Septic system warning signs, and what to do next

Septic systems give you plenty of warning

A septic system almost never quits on you overnight, and the ones that do fail usually fail for the same handful of reasons, nearly all of which are preventable if somebody notices the early warnings instead of walking past them for a year. So this is not a post about your system being on the brink. It is a post about what the warnings actually look like, what each one is telling you, and which bits you can sort out yourself before you need to ring anybody.

The warning signs

• Drains that move at a snail's pace. Usually a full tank, or a blockage somewhere between the house and the tank.
• Smells. A system that is working properly does not smell, so an odour means something is either overloaded or leaking.
• Wet patches and suspiciously green grass. A lush stripe of lawn in the middle of summer is effluent surfacing, and it is the drain field telling you it cannot take any more.
• Gurgling from the sinks and the toilet. Air being pushed back up the pipes, which is a venting or pressure problem.
• Sewage backing up inside. That one is not a warning any more, it is the failure, and it is a health risk, so it gets dealt with straight away.

Why systems fail

• Nobody desludges it. Solids build up over years and eventually start pushing out into the soakage area, which is the expensive half of the system to repair.
• The wrong things go down the loo. Wet wipes are the big one, and the ones labelled flushable are the worst of them because people believe the label. Fats, sanitary products and paper towel all do the same thing.
• Too much water at once. Four loads of washing back to back does not give the tank time to do its job, so solids get pushed through before they have settled.
• Tree roots. Roots find a joint or a hairline crack and open it right up, and out here that is usually a gum somebody planted with the best of intentions.
• Something heavy parked on top of it. Driving over a tank or a drain field compacts the soil and cracks pipes, and the shed that went up over the soakage area ten years ago is a problem that is very hard to undo.

What to do about it

1. Ring your council first

Councils hold the records for wastewater systems and they are the approval authority for any repair or alteration, so they are the cheapest phone call you will make. They can also tell you what is on file for your property, which matters a lot if you have bought a place and have no idea what is buried in the back paddock.

2. Get it pumped out by a licensed contractor

How often it needs desludging depends on the size of the tank and how many people are on it, so the interval that applies to your place comes from the council or from the contractor who does the work, not from a number on the internet. Write the date down somewhere you will find it again, because nobody ever remembers.

3. Have it looked at while the lid is off

A pump-out is the only time anybody gets a proper look inside, so that is the moment to have the baffles, the joints and the inlet checked rather than putting the lid back on and forgetting about it for another few years.

4. Take the load off it

Spread the washing out across the week, fix the taps that are dripping, and stop running the hose flat out onto the lawn near the drain field. A dripping tap is the one on that list you can genuinely fix in an afternoon with a washer or a new spindle body, and it is worth doing for the water bill alone.

5. Be careful what you put down the drain

Here is the bit that costs us a sale, and it is worth saying anyway. We sell caustic drain cleaner, and it is a good product, and it does not belong anywhere near a septic system. A septic tank works because it is full of bacteria breaking waste down, and caustic soda kills them. If you are on septic, go for the gentlest thing that will do the job, and for a slow drain that usually means a plunger or a drain snake before it means a chemical.

Keeping it healthy

• Human waste and toilet paper go down the loo. Nothing else does.
• Keep vehicles, sheds and heavy loads off the tank and the soakage area.
• Plant well clear of the line, and keep an eye on anything already growing near it.
• Walk the drain field after heavy rain and look for anything soggy or smelly that should not be there.

Shop related products

• Renew Recess SBA, brass. A spindle body assembly, which is what goes in when a tap keeps dripping after a new washer.
• Renew Deep Seated Basin SBA, brass. Same job on a deep seated basin tap.
• Renew 15mm Hose Cock, female, rough brass. For replacing the outside tap that has been weeping into the garden bed for a year.
• Pope Simple Set Single Tap Timer. Stops the hose being left on, which is the quickest way to flood a soakage area.

Did you know we also stock the tap washers and washer kits in the shop, including cistern and seating washers, universal kits and the assorted packs, along with PVC stormwater pipe and fittings. Most of them are not on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what is on the shelf.

More of the range is at plumbing.

Keep reading

• Rainwater tank maintenance, keeping tank water clean
• Pump maintenance for rural water, what to check and when
• How to spend less of your weekend maintaining a rural property

I am not going to pretend I find any of this interesting, but I would rather write the pump-out date on the inside of a cupboard door than find out the hard way on a long weekend.

Cheers,

Candeece

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