Septic vs Sewer |Tony’s Drain and Sewer Cleaning

Previously we covered the importance of getting the sewers of a potential new home inspected. Another important topic to consider when buying a new home is whether the house has a sewer or septic system. Here at Tonys Drain and Sewer Cleaning, we believe that the more you know about your house sewer system, the better you will be able to solve or avoid and sewer problems. This post septic vs sewer will briefly cover the differences between a septic system and a sewer system.

A septic tank is a watertight container buried underground. The septic tank is normally found 20 to 25 feet away from the house. The tank can be made of concrete, fiberglass, or polyethylene. The wastewater from your home travels through a pipe and flows to the septic tank. The septic tank is divided into two tanks. The tanks are known as the primary tank and the secondary tank. Sewage water goes through the main pipe to the primary tank where solids are separated and contained, allowing only water to pass through to the secondary tank.

The primary tank requires a chemical additive to destroy the solid materials. If you do not use a chemical additive, the septic tank will become full rapidly. By using a chemical additive, you are ensuring that only water passes through to the secondary tank and not solids. Once the solids have been separated, the water goes through a pipe connected to the secondary tank. That pipe takes the water to the yard. The pipe has orifices that allow water to escape into the soil.

Despite performing regular maintenance on your septic tank, it will eventually get full. It will usually get full after three years of use. However, the time it takes for the tank to get full depends on the number of people living in the home. The greater number of people that live in the home and the amount of water waste contributes to how fast your tank will get full.

Once the septic tank is full, there will be no way to use any other drains in the house. By that we mean you will not be able to use your toilets, kitchen sinks, bathroom sinks, etc. If you are no longer able to use any of the for mentioned utilities in your home, it is time to call a professional septic tank service company.

The technicians of a professional septic service company will suck up all the sludge in the septic tank. They will use special equipment to remove all the sludge until the tank is completely clean and as a result, all the drains in your home will be restored to their full working capacity.

Having public sewer service or a public sewer system contrast greatly with having a septic tank system. However, both systems share similarities. Similarly as in a septic system, there is a four-inch pipe that leads from the house to another source. The difference is that in a public sewer system, that pipe connects to the citys public sewer line instead of to a private septic tank. Both public sewer system and septic tanks allow for sewage water to be removed form your home. As the name inclines, a public sewer system is shared by all the homes in the neighborhood and surrounding vicinity. The wastewater your neighbors produce ends up in the same place as the wastewater you produce.

The maintenance of a public sewer system is relatively simple, especially compared to that of a septic tank. You may not experience any sewer related problems or have to perform any maintenance for up to half a decade! However, this all depends on the type of material the sewer system is made out of. The frequency of problems and maintenance differs among the types of materials, which include clay, metal, and PVC.

If you being experiencing clogs and backups, it may be due to obstructions in your drain lines that lead to the sewer. Tree roots likely cause these obstructions. Currently pipes and drain lines are connected with a special type of glue but the pipes of older systems where just interlocked into place with out any glue. Since there was no glue, tree roots are able to get into the interlocking joints of the pipes.

As consequence, it causes sewage/waste water to inefficiently drain from your home to the city sewer. In order for wastewater to once again properly leave your home, you must remove the tree roots. Inserting an electric rotating machine commonly referred to as a sewer snake or rodding machine, down the obstructed drain or sewer line, will remove the tree roots. Other materials such as grease, excess toilet paper flushing, and hair can obstruct drain and sewer lines.

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Septic vs Sewer |Tony's Drain and Sewer Cleaning