Something as simple as a leaky toilet could lead to major trouble with a homeowner’s septic system, which is why Clarke Watson takes the time in this article to explain exactly what homeowners should do to avoid problems that are going to be expensive to repair. As the owner of Advanced Septic Solutions, he has overseen the installation and repair of hundreds of septic systems during his lengthy career.
A leaky toilet could be putting way too much water into your septic system on a daily basis. Up to 200 extra gallons a day per toilet, in fact, could be going into your system depending on the specifics like the water pressure in your home and the cause of the leak in question.
That extra water could lead to a couple of different issues with your septic system, none of which are particularly good. If too much water is going into your leech field, and that area is becoming overtaxed, then you will have a definite problem on your hands. That is probably the biggest reason why a leaky toilet would hurt your septic system.
When a leaky toilet lets water continuously run into your system, the system itself never gets to rest. It just has a constant flow of water going into it, which in a sense is stirring the tank on a 24/7 basis.
Why is that a problem? Because when your septic system is running normally, and none of your toilets are leaking, then your septic tank gets a chance to settle each night while nobody is awake. The fat, the oil, and the grease — also known as F.O.G. — will all float to the top during that time, and the heavier materials will sink to the bottom. In between those two things is the water, which will escape into your leech bed.
Now, if your system is constantly running and water is continuously flowing into it, then your tank never has a chance to settle. So the solids, or the particles, will continue floating and they will stay mixed in with the water and the F.O.G. because they have not been able to settle on the bottom of the tank. What ends up happening because of that, then, is that those particles will end up going out with the water into the leech area, which is a major problem.
So, to answer the question for people who still might not be sure why a leaky toilet needs to be fixed right away or how it could be hurting their septic system at all, these are the two main reasons:
- If you have a leaky toilet running all the time, then you are putting too much water into your septic system. That water, in turn, can overtax your leech area and cause problems that will need to be fixed.
- If you have an older system in particular, then the solids or particles that are floating in the water have a big chance of getting stuck in your filter or clogging your leech field when they go out with the water. That, again, is going to be a costly problem to solve.
If you are at all concerned about having a leaky toilet or other fixture, it is important to have it checked out right away to ensure that it is not beginning to cause an even larger issue with your entire septic system.
