A septic system is known to have two main components. One is the septic tank that is responsible for collecting the wastewater that comes from your home. Its capacity is based according to the number of people in your household. This is to make sure that it doesn’t get too taxed, doesn’t overflow, or fail. Septic tanks tend to operate better when leach bed cleaners are used on a regular basis. Another component is the leach bed, also known as the drain field or the leach field. This is the last phase of the wastewater treatment wherein the pre-treated effluent is purified to the point where the pollutants and pathogens that it contains are stripped off before it is assimilated into the surrounding environment once more.
The septic tank is always the first soldier in the battle field. It has the anaerobic bacteria as its weapons upon the entrance of the wastewater. The anaerobic bacteria in the tank are the ones that breakdown the solid waste products that settle at the bottom. In the degradation process, sludge is formed. When the sludge has increased too much already, then it is time to pump it out. This should be done at a regular schedule that should be kept. Whatever happens to the septic tank determines the performance of the leach bed.
The leach bed is the second main component of the septic system. This is where the bio-mat and the aerobic bacteria are found. The aerobic bacteria keep the bio-mat in check. If the leach bed becomes too wet, the aerobic bacteria die off. Then, the bio-mat will not be regulated. When this happens, the bio-mat will become too thick that it will already clog the entire leach field. Backup and failure will surely happen when the leach bed becomes blocked. It won’t be able to absorb the outgoing effluent anymore. There will be no place for the wastewater to go but back into your home and onto your yard. Leach bed cleaners are also a very important part of maintaining a leach bed or drain field.
To make sure that the leach bed functions optimally, it should also be cleaned. Leach bed cleaners are much like the additives that are administered into the septic system. They are also of three types—organic, inorganic, and biological. Some examples of organic leach bed cleaners are baking soda and yeast. Baking soda is a base that makes the septic environment less acidic. This makes the environment for the resident bacteria much more favorable. But if used too much, this could interrupt the solid waste degradation process. Yeast on the other hand, just increases the sludge level much faster and this greatly leads to the clogging of the leach bed. Inorganic leach bed cleaners are the strong bases and acids. Using them to clean the leach bed usually results to the corrosion of the physical structure of the septic system. It’s the biological leach bed cleaners that really benefit the leach bed and the entire septic system as well. These only contain non-pathogenic bacteria that dramatically enhance the performance of the resident bacteria that are already in the leach bed and also in the septic tank.
When leach bed cleaners are used, surely the clogs will be eradicated and the smooth flow of the septic system will be restored. Anaerobic bacteria in the tank and aerobic bacteria in the leach field increase in number, which improves their efficiency. “There is strength in numbers” and in this is one proof that this saying is true. Although they are invisible to the naked eye, bacteria are crucial players in the animal kingdom. Biological leach bed cleaners are crucial to this fact in the environment known as the septic system.
It is always a good practice to have your septic expert administer leach bed cleaners on a regular basis. For sure, you would be improving the performance of your septic system in general. This would also reflect how dedicated and good you are at being a homeowner. Remember that is you choose a leach bed cleaner; it should not harm the septic system, the household, and the surrounding environment as well.