The Importance of Proper Septic Tank Cleaning and Pumping

Have you ever wondered what happens to all the food scraps and other debris that makes their way down your drains? Eventually, it all ends up in a septic tank or sewer. Septic tanks are a type of simple onsite sewage facility. Typically they are stored underground, and their main function is to collect sewage and allow it to decompose through bacterial activity before draining via a leaching field. However, the accumulation of debris is usually faster than the rate of decomposition, so regular cleaning is required. The importance of septic tank maintenance is vastly underestimated and often overlooked by homeowners. Here are five benefits of hiring a septic tank pumping company to properly clean your home’s septic tank.

1. Catch Problems Early on

Septic professionals know what small problems to be on the lookout for when they are pumping your septic tank. If these problems are left unattended, they can rapidly progress into much larger issues. Cracks in the tank and growing blockages in your pipes can cause overflow and other costly damage. That’s why regular inspections from certified septic tank companies are so important to ensure your home’s plumbing is working correctly.

2. Change Bad Habits

Caring for a septic tank requires you to change some bad habits. Flushing feminine hygiene products and wet wipes, overusing your garbage disposal, and rinsing paints or pesticides down the drain can severely impact your septic tank. When you hire a team of professionals from a septic tank company, they will help you understand which lifestyle habits you need to change in order to better care of your septic tank.

3. Worry Less About Sewage Backups

Have you ever had a sewage backup in your home or yard? If you have, than you know what happens when you allow your septic tank to become too full. Raw sewage is full of bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can do a lot of harm to people and release noxious odors in the air. Sewage exposure can lead to serious illnesses like Hepatitis A, and minor reactions involve nausea, vomiting, fever and diarrhea. If you haven’t recently had your septic tank pumped, you should look into septic tank pumping companies.

4. Free Flowing Drains

Not only can a full septic tank cause sewage backup, but it can also impact the speed of your drains. While waiting for a slow drain won’t make you sick like a sewage backup will, it is definitely an inconvenience. Who wants to stand in a pool of water while they shower? Or wait a half hour for their kitchen sink to drain? Why make things harder than they should be when you could have your tank pumped regularly by a professional from a septic tank pumping company.

5. Manage Costs

When you delay septic tank maintenance, you might think you are saving some cash but you are actually prolonging a necessary task that can lead to problems which cost thousands of dollars to repair. If you ignore cracks and leaks in your tank, you won’t have time to budget for repairs, because a sewage backup can happen quickly and replacing your tank is not cheap. With regular pumping and tank cleaning, Septic Tank Pumping Companies can help you avoid wasting your precious time and money.

Do’s and Don’ts of Grease Trap Cleaning

When working in the food service industry you will inevitably have to deal with grease traps for your business. The issue with not maintaining your grease traps is it can lead to a disaster, resulting in drains backing up, sewer blockages, and the resulting fines from such occurrences. Avoiding issues is easy though, as grease trap cleaning in regular intervals can solve most potential problems, and hiring a professional makes sure the process is completed properly.

Do: Train Staff to Remove Solids and Debris

A major cause of clogs is solid food waste and large debris getting into your grease traps. You should train your staff to remove those things before any grease it poured down your kitchen’s traps, otherwise they can cause a blockage and you will have to schedule a professional cleaning (ahead of schedule) to clear your grease trap.

Don’t: Use Chemicals and Other Enzymes to Clean Your Grease Trap

Grease traps already contain enzymes required for breaking down fats, oils and greases that are deposited into them. If you pour in other chemicals or enzymes in an attempt to clear your own grease trap, you may damage the existing enzymes which will ruin the trap and potentially harm the environment in the process. Many products will not actually break down grease, resulting in it being separated from the water and then traveling into the wastewater systems to cause clogs further down the line.

Do: Install Your Grease Trap Properly

It’s important to make sure you have a properly installed and appropriately sized grease trap for it to function properly. If your grease trap is too slow to drain, or you find little to no fats, oils and grease in your grease trap when you check it, immediately contact your installer to assess the situation.

Don’t: Pour Boiling Water into the Grease Trap

Never pour boiling water into your grease trap as a replacement for great trap cleaning, or for any other reason, as it will liquefy the fats, oils and grease within your grease trap and release them into the sewers where they will congeal again and cause blockages over time.

Do: Schedule Regular Maintenance

The best method for keeping your grease trap in tip-top shape it to schedule regular maintenances for it. In addition to that, you should regularly inspect your grease trap to ensure it doesn’t need more frequent cleaning and that it is properly functioning. You should also keep a clear written record of all maintenance done on your grease traps, including cleanings.

Don’t: Link Grease Trap to Garbage Disposal

Do not link your grease trap to any garbage disposal as garbage disposals are not designed to handle grease in large volumes. Not only that, grease traps are not designed to handle garbage in general, even if it has been pulverized and shredded. If any garbage has made its way into the grease trap, schedule a grease trap cleaning as soon as possible.

Do: Hire Professionals for Grease Trap Cleaning

To avoid any issues that could arise when you attempt to clean your own grease traps and to ensure proper safe disposal of your grease, you should hire professionals for your grease trap cleaning needs. For efficient and clean grease trap cleaning services contact Drane Ranger today.