Septic tank. The term doesn’t ring happy thoughts or images, does it? But it should. A septic tank is the lifeline, heart and soul of any septic system. Without a stable septic system, society will crumble to a pile of rotting solid wastes and methane gas. The septic tank is your vanguard for fundamental cleanliness and sanitation.
A septic tank is usually a small-scale septic treatment system with no connections to the main sewage pipes provided by the local government or private corporations. Many of these septic tanks are set up by households for private use; in fact, about 25 percent of households in North America are rigged to private septic tanks. These include homes in small towns and in the suburbs.
Just about every household needs to be connected to a septic tank, whether private or local. You can’t run a safe and clean home if all your solid wastes eventually end up in the backyard.
Septic Tank Maintenance
Proper preventive maintenance is a must if you want your septic tank last at least a couple of years. Many of these maintenance equipment—sand filters, alarms, pumps, peat moss beds, ponds, septic drain fields—are required by law, but are rarely installed.
It’s human nature to just install a septic tank and be done with it—a one-time handling thing. Nobody ever wants anything to do with a smelly septic tank, and that’s when things turn sour. The rotting solid waste content tends to reduce the efficiency of the tank to handle the stuff over long periods of the time, and eventually a costly repair, or even a replacement, will be required.
So how about that for not taking good care of your septic tank? The local septic tank is government-maintained and free for anyone to use. However, if you’re looking to set up your own private septic system, then do a good job with it and clean it regularly.