We are on a septic system and when we flush toilets we can hear a gurgling type sound as the water travels through the drains. I am assuming that there is the start of a blockage happening here. We have put some Actizyme down the pipes, but this hasn't fixed it. Does anyone have any ideas for what we could do please?
By sarahz
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
When was the last time that you had your septic tank/tanks pumped out? Septic systems need regular maintenance. We used to have a septic system before we were connected to city sewers.
I don't think it is the septic system itself, but the air vent from the toilet that is blocked. If the drains are still working, then the septic tank is not full.
You have to have them pumped out every so often. Call a septci company. They will come out and empty it into a large truck. Also if your washer has a self cleaning lint filter, that lint is going into your septic tank and not decomposing. Never clean your carpets and put it down the septic tank. Carpit fibers are indistructable. A garbage disposal will not hurt your septic tank. Food is degradable.
Hi, thanks for the comments. The pipes are all underground and there isn't an airvent from the toilet, so no possibility of birds nesting. The pipes all run into two processing tanks and these are maintained every 3 months under a service contract. I'm sure a block is developing (as it has happened before), so I'm just after any tricks to use that can dissolve the build up.
What Chloelizabeth is talking about (the vent being blocked/bird nest)& many people don't know, is that toilets are vented through the roof of the home. Sometimes, the protective lid or screen comes loose & things can get inside, creating a blockage. Sometimes, if it's been clogged & back-flowed before, it can back up into the vent pipe from the toilet end, creating a blockage there. If the vent pipe gets blocked, the toilet won't flush properly.
You can tell where the vent pipe is by looking at your roof in the area where your bathroom is. If that turns out to be the problem, you can "snake" it or have a plumber do it for you. If you do it yourself, make sure to do an internet search on how to do it properly so you don't make a mess!
Here's just one website talking about it, you can find a lot more if you do a search.
wiki.answers.com/
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
