How often should you have your septic tank cleaned out?

Clean your septic tank every 1 to 3 years. How often depends on the size of the tank and how many solids go into it. A rule of thumb is once every 3 years for a 1,000 gallon tank serving a 3-bedroom home with 4 occupants (and with no garbage disposal). Or at least check to see if if it needs it.

Let me give you a few pointers. Since the septic tank is such an essential part of a sewage system, here are some points to remember about the "care and feeding" of that part of the onsite sewage treatment system.
A "starter" is not needed for bacterial action to begin in a septic tank. Many bacteria are present in the materials deposited into the tank and will thrive under the growth conditions present.
If you feel that an additive is needed, be aware that some may do great harm. Additives that advertise to "eliminate" tank cleaning may cause the sludge layer to fluff up and be washed out into the drainfield, plugging soil pores. Some additives, particularly degreasers, may contain carcinogens (cancer-causing) or suspected carcinogens that will flow into the ground water along with the water from the soil treatment unit.
Send all sewage into the septic tank. Don't run laundry wastes directly into the drainfield, since soap or detergent scum will plug the soil pores, causing failure.
Normal amounts of household detergents, bleaches, drain cleaners, and other household chemicals can be used and won't stop the bacterial action in the septic tank. But don't use excessive amounts of any household chemicals. Do not dump cleaning water for latex paint brushes and cans into the house sewer.
Don't deposit coffee grounds, cooking fats, wet-strength towels, disposable diapers, facial tissues, cigarette butts, and other non-decomposable materials into the house sewer. These materials won't decompose and will fill the septic tank and plug the system. To use a 5-gallon toilet flush to get rid of a cigarette butt is also very wasteful of water. Keep an ash tray in the bathroom, if necessary.
Avoid dumping grease down the drain. It may plug sewer pipes or build up in the septic tank and plug the inlet. Keep a separate container for waste grease and throw it out with the garbage.
If you must use a garbage disposal, you will likely need to remove septic tank solids every year or more often. Ground garbage will likely find its way out of the septic tank and plug up the drainfield. It is better to compost, incinerate, or deposit the materials in the garbage that will be hauled away. As one ad says, "You can pay me now, or pay me later."

Using too much soap or detergent can cause problems with the septic system. It is difficult to estimate how dirty a load of laundry is, and most people use far more cleaning power than is needed. If there are lots of suds in your laundry tub when the washer discharges, cut back on the amount of detergent for the next similar load. It's generally best not to use inexpensive detergents which may contain excessive amounts of filler or carrier. Some of these fillers are montmorillonite clay, which- is used to seal soils! The best solution may be to use a liquid laundry detergent, since they are less likely to have carriers or fillers that may harm the septic system.
Each septic system has a certain capacity. When this capacity is reached or exceeded, there will likely be problems because the system won't take as much sewage as you want to discharge into it. When the onsite sewage treatment system reaches its daily capacity, be conservative with your use of water. Each gallon of water that flows into the drain must go through the septic tank and into the soil absorption unit. Following are some ways to conserve water that should cause little hardship in anyone's standard of living:
Be sure that there are no leaking faucets or other plumbing fixtures. Routinely check the float valve on all toilets to be sure it isn't sticking and the water isn't running continuously. It doesn't take long for the water from a leaking toilet or a faucet to add up. A cup of water leaking out of a toilet every minute doesn't seem like much but that's 90 gallons a day! So be sure that there is no water flowing into the sewer when all water-using appliances are supposed to be off.
The most effective way to reduce the sewage flow from a house is to reduce the toilet wastes, which usually account for about 40 percent of the sewage flow. Many toilets use 5 to 6 gallons per flush. Some of the so-called low water use toilets are advertised to use only 3.5 gallons per flush. Usually the design of the bowl hasn't been changed, however, and often two flushes are needed to remove all solids. That's 7 gallons! Toilets are available which have been redesigned and will do a good job with one gallon or less per flush. Using a 1-gallon toilet rather than a 5 gallon toilet will reduce sewage flows from a home by about a third. This reduction may be more than enough to make the sewage system function again. While prices may vary, 1.6 gallon toilets can usually be purchased in the $200 range, far less than the cost of a new sewer system. Baths and showers can use lots of water. "Setting up camp" in the shower with a shower head flow of 5 gallons per minute will require 100 gallons in 20 minutes. Shower heads that limit the flow to 1.5 or 2 gallons per minute are available and should be used. Filling the tub not quite so full and limiting the length of showers will result in appreciable water savings.
Is the water from the faucet cold enough to drink? How long do you let it run to cool down? Keep a container of drinking water in the refrigerator. Then it won't be necessary to run water from your faucets in order to get a cool drink.
There may be other ways to conserve water that you can think of in your home. The main idea is to consider water as a valuable resource and not to waste it.
Following a few simple rules like not using too much water and not depositing materials in the septic tank that bacteria can't decompose should help to make a septic system trouble-free for m, too! Any years. But don't forget the septic tank does need to be cleaned out when too many solids builtreatment system.
With a water meter you can determine how much water your automatic washer uses per cycle. Many washers now have settings to reduce the amount of water used for small loads. Front loading washers and suds savers use less water than top loading machines. If your sewage treatment system is reaching its maximum capacity, try to spread the washing out during the week to avoid overloading the sewage system on a single day. Septic tanks need tender, loving care too. Regards, tom

Lots of info...thanks Tom...is there anyway to know when your septic is getting full or not?

The only way to tell would be to open the inspection ports and check. Cheers, Tom

Thanks for the info again. Where should I look for the inspection ports?

Ok, how do you find your septic tank, we bought a house though a bankruptcy sale, so the old owners were not precent nor wanted to have anything to do with the people "stealing" their home from them.

And on an average what would one expect to pay to have the tank pumped out.

The inspection ports can be found at each end of the septic tank. This is so you can check the inlet and outlet of the tank. Regards, Tom

FR Chuck...well I am no expert. But I can explain what I would look for in trying to find a septic tank. Normally I believe if you walk around your home and see an area that is raised up in elevation and at the top of the raised elevation...there is a concrete pad or something to that effect. On mine, their is a concrete pad with somehooks on it. I assume this is where the cleanout crew would pull tha off and have access to the tank. I have a friend that owns a clean out crew. Last I heard it was $300ish to pump the tank. Again, I am not totally sure of this price. Also, I would assume that the price would depend on some factors.

1. Where it is located?
2. How easy is it to get to?
3. How big of a tank?
4. Location of where you live?

Again, I am not totally sure on this info I am just assuming.

Hey Chuck,

We locate a hiden septic tank with a probe, sometimes called a "sounding rod".
This is a 1/4" steel rod about 4' long withy a pointy end.
We start out at the cleanout and probe down until we hit the sewer pipe. We then follow,(probe) the line out to the tank. When we reach the tank we then probe around the outline of the tank to locate the two ends. The inspection ports will be located next to each end giving you access to both inlet and outlet.
Extreme gave you a much better answer then I could about the cost of having it pumped. Regards, Tom

Hi,
Just a few thoughts on septic tanks.
Tom covered this one about grease going down the drain. I use an empty coffee can, pour all grease into it, then wipe out the pan, etc, with a paper towel, before going into the dishwasher. The can of grease gets put into the garbage before completely full.
We have a garbage disposal, but nothing with grease goes into it. Anything greasy goes into the garbage.
My septic tank is a very old one, concrete. Had to "drill" and put a hole in the top, so I could put some concrete blocks over it, with the "holes" being used to put a pumping trucks' hose into, to pump out the tank. The top of the tank itself is about 3 ft. Under the ground. The top of the concrete blocks have a small 1 in. Think concrete block, with grass over it, about 4 in. Beneath the ground; easy to find using a screwdriver into the ground.
I agree with about 3 yrs to pump one out. I have a stick, actually an old fishing pole, marked with where the water is just below the drain pipe into the tank. I can check the water level anytime, looking at the mark. If it starts being above the mark, then it's time to pump it. Been about 4 yrs now, since last time.
Cost of pumping here in the Great Smokey Mountain area of VA is about $200 now.