Maintaining Septic Systems In The Winter
Before we start discussing the tips for winterizing your septic system, let’s try to understand the entire concept behind how your sewage system works. Well, a septic system is nothing but an individual home sewage treatment system which is used extensively by the people especially in those areas which are located quite far from the main sewage line that’s maintained by the local government authorities. In other words, since some areas fail to get the access to the principal sewer line, people out there opt for small-scale individual septic systems for processing or managing the wastewater from their houses.
Sewage treatment is actually a very instrumental method of detaching or separating contaminants from the wastewater that comes from your house and gets accumulated in the septic tank. Both biological and chemical methods are used for removing the contaminants from household sewage.
Your septic system consists of multiple parts which are provided below
- Household plumbing
- The sewer line that carries the household waste from your house
- The septic tank wherein the household wastewater is dumped by the sewer line
- The outlet sewer pipe that carries the water from the septic tank to drain field
- The soil treatment unit
- Septic drain field
- Other important parts include sand filters, pumps, and alarms
Proper Maintenance Of These Parts Is Very Important During Winter
The effective maintenance of all the aforementioned parts is extremely important for the smooth functioning of your sewage treatment unit. Even if one of these parts stops functioning effectively due to the harsh winter weather you will face enormous issues at home.
Sewage treatment systems are generally designed, installed and maintained by the people according to the Plumbing Code of a particular state. Therefore, while designing and installing your own sewage system, you need to make sure that your septic tank is located at a reliable place which is easily accessible by people.
Winterize Your Septic Tank By Insulating It
Considering the fact that your septic tank performs some of the most important tasks it surely becomes your responsibility to winterize it before the cold spell hits your area. Since the process of eliminating the contaminants from the household wastewater takes place in the septic tank, you must stop it from freezing, which can eventually put a check to both the chemical and biological reactions that happen in it. The process of bacterial decomposition that takes place in the tank helps in detaching the solids from liquids. Once they are effectively detached, liquids are transported to the soil treatment site, however, all solids are collected in the tank itself. Since your tank is nothing but a bioreactor, wherein the process of bacterial decomposition converts the waste material into solid, liquid and gases after which they are effectively handled. The solids contained in the tank consists of both scum and sludge, and since the former is too light weight it ends up floating on the surface of the tank, whereas the latter one accumulates at its bottom.
In order to protect your septic tank from freezing, you can use an insulating cover. In fact, the insulating cover is not only important for your tank but also for drain field and the trench when it comes when it comes to trapping the heat and safeguarding the entire system. The heat provided by the insulating cover helps in raising the Bacterial Metabolism, which makes it easier for the bacteria to break down the organic waste. However, if you fail to cover the tank with a proper insulating cover it will end up freezing the whole tank.
Try To Prevent Soil and Snow Compaction
If you want your system to work efficaciously, then you must take necessary steps to prevent the occurrence of soil and snow compaction over your septic tank. This happens when you either keep on driving on top of the soil and snow repeatedly or put the heavy weight on it. Snow compaction can be described as the densification of snow due to a variety of external factors.
Stop Treating Your Sewage System As A Dustbin
Keep an eye on what you dump in your drains as that can create a lot of obstacles to the smooth functioning of your sewage system. What generally happens is people generally end up dumping every possible thing in their drains and toilets such as food, cigarette butts, toiletries, cotton pads, sanitary pads and much more which create blockages and end up filling the septic tank very quickly.
Pump Your Tank
For enhancing the effectiveness of your septic tank it’s important to pump it at regular intervals, otherwise, the excessive formation of scum and sludge can create huge problems for the drain field.
Avoid Chemical Cleaners
If you really want to improve the way your sewage system functions, make sue that you minimise the use of chemical cleaners for unblocking your drain pipes as that harms them badly. So, whenever you come across a drain blockage problem you can use eco-friendly cleaners to fix the problem.
Last but not the least clean your septic tank before the winter sets in for avoiding the complications during frosty winter weather.
Author Bio:
Martin Kelvin is an extremely passionate writer who love enriching the knowledge of people about blocked drains and related problems through his enlightening posts. Apart from expressing his views on drainage problems, he also enjoys writing about fashion and travel.
