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My parents had their septic tank cleaned out yesterday. It was the first time in 20 years. Apparently you're supposed to have it done every 5 to 10 years. We have been in our house for 5 years now. Does anyone have experience with cleaning out a septic tank?
Septic tanks are all different. What matters most is what you put in them. Grease, chlorine or anything that will kill bacteria or stick to pipes is bad for them. Certain types of toilet paper do not biodegrade quickly or in some cases at all. These can float on top of the water in the tank and eventually stop the flow from coming into the tank. Paper hand towels should not be flushed. I could go on, but you probably get the idea.
As long as the bacteria is alive and well in your tank, it will take care of the human solids. The paper will degrade if it's the right kind and the effluent water will drain out into the leach field and drain away.
Some people need their tank pumped yearly and others go for many years trouble free. It's all in how you treat the system.
I found this page to be helpful: Septic Tank Maintenance Suggestions
Our septic tank is pumped every 6 months. We live in a mobile home park. The leach field is not working properly, so the tanks back up and need to be drained all the time. It's a real pain in the butt.
Thanks for the information. I might be dreaming but I think I remember my husband buying some kind of a bacteria granule or something and dumping it into the toilet a year or two ago. We didn't talk about it much so I don't remember a lot about it. I'll have to ask him.
We do that about every three months. They say to do it once a month but ours does well if we do it on or own schedule. Our leech bed isn't working properly either and the drainage is coming up to the top. We have to have the whole leech bed done over again. It's going to be costly!