Simple mistakes that homeowners make could cost them thousands in septic tank repairs. In this article, Arizona-based Advanced Septic Solutions owner Clarke Watson explains the most common reasons why septic tank problems occur, as well as how to avoid them.
At Advanced Septic Solutions, we get calls to repair all kinds of septic problems every day. By far, though, the simplest kind of blockage that we see pretty often is a problem caused by tree roots. That is, when a person’s tree, or other plant material, grows deeper and creates a blockage in the septic system.
Other reasons that people end up calling us is because they have driven over their septic tank by accident or, in some cases, built on top of it. People have actually done that. Usually they did not realize where the system was under the ground, and it is just done without their knowledge. So they end up having to call a septic system contractor to come repair the problem.
And then, of course, you have the simple thing that people do every day that causes problems with their system—putting things in the septic tank that do not belong. The term F.O.G. stands for fat, oil, and grease. Those three things, or any combination of them, should never be put down into a septic system. As a homeowner, you never want to dump fat, oil, or grease down you drain because those substances have the tendency to act like a wax and coat the inside of the tank and pipes.
Eventually, if this goes on for too long, the F.O.G. substances will cause major problems with your septic system. Not only will they clog the tank and the pipes, but they will make it so nothing else can get through which can create major backups.
Of course, it can be difficult to drill this into people’s heads because so many people grew up just putting fat and grease right down the drain. It’s a cooking style, so you have to really teach people that they need to change how they clean up after cooking their foods and avoid dumping their oils down the drain.
Baby wipes are another product that people put down into their septic system too often. Baby wipes are not something that should be flushed, ever. They do not break down, and they can cause major blockage problems.
One thing that has improved over the past few years is chemical use. Few people dump chemicals down their drains like they used to. Most people are a lot more aware of the dangers of doing things like that.
You still hear about people changing their oil and dumping it into the sewer, which is obviously not a great thing. But overall people do not do that if they have a septic tank nearly as much as they used to.
If you can avoid planting trees or building structures on top of your septic system, and also avoid dumping hazardous substances down in the tank at the same time, then you are in a much better position to avoid having to call a septic system contractor to do emergency work, which is always a good thing from a homeowner’s perspective.
