Never Had Your Septic Tank Inspected? Know What To Expect
Posted on: 26 October 2020
Have you moved into a home that has a septic tank, but never actually had the tank inspected? You may be well overdue to have his essential part of your home's plumbing looked at for potential problems. Here is what you can expect to happen when a professional comes to your home to look at your septic tank.
Locating The Septic Tank
The first step is going to figure out where the septic tank is located underneath your yard. The best technique to do this is to find out where the main sewage is leaving your home. The septic tank inspector can typically follow a straight line out of the home from where this pipe is and eventually find the tank. A probing tool is used to check underground to see if they hit the solid surface of the septic tank.
Digging Up The Ground
Once the septic tank is found, the inspector will need to find the opening of the tank. This is done by using the probing tool to outline the perimeter of the tank. It can be safely assumed that the opening to the tank is near where the sewage line enters the tank, so it will limit the digging area to the side of the tank's outline that faces your home and roughly in the center of that side. Thankfully, septic tanks are not that far underground and will require very little digging if the tank has been properly outlined.
Inspecting The Solid Levels
The inspector will open up the septic tank and see how much solid waste is inside it. If the tank is more than half full, they may recommend pumping the septic tank now that it is open and accessible. If there is very little solid waste, they'll leave the solid waste in the tank.
Inspecting The Pipes
A proper inspection will also involve looking at the quality of the pipes that connect the sewage line to the tank, as well as the tank to the drain field. This can be done with a sewer camera system that will be placed in the septic tank to look at the inside of the lines. They'll be looking for roots that are growing into the drain line, cracks, and other potential problems that can cause the system to fail.
Inspecting The Drain Field
The last thing to check is if liquids are draining out of the septic tank properly. This can be done by filling the tank up with water, which should flow out of the tank and enter the drain field system. They'll look to see if the quality of the drain field is in good condition, and if putting water into it will cause the ground to become saturated. If there is seepage above the ground, it means that there is a problem with the drain field that needs to be corrected.
If you've never had your septic tank inspected, consider hiring a septic tank inspection service to do a thorough job.
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