A well-maintained septic system will remain clear and free flowing for many years. As a general rule for a typical home in Connecticut, your tank should be pumped every 2 years. Without regular cleaning, the system will eventually clog or fail which can be very expensive to repair or replace.
How Septic Cleaning Works
Cleaning
When we clean your septic tank, we first evaluate how much scum and sludge has accumulated over time. We then break up the scum layer and mix it into the liquid. Once the scum is released, we then stir the sludge up with the remaining liquid and remove everything remaining from the tank. Sometimes, if there are many people living in the house or your tank hasn’t been cleaned in a while, it may also need to be backflushed. Backflushing is where we actually pump some liquid back into your tank during the cleaning process to dislodge heavy or caked material so it can be vacuumed out.
Checking The System
Before closing the septic tank, we check the inlet and outlet baffles to be sure they are properly in place. If they are not intact, they will need to be replaced so that your septic system will function properly. Inlet and outlet baffles are in place so that the scum layer must stay in the tank and can not clog a line or go out into the drainfield. To help with future cleaning, a Riser should be installed on the tank.
Locating Your Septic System
If you do not know where your tank is located we can help you. We acquire an “As built” from the town if available. If not, there are a couple of options available, from probing the ground with a metal rod to find the tank, to flushing a sensor down the toilet and following it with a hand held device that tracks the signal to the septic tank.
