Septic tank maintenance: what really works
A tank that smells or blocks up is a tank whose bacteria have been killed. Here is how to keep them alive, and what to do when it is already too late.
A septic tank is not a storage tank: it is a digester. Bacteria break down the waste, and everything else follows from that. When they are healthy, the tank does not smell and needs pumping out less often. When they die, everything deteriorates within a few weeks.
What kills them is well known: too much bleach, wipes, frying oil, solvents and corrosive drain unblockers poured down the sink.
What you need
- An activator, in sachets or doses, depending on household size
- An unblocker, if drainage slows down
- An emergency treatment, if there are odours or backflow
The method
For maintenance. Pour the dose into the toilet bowl at bedtime and flush. Overnight, with no water flowing, the bacteria settle in.
Adjust the weekly dose to your household: 1 sachet for 1 to 4 people, 2 sachets for 5 to 8 people, 3 sachets for more than 8 people.
After time away. Double the dose when you come back from holiday: with nothing coming in, the bacterial population has dropped.
If there is a problem. If drainage slows down, switch to the unblocker. If odours come back up or the tank backs up, you need the emergency treatment, then go back to regular maintenance.
Mistakes that cost you a pump-out
- Too much bleach, which sterilises the tank.
- Wipes, even those labelled biodegradable, which do not break down.
- Cooking oils and fats, which set into a waterproof layer.
- Corrosive chemical drain unblockers poured down the sink, which end up straight in the tank.
And pumping out
Biological maintenance does not replace it, it spaces it out. A well-maintained tank needs pumping out far less often than one left to itself, but pumping out is still necessary.
The doses for our products are on their packaging, and that is what counts. If swallowed or splashed, call the Poison Centre on +32 70 245 245 and keep the packaging to hand.
What you need
Septic tanks
Septic tank activator 4 months
18 sachets × 25 g · Septic tanks, all-water tanks, grease traps, soakaways
Septic tanks
Septic tank unblocker
500 g · Septic tanks, all-water tanks, grease traps
Septic tanks
