If you live outside of a metropolitan area in Florida, you likely use a septic system to process your household’s waste water. The average American household uses around 80-100 gallons of water every day, for drinking, cooking, laundry, bathing and flushing the toilet.
While your septic system is relatively low maintenance, there are a few things you need to do to keep your system healthy and performing well for you for years to come. Maintaining a healthy septic tank means fewer repairs and expensive problems in the long run. To keep your system working well, we suggest…
1. Being smart about what you send to the tank. Think of your septic system as an independent eco-system. Putting things down the drain, such as bleach and harsh cleansers, will kill the “good” bacteria at work in your septic tank. In addition, greasy items, such as cooking oil and paint, will add a messy and unhealthy oily coating to the matter inside your system. For good suggestions on what you should and should not put down your drain with a septic system, take a look at this comprehensive list.
2. Having your tank pumped out regularly. Good septic tank maintenance includes having the sludge at the bottom of your tank pumped out periodically and hauled away. How frequently you do this depends on the size of your household, how much water your household uses and the size of your tank.
3. Saying no to the garbage disposal. A garbage disposal adds a lot of organic solids and grease to your septic system. Better to use a strainer and dispose of your food waste in your trash or your compost pile.
4. Pampering your drain field. Good septic maintenance includes never driving or parking a vehicle over the drain field, limiting landscaping in the drain field area and diverting rainwater run off from drain pipes and other systems away from the septic drain field.
To learn more about keeping your Florida septic system healthy and well-maintained, visit A to Z Statewide Plumbing’s septic tank services page or contact us at 254-981-2133.
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