What Can A Septic Service Do For You?

Your septic tank isn't something you need to pay active attention to very often, but when it comes time to have your tank emptied, there are several things you can do to make the experience go more quickly. Here are just a few ways you can make the whole process easier while potentially saving money, too.

Flag Your Tank Access

When your tank only needs to be emptied once every few years, it can be easy to forget where the lid is buried. Knowing where the lid is located can save you plenty of time, as well as some money depending on if you want to put in a little extra work yourself.

If you aren't sure exactly where your tank is, one method you can use to find its general location is to find your sewer line cleanout. This is a vertical pipe that branches off from your sewer pipe and lets plumbers see directly down into it to clear clogs, look for problems, etc. This pipe runs straight from your house to your septic tank, so if you can locate the cleanout, you can work your way to the tank itself. Another method is to use county records to locate exactly where your tank and lids are on your property.

Once you know where your lid is, add a feature you'll recognize in the future to help locate it. This can be a flag, yard decor, or anything else you can safely put right above the lid to find it in the future.

If you feel like digging up the lid yourself, you can save yourself money as well; most pumping companies will have an added charge for having to dig up the lid themselves. Once you've gone through the work of finding your lid and marking it for future pumping, taking a little time to dig it up when you need to is well worth the effort.

Clear Plant Growth

Since septic tanks and their leach fields are installed in soil, it's natural that plants may grow above them. The bigger the plants, the more trouble they'll cause. Before a septic specialist comes to empty your tank, any plants over the tank and leach field will need to be removed.

Further, while many plants like common weeds don't pose any threat to your leach field or sewer pipes, and can even be helpful, larger plant roots can reach farther down and clog or damage your leach field, which can quickly become expensive to replace. Keeping the area above your tank and leach field free of growth helps protect them from damage and makes pumping and examining your septic system that much easier.

Have Your Records Ready

When it comes to taking good care of your tank, keeping good records is one of the best ways to do that. Specifically, there are a few things you'll want on hand whenever someone comes to pump your tank:

• The age of your tank, or when it was installed.
• The size or capacity of the tank.
• The date it was last emptied.
• Details like what the tank and sewer pipe are made of.
• Any other recent plumbing work relating to your septic system, whether it directly involved the tank or not.

Some of these details can come in handy as the system starts to age. For example, if your sewer pipe is made of cast iron, corrosion deposits can build up over the years and cause issues that make it seem like your tank is backing up more often when in reality the pipe just needs to be repaired.

For routine pumping, you may not need all these details, but in the event of any issues, having this information on hand will save you plenty of time. For more information contact septic pumping services.