How Do You Know If You Have A Septic Tank

A sign that you have a septic system is a domed area under the grass.

How do you know if you have a septic tank. If you have a septic system question and want to know how does a septic tank work write to him. He travels the country advocating lecturing and testifying on septic systems. Pooling water is a serious indication that at the very least you need your septic system pumped and inspected immediately. According to the environmental protection agency septic tanks should typically be pumped every 3 to 5 years.

Unless they are leftover from the last easter egg hunt you are likely smelling toxic sulfur. Standing water when a septic tank s full water can start to pool in any number of places around your property. If you can clearly see a single unnatural looking hill fairly close to your home a septic tank is likely to be there. From the tank the waste water either runs to a drainage field a soakaway system or if it s an older system it might run to a watercourse.

One of the easiest clues that your septic tank might be full is when the water in your drains begins to go down slowly. A septic tank an underground tank where the solids sink to the bottom and the liquid. This will depend on the size of your septic tank and the number of people using it. Jim vonmeier believes septic systems are the answer to america s water shortage because they deliver purified water to depleted aquifers.

Click here to read our guide as to how your septic tank works if you want to know more. Keep getting a whiff of rotten eggs in summer. If your house or business is not connected to the mains sewer your sewage will go to one of the following. If you walk outside near where the septic tank is buried and the smell increases it s possible raw sewage has escaped the tank.

Your first thought might be that the pipes are clogged. But the most tell tale of those are around the tank itself and the drainfield. Some septic tanks especially if you live in a mobile home are easy to spot because they are accompanied by a large rectangular or cylindrical lump of earth that covers the drain field. The size of the bump will vary depending on your house and the number of toilets you have but it may be noticeable.

Walk around your yard to look for a large bump in the grass on one side of the house. If you live in the countryside then there s a good chance you ll have a septic tank. Inspect your property carefully. Perhaps the bathtub takes forever to drain or the kitchen sink doesn t drain nearly as fast as it used to.

A pipe runs from your property to the septic tank where the waste is separated into three different layers.