Septic fields are part of rural living. Every property that is not hooked up to the city's sewer system must have its own septic disposal field to send its liquid waste to.

 

Septic fields are constructed in such a manner as to allow the waste fluids to percolate into the permeable soil and allow the natural bacterial active to further breakdown the fine solids in the effluent.

 

A septic system is comprised of two major parts; 1) the septic tank 2) the septic field. The septic tank is usually a two chamber tank, the solids chamber and the effluent chamber. The first chamber (solids) is where the solid and liquid waste accumulates and by bacterial action is broken down into finer material and liquid. The fine material will fall to the bottom of the tank while the liquid level will build up and spillover into the Effluent chamber.

From the effluent chamber, the liquid can run out a discharge pipe (or by pump) to the septic field into a distribution box, where a series of lateral pipes disperse the liquid evenly throughout the field.

Again bacterial action helps breakdown the waste further as it percolates down into the soil it becomes cleaner and less concentrated. That's how it's been done for many years however over the past several years septic systems are being designed to be much more efficient at breaking waste down.

New septic systems may incorporate aeration pumps and recirculation tanks to render the waste product much more amenable to the environment.

All systems require maintenance. It is a good idea to periodically pump out the septic tank at least every 5 years to prevent build up.

We recommend using a bacterial enhancer to add the good bacteria which breakdown the waste and prevent slime forming bacteria which can plug pipes and the field. BioOne is a bacteria enhancer that we sell that I can personally recommend. I have seen plugged fields use this product and within days become functional again. Use it on a monthly maintenance basis to prevent costly septic repairs.