Tips for Leach Field Maintenance in Strafford County, NH

While many homes and businesses are part of a municipal sewer system, others are hooked up to individual septic systems for their plumbing. This means everything that goes down the drains—water, waste, food, cleaning solutions and more—will end up housed inside a tank that’s in the ground near the home. Therefore, as a homeowner with a septic tank, you must take the steps to ensure a properly working system 24/7. Otherwise, you’re liable to run into a host of bad smelling issues. One such step is maintaining the leach field.

Before we give you a few tips for leach field maintenance in Strafford County, NH, let’s discuss the purpose of a leach field.

What is a leach field?

People who live in rural areas far away from a city sewer line will have a septic system installed to collect all their household wastewater, and a leach field is a major part of that system. A leach field, also called a drainage field, is made up of perforated water pipes that are underground in gravel-filled trenches to partially treat the wastewater from households before it starts over as ground water. The leach field runs out the back and away from the home to avoid tank flooding.

Here are some good tips to help you properly maintain your leach field:

• Make sure it can absorb water: For a leach field to function properly, it needs to be able to absorb water, meaning it should never be oversaturated or left too dry. Conserving water is a must, so repair leaky indoor water fixtures, wash full loads of clothes and run the dishwasher only when it’s full.
• Don’t compress the soil: Soil compression over your leach field will likely result in difficulty absorbing water, broken underground pipes or both. To avoid problems, don’t drive or park heavy machinery on top of any part of your leach field, and don’t plant trees over it. This can be a big problem for pipes when it comes to trees with invasive root systems. Remember, only dirt or grass should be placed over a leach field.
• Prevent pipe clogs: If the drains leading from your house to the septic tank get clogged, your leach field pipes will also clog. To make sure clogs are non-existent, ensure that solid household waste from the tank doesn’t get into the drainage field’s pipes. Install a septic tank outlet filter and get it cleaned annually. Also, regularly maintain the tank.
• Keep water from pooling on it or nearby: Heavy rainwater runoff is notorious for saturating entire septic systems in a matter of minutes. Keep rain gutter downspouts away from the septic tank and flowing away from the leach field.

If your property is on a private septic system, then you are responsible for the condition of your leach field. When you are in need of professionals with septic system expertise for tank cleaning or leach field maintenance in Strafford County, NH, look no further than the pros at B.H. Cameron Septic Services LLC. Call us today to schedule an appointment!

Categorised in: Leach Field Maintenance

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