity to a creek, or other complications require larger leach fields. There are two methods of calculating the minimum absorption area for a leach field. Traditionally, you dig an eight foot deep test inspection hole in the area of the intended leach field to allow building inspector, or your local engineer, to physically examine the soil and determine its Long Term Acceptance Rate. Or you can have a local soil testing firm perform a percolation test to clock the speed of your soil’s capacity to absorb liquids.
Foothill Sanitary started in 2001. A family owned business with a strong work ethic and true integrity. Our desire is to help our customers with their septic and portable toilet needs. We take the time to educate our customers about their septic systems so that they understand its function and how to prolong its life span. Our portable toilets are cleaned and disinfected very well so that you always have a nice usable unit.
A Dosing System introduces the effluent waste water from the septic tank to the drain field in intermittent intervals (doses) throughout the day. This allows the soil to absorb the “dosed” water in the drain field before more water is introduced. These types of systems are used in soils with poor absorption rates or shallow soils. There are two common types of dosing systems: The Siphon Dose and the Low Pressure Dose. A siphon dose system (not pictured) does not use an electrical discharge pump. It uses a siphon bell ( an inverted bell that is open on the bottom and traps air) that cycles as the water level rises and cause the effluent to dose into the drain field by a siphon action (Click on the link to the left to see how it actually works). A low pressure dosing system uses a pump in a pump chamber (as shown in picture on the left). The pump turns on intermittently through electronic controls and sends the effluent to the drain field in intervals throughout the day. Read more details at https://www.foothillsanitary.com/.