Septic Pumping
Septic Tank Pumping
How Often to Pump Septic Tank?
Ideally, a septic tank should be pumped every 3-5 years. Depending on the use, you may need to pump more often but we do not often recommend going over five years as this could do damage to your drain field that will go undetected until it is too late.
How to Check if Septic Tank is Full?
By nature, your septic tank is always full of liquid waste. Once it is full of solid waste is when you will start to experience problems. Again, ideally, you want to be pumping your septic tank for maintenance and not getting to the point of back up. However, there are a few signs that can tell you a back up is coming. Any slow drainage from sources of water in your house, any gurgling in your toilets, and sometimes smells can all indicate that your septic tank needs pumped. If you have a newer system and have a clean out pipe, which is a 3-4” pvc pipe sticking out of the ground, you can look in that to see if trouble is ahead. If water is coming up that pipe instead of flowing freely towards your tank, that indicates that the septic needs to be looked at.
What are the steps for Septic Tank Pumping?
Firehouse Septic Fayetteville specializes in septic tank service in Fayette County. Our septic tank pumping service includes several steps.
Here are the steps we take for every septic tank pumping service.
Get the Septic Drawing:
To begin with Firehouse Septic Fayetteville will contact the county office of environmental health to obtain your unique septic diagram (https://fayettecountyga.gov/health/environmental/). This will allow us to know as much about your Septic System as we can before our arrival as well as to help locate your septic tank quickly which can help keep the septic tank pumping cost lower.
Call 811 For Property Locates:
Prior to ever arriving at the service location, Firehouse Septic Fayetteville, contacts Georgia 811 to have all Fayetteville, GA property addresses marked for potential underground utilities. (https://geocall.ga811.com/geocall/portal)
Locate the Septic Tank:
The next step is to use a probe to locate exactly where your septic tank is on your property. This will ensure that during the septic tank maintenance process, the ground is disturbed only in the appropriate areas causing as little disruption as possible.
Excavate the Ground Over the Septic Tank Lids:
We use a mini excavator on treads to remove any dirt impeding the access to your septic tank lids. Depending upon the year your septic system was installed, we will need to dig multiple small lids that need to be accessed or at least one large lid.
Pump the Waste
During this part of the septic tank cleaning, we will aerate the solids so that they can be removed through three inch hoses going to our vacuum truck. The septic tank will be pumped till it is emptied.
Clean the Filter (if applicable)
If you have a newer style tank, I may contain a septic tank filter on the outlet side of the tank. In this case, we will have dug one hole for each side of the tank. At this point, we will remove the filter, clean it, and reinstall it all included in one septic tank pumping cost.
Asses the Tank
While we are completing our septic tank service we will complete a visual inspection on all parts of the septic tank and septic system. This is where we will inform the customer if any septic tank repair is necessary.
Bury the Tank Back Up
At this point, we are almost done with the septic tank service. We will use the mini excavator to fill in the holes. We try our best to make the ground as flat and compacted as possible. However, there will not be grass left where there holes were located.
What to Do After Septic Tank is Pumped:
After having your septic tank pumped, you can use your water as normal. For proper septic tank maintenance, do not put anything down your drains / toilets that should not go down. If you have a garbage disposal, use it as sparingly as possible. Do not flush anything other than toilet paper down the toilets. Flushable wipes may say they are septic safe, but they are not. If you treat your system well then the only other thing you should do after pumping is have it pumped again in the proper amount of time.