Unfortunately, flushing a septic system treatment down the toilet once a month does not prevent the need for septic system maintenance. In fact, Express Septic Services advises that these treatments can actually introduce harmful bacteria and materials to your septic system. The EPA does not recommend using septic system treatments because a well-cared-for system has plenty of beneficial bacteria on its own. Let’s talk more about this below.
How Your Septic System Works
Your septic system is attached to your household plumbing just like a municipal sewage system is. You have a main line that collects all of the water waste and routes it away from the house and into the septic system. Once above the septic tank, the solid waste floats down to the bottom of the tank where beneficial bacteria eat away at it. The liquid waste is filtered out of the tank and into the drain field where, again, beneficial bacteria treat it so it can be introduced into the groundwater system safely.
The Introduction of Septic System Additives
You’ve seen illustrations in the commercials for septic system additives that show their “beneficial” bacteria eating away at the septic tank’s solid waste, but here’s the problem: The tank already has beneficial bacteria in it. Adding more bacteria to your tank isn’t going to change the need for septic system maintenance, including tank pumping. Rather, these additives might introduce foreign bacteria into your system that kill off the existing bacteria. These additives may also introduce foreign ingredients that do not need to even be in your septic system, much less the septic tank.
The only time you should consider using septic system additives is if you have a vacation home that is vacant for most of the year. The septic system gets its beneficial bacteria replenished naturally by your household activities. Naturally, if you are not at home frequently, the beneficial bacteria in the system will die and fail to be replenished. Therefore, it’s a good idea to add beneficial bacteria to the septic system of your vacation home since you are not there all the time to naturally encourage the process. This being said, you should also have your vacation home’s septic system checked annually because of the absence of constant human waste to feed the bacteria and populate the system.
We here at Express Septic Services in Greenville, SC, promise to make your septic system’s maintenance easy. Just call us to schedule an annual appointment and we’ll take care of the system for you.
