5 Signs Your Drain Field May Need Professional Cleaning

When the municipal wastewater infrastructure doesn’t reach your property, an on-site sewage processing system—better known as a septic system—is the alternative. On a day-to-day basis, this doesn’t have to be something you think much about. However, septic system maintenance does call for some extra attention to the fundamentals of conscientious waste management. We’ve highlighted a few of the dos and don’ts of maintaining your septic system to keep in mind.

Do: Allocate Your Water Resources Carefully

It’s easy to take modernity for granted. Our homes have dishwashers, showers, toilets, washing machines, and kitchen sinks for us to use. That doesn’t necessarily mean we can use them all at once. Ease the strain on your septic system by distributing usage of these fixtures and appliances over the course of the day. If you do your laundry in the morning, you can wait till evening to do the dishes.

Don’t: Pour Grease Down the Sink

Have you taken a trip to New Orleans? If you did, you might notice that Bourbon Street smells bad—and we mean really bad. It isn’t the revelers in the street who were to blame, though. It’s the bars and restaurants lining Bourbon Street that are more concerned with doing things easily than doing them right. They pour grease down their drains, where it congeals and rots in the storm drains below. A concerted effort to purge the “fatbergs” lifts the aroma, but your septic system doesn’t have a Streets and Sanitation department at the ready. We can’t stress this enough: don’t ever pour grease down the sink. There are far better ways to bring the freewheeling spirit of the Crescent City to your home than by filling your septic system with rancid grease.

Do: Plant With Caution

Homes with septic systems rather than connections to sewage systems are often far from city centers. As such, homeowners in these properties want to take advantage of their location with idyllic landscaping. This can be a fine use of your property as long as it doesn’t come into conflict with your on-site system. Roots are relentless in their search for water, and their journeys can lead them to septic systems, causing disaster. Consult a septic contractor—in Tampa-St. Pete, that’s Brandon Septic—to make sure your planting plans are in alignment with your septic system.

Don’t: Flush With Freedom

“Away goes trouble down the drain,” went the song “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life.” Hopefully, the singer wasn’t cavalier about flushing things down the drain, or else he would’ve needed a plumber saving his septic system that night. Wrapping up our dos and don’ts of maintaining your septic system is our admonition not to flush anything that doesn’t belong in a toilet. Your system can’t take non-degradable solids. Those belong in a trash can. Paper towels, facial tissues, feminine hygiene products, and cat litter have no place in your system. Dispose of these without flushing them. Some households have even tried to flush diapers, believe it or not. It ended poorly.

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