
How often should you clean your septic tank?
For homes in rural areas, there aren’t city services like sewer systems and water. That’s why these homes have water wells for water and septic systems for sewage. However, both take some maintenance and upkeep such as well water treatment and septic tank cleaning.
In this piece, we will answer common questions about septic tank cleaning and maintenance, after we explain how a septic tank works. Questions like, “Where does septic tank waste go?”. Like the city sewer system, a septic tank takes the dirty water coming from your bathrooms, kitchen, and laundry room.
It is a seven-step process:
- Wastewater from the bathroom, kitchen, laundry comes from the house and flows into the septic tank.
- Inside the septic tanks are anaerobic bacteria that break down part of the waste.
- The inorganic material, the solid waste, settles to the bottom while the liquid waste rises to the top, including fats, grease, and oils.
- The liquid wastewater seeps into an area outside the septic tank through perforated pipes called a drain field.
- Aerobic bacteria clean this wastewater.
- The clean water drains into groundwater.
- Over time, the septic tank fills up and is emptied by a contractor.
Can I clean my septic tank myself?
Sure, but it isn’t recommended. If septic tank cleaning isn’t done correctly, the septic tank can be damaged, and the waste improperly disposed. Without the proper equipment, the waste is not completely removed, and the tank will need emptying sooner than it should.
When septic tank cleaning is done by a professional, they will locate the septic tank easier to find the cleanout without damaging your property. They will have the proper equipment and tools for faster septic tank cleaning, and they are able to completely empty the tank.
What happens if you never pump your septic tank?
With each toilet flush, shower taken, load of dishes or laundry, the wastewater and waste are transported by gravity to the septic tank. The wastewater is carried from the septic tank to a drain field, as the solid waste sinks to the tank’s bottom and remains, where it begins to breakdown.
As the waste breaks down, it becomes slime, a sludge type material. This is what the contractor pumps out to prevent the tank from become too full and can’t function correctly. Then the wastewater and overflows into the yard. This creates a septic tank odor around the outside of your home, and the waste could start to back up inside your home, bringing that same odor.
Therefore, septic tank cleaning should never be skipped! That backup sewage is a health hazard for you and your family.
Which septic tank treatment is best?
A natural bacterium is needed for a septic tank to process the waste and wastewater. Once a month, adding a septic tank treatment will boost that natural bacterium so that it can effectively degrading the waste inside the tank. The contractor that empties your tank can suggest the right product to use or the following five products are recommended:
- BEST OVERALL SEPTIC TANK CLEANING: Cabin Obsession Septic Tank Treatment
- BEST BUDGET SEPTIC TANK CLEANING: Green Gobbler Septic Saver Bacteria Enzyme Pacs
- SEPTIC TANK CLEANING FOR CLOGS: Instant Power 1868 Septic Shock
- BEST MONTHLY SEPTIC TANK CLEANING: Walex Bio-Active Septic Tank Treatment
- BEST BULK SEPTIC TANK CLEANING: GREEN PIG 53 Live Septic Tank Treatment
What should you never put in a septic tank?
Like a city sewage system, there are things that shouldn’t ever be flushed or washed into a septic tank because they won’t dissolve, filling the tank faster than necessary:
- Disposable diapers.
- Feminine products
- Cigarette butts.
- Paper towels.
- Plastics.
What will ruin a septic system?
The following is a list of things that can damage a septic tank system:
- Paper Products: Just because it is a “paper product” doesn’t mean you can flush it down the toilet. If it isn’t toilet paper product, it can clog the septic system like tissues, requiring a professional septic tank cleaning service.
- Grease: Cooled or hot grease should never be poured down the drain or flushed down the toilet. Just like city plumbing, grease can damage your pipes and the septic system. Instead, let the grease solidify and then scrape it off in the trash.
- Drain Cleaner: Large amounts of a drain cleaner will corrode the pipes in your home and go into the septic system. In addition, drain cleaning products will kill the bacteria needed for your septic system to process as intended. Yes, you can have too much of a good thing.
- Additives: The enzyme additives advertised for septic tank cleaning will damage your septic system. This enzyme will break down the solids too much, creating smaller particles that float up and then leach into the drain field, creating clogs.
- Cat Litter: Yes, cat litter has cat waste, but that doesn’t make it a flushable material. Cat litter is damaging to plumbing, on city sewer or septic system, when flushed, creating a nasty clog. Cat litter is a clay-based product that should never be flushed or washed through pipes or into a septic tank system.
- Neglecting to Pump: Not having your septic tank pumped on a regular schedule every three to five years, is one of the quickest ways to damage the system. A septic tank cleaning is needed to keep the tank from backing up in to your home and the drain field.
- Planting Trees and Shrubs: A drain field can look boring, but that’s okay. Yes, you want your home to have landscaping and privacy, but planting trees and shrubs is not the answer. The roots will grow into the perforated pipes of the drain field and clog them, disabling the intended purpose of a drain field.
- Washer Lint: No, there isn’t much you can do about the lint coming from your synthetic clothing when washed. While good bacteria and enzymes break down solids, they cannot digest synthetic fibers, which will overload the system, resulting in expensive repairs. Have a lint filter installed on the washing machine is the best solution.
- A Garbage Disposal: A garbage disposal should not be installed in a home that is on a septic system. Yes, they will grind food particles up into small particles, and those particles settle in the tank’s bottom, building up fast and requiring a professional septic tank cleaning service call faster.

In Closing – How long will a septic tank last?
With proper maintenance and routine septic tank cleaning, your septic tank can last up to 30 years. The more proactive with the maintenance, the better your system will work and extend its lifespan.