How a Septic Tank System Works
If you are not a city dweller then you may find yourself not
connected to the city sewage system. If that is the case than you likely have
your own septic tank system. That means that the raw sewage is treated on your
property instead of being transferred to an offsite location for treatment.
Around twenty five percent of all North American homes still use a septic tank
system most of those are used by rural homes.
A septic tank system is actually a very efficient structure. There is a tank
that will have a capacity between one thousand and fifteen hundred gallons. At
one end there will be a pipe through which comes the waste and at the other end
a pipe that sends the treated waste into the septic field, this is sometimes
called weeping tiles.
The wastes enter the septic tank system leaving the solids in the first chamber
to be anaerobically absorbed which diminishes the amount of solids in the
system. The liquid wastes continue on to the second chamber where it then flows
out into the septic field. It works by gravity and only the odd time because of
the placement of a septic tank system will a pump be necessary to help it work.
This liquid waste will just become part of the ground water and feed the soil or
whatever plants are around it. Drive by a rural home and you’ll frequently see a
patch of greener grass. This is often where the septic field is located.
Some waste never gets decomposed and so periodically the septic tank system must
be cleaned out. There are services that do this for a reasonable price. They
have all the necessary equipment and its better to let them come in and take
care of this for you. If your system gives you no problems, then once a year, or
every couple of years, will be sufficient.
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