Your septic system is more than a tank — it also consists of a drain field where wastewater exits. This major component of your system ensures the tank doesn’t fill up. Like with the tank, this aspect of your septic setup requires proper maintenance.

Significance of Your Drain field

Also known as a leach bed, the drain field serves the purpose of filtering and treating wastewater. Effluent enters the drain field, which contains gravel, sand, or another material that lets the water pass through. The soil in the leach bed has bacteria and other microorganisms that decompose contaminants and purify the water. The soil absorbs all this purified wastewater.

How to Properly Care for Your Drain field

Caring for your leach bed properly requires a few maintenance steps to ensure it continues to function as it should.

Have Your Septic Tank Pumped Routinely

As a general rule, you need your septic tank pumped every three to five years or when it’s about 20%-30% full. The factors that affect the frequency include your water usage, household size, maintenance routine, and tank size.

If you don’t schedule a septic pumping regularly, the tank will fill, and you’ll end up with solid waste in your leach bed.

Schedule Habitual Inspections

During a routine inspection, a septic professional can check for leaks, clogged pipes, or damage that could impact your drain field. The examination of your setup, including your leach bed, can detect problems early enough that the fixes will be less costly because you’ll avoid serious damage to your system.

These inspections are also excellent times to have your tank pumped or at least determine if it’s necessary yet.

Correct Root Intrusion Early

If you notice you have any shrubs or trees growing in the area, remove them immediately. The roots can block and damage the pipes, possibly leading to poor drainage and backup.

Regulate Water Usage

You’ll overwhelm your leach bed if you use too much water. Once your drain field has too much water, it’ll become saturated. Then, it won’t be able to filter effluent as well.

While taking shorter showers and fewer baths helps, it’s also wise to do the following:

• Invest in low-flow faucets, toilets, and showerheads.
• Space out laundry loads.
• Spread out shower times.
• Run your dishwasher and washing machine on full loads only.
• Purchase high-efficiency appliances.

Avoid expensive repairs and downtime from using water by maintaining your drain field. These tips will help, especially when you hire a septic specialist for routine pumping and inspections.

Schedule routine septic services with Tampa Septic Inc., serving Tampa, FL and nearby regions. We’ll keep your leach bed and septic system working as they should.