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Perc tests are one way to plan for things like that,
since soil drainage is considered before the field is
built and established limits prevent you from putting a
septic field where the water table is too high or the
soil not absorbent enough to handle all but
extraordinary amounts of rain. One thing that can
destroy a drain field is a thirsty tree. Septic building
experts should place the drain field where there are no
tree roots likely to tap into, tear up other otherwise
displace the plastic pipes that make up the leach lines.
Tree roots can play havoc with a septic field, since
they can travel for hundreds of feet in search of
moisture, and are strong enough to tear up any kind of
pipe you can lay. Drain fields should not be planted
with deep-rooted plants; nor should they be used as
parking or turnaround sites, since the weight of trucks
or automobiles can compact the earth (preventing proper
perking) and crush pipes.
Your house's external drains are also important to
the health and care of your septic. When an inch of rain
falls in a storm, the roof of an average-sized house can
run off over 50,000 gallons of water! If your gutters,
downspouts and outside drains aren't planned correctly,
you may be delivering astounding amounts of water to the
septic field without even knowing about it. Gutters
should drain away from the house, but they shouldn't be
draining into your septic field, or it will soon be
overwhelmed and become useless.
One of the most important things you should know
about your septic system is that, in many ways, it is
like any organic body. It can't deal with inorganic
waste; that is, waste that can't be broken down
naturally. For that reason, things like plastics,
rubber, solvents and acids shouldn't enter the septic
system. "Disposable" diapers are diapers that should be
disposed of by transport to a landfill rather than being
flushed down the toilet, because they are made with
plastic that will clog drains. If plastics do make their
way into the septic tank, there they sit, since bacteria
can't break them down. Only organic things should be put
into the septic system, and even those things should be
broken into pieces small enough that they won't wind up
as a clog in a pipe somewhere between a plumbing fixture
and the septic tank. If the septic tank itself has a
healthy population of bacteria, those billions of little
microbes will break the organic matter down even
further. However, if the bacterial population has been
decimated by the use of things like chlorine bleach or
by acid or alkaline drain cleaners, the organic waste
won't be broken down and the tank will fill up faster
than ever.
One of the things that can destroy the bacteria in
your septic system is bleach. Chlorine bleach is found
in cleanser, many household sprays and in laundry
detergent.
A well-maintained septic system shouldn't create any
odor, and the smell of sewage coming from drains is a
distinct warning sign that something is wrong. Coupled
with toilets that suddenly flush slower than usual,
sewage smells may indicate that the tank is full and
must be pumped. If you have sewage smells even though
your tank isn't full and the plumbing seems to be
working all right, you may have a problem with a sewer
vent pipe. Sewer vent pipes vent sewer gas from plumbing
fixtures to the outside of the house. If the vent pipes
aren't installed correctly, if they aren't high enough
or if they become clogged, you may wind up with sewer
gas in the house. Sewer gas is dangerous on two counts:
first, it contains methane, which is flammable and
explosive. Second, sewer gas can suck the oxygen out of
the house and cause death. Either way, you're in big
trouble, so if you smell sewer gas, don't wait—open the
windows, leave the room, and call a licensed plumber.
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