Important Facts And Items To Know About A Drain Field Septic System

By Adriana Noton


The drain field septic system was designed to filter out most of the impurities from the water substance that flows through the septic tank. This three part system includes piping, septic field drain, and the septic tank itself. Other names of this design are called leach drain and leach field.

Since most of the waste in the tank comes from the toilet or a garbage disposal the purpose is to break down organic waste. The breakdown occurs by special microbes that thrive in this type of environment. This system is accomplished with perforated pipes that are laid in trenches surrounded by a certain kind of porous product.

For the protection of nature, animals, and the surface water from the wastewater, a certain soil is used to cover the drainage pipes. Depending on what you are looking for, there are two primary types of designs. If you have a large amount of wastewater that flows through your tank the proper design for you is the hydraulic. The catabolic designs are used for places with a long term usage for the water.

The first step before starting on your hydraulic design is to perform a percolation test in the sewage treatment systems. This test gives the designer the ability to see the rate of flow within the soil and determine if the area is proper enough to be used. In many locations it is mandatory to administer the test by the local health department.

The reasoning behind this method is to prevent disease from viruses and bacteria from entering the water from the surface. With this method, the disinfectants kill the tank microbes which will also help with the wastewater catabolization. The pathogens are held by a field drain that is long enough to deactivate them in the water.

The type of soil is very important to the effectiveness of the field lines. If you have a sand or gravel mixture the filtration would not take enough time to kill the harmful bacteria before it made it to the surface water. A silt and clay mixture works best holding the bacteria long enough to assure it is dead.

The second design, catabolic is constructed to be just the right size to allow an aerobic microbe environment to thrive. These microbes are important to decay the anaerobic materials that are involved.

One other device that can be used to compliment your tank is the biofilter. By placing this on the tank it allows for a much smaller area for the drainage field. A much higher concentration of residential construction allows for a bigger neighborhood. It also helps by not taking up space that can be used for many other things such as pools, gardens, and landscaping. The biofilter helps with the reduction of oxygen demand, but not volume of fluid.

When looking to use this process, stay away from a tank when initializing this process. Also, make sure to avoid the usage of petroleum based products because of the damage it causes. The type of sanitation and cleaning products which includes bleach, will stop or slow down the microbes from completing their tasks. Finally, metals that are dissolved can't be removed by these microbes even though they can be diluted down by other groundwater.




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