Septic System Maintenance: Fill & Download for Free

If you live in rural America your view of things will be different from the view of an urban resident. My experience is in rural Minnesota. You get very few of the services that urbanites expect. You are responsible for your own sewage system and pay all the costs (septic system in my case), your are responsible for your garbage removal, you may even pay for your own snow removal. You often live on a dirt or gravel road and maintenance is simply having a road grader smooth out the surface.In urban areas that I have lived in (NJ, CT, TN), it is often quite clear who provides your services. That may not be true in rural areas. When I moved here, it wasn’t clear who provided phone services and it was only after being here 2 years that any broadband service was available. Our garbage collection company ‘fired’ us and we were able to get another, but it wasn’t obvious. In response to comments, I do realize that service can be expensive to install in urban areas, but I doubt anyone is confused about who brings telephone service or garbage service.Most of your neighbors are going to be similar to you. I’ve never seen a non-white person living in the closest town. Where I live you have 3 choices in churches, Catholic, Lutheran or some kind of non-denominational church (and the non-denominal churches are all at least 15 miles away. All of my older immediate neighbors have German ancestry and many have an accent that gives it away. Farmers must be cautious about spending money, most in my area cannot afford new equipment and they must be able to fix their own. So, they tend to be suspicious of those who cannot do for themselves. Even the people near me who aren’t farmers have a do it yourself mentality.They see government as meddlers. Even if the meddling is for a good reason, it is going to cost the farmer. In Minnesota there are new efforts to stop runoff from farms, but that will cost farmers money and most farmers aren’t making much money to begin with.

You can use just about any household cleaner if you have a septic system. The reason people are telling you not to use bleach is that bleach is very good at killing bacteria. Your septic system absolutely relies on bacteria to break down all the stuff you are putting through it. So maintaining the health of that septic bacteria is important. However, the amount of bleach you will be flushing down your drain if you use a diluted bleach solution to disinfect surfaces in your home is minuscule. If you don't use very much and rinse it well your septic system won't suffer.Your septic system will require some regular maintenance. When you have your septic tank pumped out, ask the service person to add bacteria to the tank. That should be all you need to do.

The idea behind a septic system is pretty simple. Whenever you flush your toilet, everything goes into a septic tank, a big concrete box buried underground. At the top of that box are outlet pipes that allow overflow to leach out into pipes that distribute it to a septic fiield. The pipes in the septic field are perforated, so the overflow from the septic tank gets distributed, underground, over a large area. Natural soil bacteria consumes any organics in this overflow. The solid material from your toilet flush falls to the bottom of the septic tank, where bacteria consume most of the organic matter, leaving behind a thick sludge. This sludge builds up and needs to be cleaned out occasionally. You will usually contract with a septic tank cleaning service for this. Sometimes bacteria needs to be added to your septic tank to keep everything working well. This can be supplied by the same septic tank maintenance company that cleans out your tank.Any water you pour down your sink also goes into your septic tank. Any fat or grease in this water will gum up the works, so if you have a septic system, don’t flush any fats or oils down your sink. Put them in your garbage or organic recycling bin.All you need is enough land with soil that will allow the outflow from your septic tank to percolate out freely over a sufficient area. In any rural community, there are people who specialize in building and maintaining septic systems. You shouldn’t have any problem retiring in such an area.