Might be moving into a place with the following Septic System.

1. One 600-gpd aerobic treatment unit model NuWater B-550-PC-400PT with built-in trash and pump tank

2. One 768-gallon built-in pump tank with a HP Little Giant pump model WE20-HH and SPI-A-AV-PT control with repeat cycle timer

3. Single drip irrigation drainfield utilizing 1,200 linear feet of Netafim Bioline-PC 0.6-gph drip tubing with emitters spaced on 2' centers, total effective area of 2,400-sq. ft.


I know very little about living in a Home utilizing a Septic System. Any words of wisdom on use, maintenance and things to be aware of?

TIA

Ask them where the vent for the system is located. You might be smelling s**t as you sit in the back porch if the wind direction is right.

They really aren't that big of a deal. The big thing is to learn what can and cannot be flushed into a septic system. And in all honesty, even that isn't a huge issue. I pay attention and try to not flush large quantities of chemicals down the toilet or in the sink either.

Other than that, you'll want to replenish your bleach on occasion an use Rid-X once a month. If I were you, I'd have your maintenance contract provider come out and suck out your sludge tank when you first move in and add some bugs so that you are starting fresh, then have them go over the system and how it works with you. It's really fairly simple (sludge tank with aerator, clarifier, clear water well with pump).

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The big thing is to learn what can and cannot be flushed into a septic system.

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This! TP can be flushed, but literally NOTHING else. No kleenex, baby wipes, paper towels, plastic army men, or even sticks or leaves or you'll tear the pumps up.

If you have women in the house, this will be quite an adjustment. No tampons down the toilet anymore. This sucks, fyi.

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They really aren't that big of a deal. The big thing is to learn what can and cannot be flushed into a septic system. And in all honesty, even that isn't a huge issue. I pay attention and try to not flush large quantities of chemicals down the toilet or in the sink either.

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This, although I grew up with just a tank and drain system that didn't use sprayers and pumps to remove the water and it was never much of a problem.

The biggest adjustment was having a lot of company over and doing loads and loads of laundry during the spring with the rains. We only ever had one backup into the house and that was from root intrusion that block on the main input lines.

That's somewhat our conceren. Both our families are out of town, so it will not be uncommon to have 6 people staying over for a weekend in addition to my family of 5.

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That's somewhat our conceren. Both our families are out of town, so it will not be uncommon to have 6 people staying over for a weekend in addition to my family of 5.

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My system was from the mid-70s and consisted of only a tank and runoff piping. They have come A LONG way since then, especially systems with pumps and disbursement systems like what you've described. New system designs make it so that you'll never know you have a septic other than the stuff you shouldn't flush down the toilet or sinks or showers.

You never are supposed to flush those down the toilet. EVER.

I have a slightly larger system than yours and haven't had any problems. A couple things I've learned:

• Have your tank and leach field boundries marked ahead of time incase you decided to do new construction
• Make sure the kids don''t flush non-biodegradable items down the toliet
• No bleach - your septic system will run better if you have a healthy biome of bacteria and needs to be pumped and maintained less. Bleach, ammounia and other harsh chems can kill that.
• I'm told , not sure if its true, that running lower volume of water also allows it to run/work better.

what about food down the disposal?

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what about food down the disposal?

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typically fine. don't send grease down in large amounts and if you send a little bit, be sure to flush with the hottest water you can get so it doesn't build up down the line.

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You never are supposed to flush those down the toilet. EVER.

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Same for those disposable toilet brushes.

A friend of mine who is the director of utilities for small town hates those brushes because of all the problems they have with them.

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I have a slightly larger system than yours and haven't had any problems. A couple things I've learned:

• Have your tank and leach field boundries marked ahead of time incase you decided to do new construction
• Make sure the kids don''t flush non-biodegradable items down the toliet
• No bleach - your septic system will run better if you have a healthy biome of bacteria and needs to be pumped and maintained less. Bleach, ammounia and other harsh chems can kill that.
• I'm told , not sure if its true, that running lower volume of water also allows it to run/work better.

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It can help to get a bottle of bacteria from the hardware store that you flush about once a month.

For what it's worth, I'm a big fan of a biodegradable laundry detergeant called Charlie's Soap.

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what about food down the disposal?

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I'm not a fan of food down the disposal in the country or in town. You're just asking for trouble. Throw it in the trash instead. Or in your compost heap.

We don't even have them on the farm because there really isn't need for them.

I only use the food disposal for really small items. Everything else goes into our bear feeder,....errr composter.


Eric76,

I use 7th Gen detergent and that seems to work well. I will look for the bacteria bottle.

Well, for one you do not have a septic system, you have an aerobic system.

I had a similar system including the drip field. Be careful what you put in the disposal as seeds and small particles may clog the drips. In general keep chemicals out like everyone is saying. Small amounts okay but some things are just bad.

The biggest issue you may have will be the drip field seems to always be wet. Sometimes mushy wet even in the middle of periods of no rain.

That being said, to each their own if they want their kids playing in that crap.

When I was a kid, our septic tank emptied out into a small ditch above ground. The ditch was alongside two rows of trees for the wind break. Those trees were some of the best trees around because they had plenty of moisture.

Then we put in a new system with a leach field. No more water for the trees. Those trees in the windbreak that haven't died are certainly looking rather poorly.

I have an anaerobic system. In the 11 years that I've lived here, I've had it pumped out once. After it was pumped, I immediately had a plumber run a jetter through the leach line.

The shrubs going around my house that the leach line runs around grow much faster than the shrubs on the other side of the house. The grass is also always very nice.

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That's somewhat our conceren. Both our families are out of town, so it will not be uncommon to have 6 people staying over for a weekend in addition to my family of 5.

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With an aerobic system, no problem. Conventional requires some additional considerations.

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what about food down the disposal?

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No major issue. It helps with bacteria. Dont ty to put the entire fridge,fown or anything, but normal,small, scraps (nust lime you should be doing in town) are not a problem.

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The big thing is to learn what can and cannot be flushed into a septic system.

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This! TP can be flushed, but literally NOTHING else. No kleenex, baby wipes, paper towels, plastic army men, or even sticks or leaves or you'll tear the pumps up.

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or condoms. that made for an awkward convo with pops when i was 16 and there was something like a balloon floating in the tank.

We moved into a house with an aerobic system this year(family of 6). The only things we did were increase the aerator pump run time and replaced both sprinkler heads with high flow golf course ratchet heads.

As for the vent, if it stinks, you effed it up. I have literally never smelled mine.

No bleach other than minor amounts for laundry, and go easy on the heavy bathroom cleaners. The toilet bowl cleaners are the worst.

We add bacteria every 6 months. You will hopefully have a chlorine system of some sort that is managed under contract or you can pick it up at Home Depot. FYI This is not pool tablets.