HIGHLANDS EAST, ON – The municipality wants to provide insight into having a healthy septic system, not just for your home, but the environment too.
With ongoing concerns over the health of lakes in the area and more individually the health of your septic system, the Municipality of Highlands East has provided a series of do’s and don’ts to treat your septic right.
The municipality prefaced its suggestion list by saying “what you put into your septic system greatly affects its ability to function and perform its job as intended. A septic tank and system contains living organisms that breakdown, digest and treat sewage waste.”
“These systems are not designed to treat any garbage or waste other than sewage waste and any solids that shouldn’t enter the tank will simply build up and eventually need to be pumped or removed.”
“The more solids that go in will increase the frequency that the tank needs to be pumped and, can cause damage to the tile field. Tile field failure will cause a complete system to stop functioning.”
“Educating all members of the household in the operation and care of the system and what should and shouldn’t be put into the system can save a lot of problems and money while prolonging the life of your system. This also protects the health of your property and the surrounding environment.”
In terms of installing septic systems, the do’s are to contact the municipality to do with any building expansion and use a professional person to do the work.
Don’t expand the size of your dwelling or building without having the current system checked, try repairing the system without a pro, or do any work on it without the proper permits.
For disposing of waste, only flush waste water sewage and toilet paper, dispose of solids, household wastes, and grease appropriately.
There a lot of items that should not be added to your septic system, including cigarette butts, paper towels, tissues, sanitary napkins, disposable diapers, food scraps, coffee grounds, and other food items.
Some of the other things to keep out of the septic system are household chemicals and cooking grease. The thought with the grease is that it could solidify and block the system.
Even more suggestions for a healthy septic system can be found by clicking here.