HOW IT WORKS
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Septic – What Does That Mean? It indicates that there is no oxygen present in the septic tank’s environment. Or the situation has become septic. Why is this crucial? We need to keep in mind the purpose of wastewater treatment. Before releasing wastewater into the environment, we must eliminate three crucial species of bacteria.
1. To thrive, aerobic bacteria and pathogens require oxygen
2. Anaerobic bacteria and pathogens must exist in the absence of oxygen.
3. Facultative Bacteria and Pathogens: These are more difficult to eliminate because they are oxygen-independent.
How do we now handle all three? Well.
1. Aerobic bacteria and pathogens should be eliminated in the septic tank. Because it is a septic tank, the effluent would have a dissolved oxygen reading of zero. That’s correct, the water in that area won’t have any dissolved oxygen. As a result, the aerobic bacteria die here. But let’s not overlook the additional justification for septic tanks. Its purpose is to keep liquid and particles apart so that only liquids can get into the drainfield. Your septic tank will lose this capacity if you let it fill up too much, sending solids to the drainfield instead, essentially blocking it up and necessitating repair.(Now that I’ve been asked this) Why does the septic tank need repair if the bottom is leaking? What’s the difference if the sewage leaks from the drainfield or the septic tank? Please keep in mind that the sewage must be treated in a septic tank for 72 hours in order to destroy the aerobic bacteria that are present in human wastewater and to clarify it. Without sufficient facultative, anaerobic, or aerobic treatment, the water that leaks from the tank will simply go into the earth. We cannot skip any of these processes since doing so could harm the environment and really ill people. Oh, and you might even taint your own well water.
2. Anaerobic Bacteria and Pathogens: These don’t like oxygen and will die in the presence of oxygen. In a traditional septic system’s drainfield. It is the drainrock that was installed that they die here. Pretty much as soon as they hit the drainrock. Now beneath the drainrock there is soil, but that’s the next and final step.
3. Facultative Bacteria and Pathogens: These are completely unconcerned about oxygen. They will live on anyway. However, they become stuck in the soil below the drainrock due to simple friction. and pass away. All of them escaped the drainrock by a mere six inches. Pretty awesome, huh?The left side of the image is where waste enters the tank. The baffle is the name of this input pipe. The input baffle’s purpose is to maintain tank silence. The bacteria in a septic tank must be kept motionless since they do not appreciate being stirred up. Therefore, waste enters the effluent Layer through the bottom of the inlet baffle. (Water that has been cleaned by a septic tank is defined as effluent. It isn’t fully treated yet, don’t be fooled.) Solids will float to the surface forming the scum layer, or the solids you see when you open the lid on your tank. Bacteria goes to work right away on the solids breaking it down into sludge. That is what forms on the bottom of the tank. It is a thick black goo. Really gross. As waste is entered into the septic tank, effluent is displaced out the outlet baffle. The outlet baffles funtion is to keep the solids from continuing on. If solids were to get out, it would plug up pumps and drainfield, depending on your system. Either way it is vital in your sewage treatment facility. You may also have an effluent filter in your outlet baffle. It filters down to 1/16th of an inch. An extra addage to be sure solids don’t enter your drainfield, or pumps. For even further details on how it works, click here.
The most fundamental septic system is the one mentioned above. There are a lot more intricate systems out there, so be sure the technician you choose has the right certifications. A link from the University of Minnesota is provided below. David Gustufson and I trained together for many hours, and I have his permission to post a link to him here. He is the best source of information regarding your ATU.
extension.umn.edu Below is a link about Recirculating Media Filters. These are top of the line for removing nitrates in our waste. In case you were wondering Nitrates are poisonous to children and many have died before the advent of septic systems. Thanks to our greater understanding of how septic systems work, and continuing education to make them better, we have not had a nitrate death in over 80 year.
extension.umn.edu
You now have a massive mound in your yard if you have a sand mound filter. Please refrain from trying to level it. To function, it needs the slope’s integrity. Your wastewater is primarily treated by evaporation rather than ground absorption. Sand mounds may become wet if they are overloaded or if an improperly installed pump is discharging an excessive amount of effluent, or “dirty water,” onto the sand mound. Though it’s quite unlikely for all of these to be necessary, you could need to repair an on/off switch, a pump, or some timers.
A sand filter might be present. There are sand filters that have an internal pump and sand filters that don’t. The effluent is then pumped out or released via the sand filter’s bottom into a drainfield. Depending on the grade and whether the drainfield is pressurised or gravity-fed. On the same piece of land, you might have both a sand filter and a sand pile. Depending on how well your soil can handle sewage. In most cases, a wet sand filter is nothing to get too excited about, but it does need to be fixed quickly. See, the bacteria in a sand filter require oxygen because it is an aerobic environment. They will drown and cause a variety of problems if it submerges. In order to alert you to any issues in those areas, we also inspect the pumps and alarms during our maintenance checks.
Septic Systems on Timed Control Dosing.
Okay,
Today, I got a call from a nice lady confused of why she needed a septic inspection when it was only a year old. I can totally understand the why. She paid over 15,000 dollars for this septic system, why does it need inspected all ready. She stated that it was a basic septic system, and doesn’t know what all the fuss was about. I told her it’s a real good idea to have your septic system inspected periodically to be sure it is functioning as designed.
She scheduled, and I came out. I came out to find a pretty complicated septic system. There is a computer running the whole show, and someone had opened it up and messed with the timers.
This is a septic pump control panel. It regulates when the pump turns on and off. Now, at this site, this septic system was designed to time-dose only 20 gallons of effluent into a sand filter every 1 hour and 45 minutes. And it is set to run in this mode indefinitely. There isn’t a flow gauge or flow metre inline, so how do you know how much water is being pumped? Here’s when things start to get a little complicated.
You must first determine the pump tank’s volume. LxWxH. Your volume in cubic feet is that. We measured 3 feet by 6 feet by 4 feet inside this tank. 72 cubic feet is how much. We must now change cubic feet into gallons. 7.48 gallons are included in each cubic foot. Thus, we divide by two. So, we now have 538 gallons. We must now calculate the gallons per inch. 4 feet is the depth of the tank, therefore we divide 538 by 48 inches. We now have our gallons per inch. water density of 11 gallons per inch.
We can now see how vigorously the pump is operating. I measured how deep the water was in the tank. The pump was then activated for exactly one minute. I need to know how many times per minute this pump operates. In one minute, I achieved a drawdown of 5 inches. We are pumping 55 gallons per minute at 11 gallons per inch. The pump is operating well, and the sandfilter is taking in water at a respectable rate.
Here’s where the issue arises. The septic pump’s on-time was 1 minute, 45 seconds, as I discovered. Over 90 litres are used in each dose. This is almost four times the permissible level above the maximum. This now made sense to both the homeowner and me as to why the sandfilter was so wet. It was being hit all at once far too hard. Remember that the 20-gallon per dose capacity of this septic system was intended. This system was rapidly on its way to collapse. It had just been around for a year.
Here’s a picture of the septic system with the lids opened.
The solids handling tank has a cover that is closest to me. Nearly nobody was there. Zero sludge and one inch of scum. The clarifying compartment is the second compartment. Additionally, it had no muck or mud in it. However, this one has a filter that needs to be cleaned. In a moment, I’ll show you a photo of that.
The pump chamber has the furthest-reaching lid. The surge tank’s purpose is to collect enough wastewater to send it to the sandfilter. However, the only dosage was 20 litres every hour and 45 minutes.
Typically, the first two compartments of this septic tank need to be pumped. If used properly, approximately every five years. The time between septic pumpings might easily be 15 years if only one person used this system. This would be pumped more regularly in a family of nine or more people. occasionally each or two years. Keep in mind that this system can only do tasks that it was intended to handle. This particular prototype has a daily capacity of 360 gallons of wastewater handling. And yes, this sum does cover washing, cleaning, bathing, and showers. If you go over the limit with a system like this, an alarm will sound and ask you to slow down until it can catch up.
I perform a functional alarm check as part of the inspection. We want to make sure that if something is off, it will let you know. All alarms have a silent switch. Please understand that this does not imply that you corrected it. It indicates that you are aware of the alarm and taking action to address it.
One homeowner tossed it trash because he was sick of having to clean it every year. The filter is intended to catch particles that would otherwise enter the sand filter and clog it up. And sure, after 5 years, he had clogged up his sandfilter and needed to be replaced. An additional $5,000–$7,000 will be needed for a new sand filter. things would seem that I would keep things contained and tidy.
Septic Sand Filters:
Okay, so you might be wondering why and how it functions if you own one of these.
I should start by asking why I have a sand filter. I find it difficult to respond to such question. It’s possible that you have a tiny property and need to pre-treat your septic system before releasing waste into your drainfield. It might also indicate that the soil where you live is absorbing water too quickly and not treating it first before releasing it into the groundwater. Ew, keep in mind that’s where our water supply is. Alternately, you can have waste that needs additional processing to reduce its strength to that of household waste.
It is really hard to see this sand filter. But the lush growth in the grass is it. And the open green whole is where the septic pump is housed. Geographically the wastewater gets to the sand filter via a pump just after the septic tanks. There are five distribution lines on this sand filter that extends the entire surface of the sandfilter. The lines are located just beneath the soil. At the end of the sand filter there are flush-ports. It is not necessary to have these installed but it is a really good idea.
I can flush the sand filter lines annually at inspection time if the flush ports are fitted. septic pump and sand filter life extension. Remember that the pump’s role is to clean the lines with water volume and pressure in addition to just moving water from one location to another across the sandfilter.
I remove the pipe’s lid and start the pump in the pump tank. the sand filter, not so. Any accumulation in the pipe is ejected. also keeps things tidy. Septic tanks that go too long between pumpings rarely accumulate. In the lines, bacteria often grow and multiply. Every time the pump turns on, this is what is cleaned out. and now begins to build. If left running for too long, it will clog and burn out a pump.
Pressurized Drainfields
The drainfield comes in two varieties. I’ll demonstrate pressurised drainfields right now. Gravity Drainfields is the name of the additional one. What causes the pressure in your drainfield? However, there are certain drainfields that are high up on a hill somewhere, and you need to push water to them. However, gravity is still an option in some cases. Just ask, and I’ll answer. Okay, so why choose gravity over pressure. Because pressurised septic drainfields process wastewater more effectively, I support them. A long, black dome is typically put on top of three or four trenches that have been sunk into the ground. Over the entire trench, there is a long piece of PVC pipe with holes every three inches. In this manner, the pump fills the drainfield lines and sprays the black plastic domes’ tops. The water mist then uniformly covers the trench’s bottom. throughout the drainfield’s whole surface. These are significantly simpler to maintain and, with the right care, will last much longer.
One line of the three is working less than the other two. This will cause the other two to treat more wastewater then they were designed for and will cause that drainfield to lose years of life, causing a premature failure.
It is a simple adjustment to get them back to equal, there is a valve at the headworks that needs a minor adjustment.
I didn’t need to dig it up on this site, as all lines were equal. I will post one as it comes available.
Septic Pressurized Drainfield’s Flush Port
Also if the pump starts pumping at an unacceptable rate, and starts drooling the water into the drainfield, then the water will not clean the lines. Some may call this scouring of the lines. They both mean the same thing. This is why we always test the pump, to make sure it is working good enough to keep the lines clean. If not, then we replace it before it plugs something up.
I finished flushing the drainfield after flushing out the last few lines.