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Aerobic Septic System Maintenance Procedures InspectAPedia®  -     This article provides an Aerobic Septic System Maintenance Guide (Aeration Septic System Maintenance) - Maintenance Guide for Fine bubble aeration septic systems this website provides designs and products for aerobic septic treatment units (ATUs) for onsite waste disposal, also called fine bubble aeration systems. We address aerobic septic system design, features, inspection, repair, and maintenance. Product sources are also listed.

Aerobic Septic System Maintenance Procedures & Products

Homeowners can reduce the operating cost of any septic system by conserving water use. An aerobic system retrofit may also extend the life of a drainfield - but be sure to read the caveats described in the next section on using an ATU to extend drainfield life.

Maintenance of Aerobic Septic Systems - How to Care for An ATU

You can reduce problems with your ATU and extend the system life by performing basic maintenance. Also see ATU Suppliers.

• Disinfection of septic effluent: use the proper disinfection tablets and use them on the schedule recommended by your system designer.
  
  Disinfectants are discussed just above. Typically the disinfection\ tablets are added to the system through a PVC pipe that extends above ground level and which has a removable cap. Depending on the design of your system, several tablets may be placed into a tube located inside this pipe. Don't put in more tablets than the instructions say, since doing so may cause them to break down prematurely and thus not to be dispensed at the proper rate - you'll actually end up wasting tablets and money. Check the condition of your aerobic septic system disinfection tablets monthly.
  
  
• Proper Tablets Use only the proper type of aerobic or aeration septic system disinfection tablets in order to avoid contaminating the environment (the system may discharge insufficiently treated septic effluent and thus pathogens into the soil and groundwater) and to avoid violation of federal law. See Aerobic Septic System Disinfection with Calcium Hypochlorite and Aerobic Septic System Disinfection with Chlorine Tablets for details.
  
  
• Aerobic Treatment Unit Pumps Inspect the aerobic aeration pump monthly when you're checking the disinfectant tablets. If the pump motor is making a strange noise (or worse, has stopped working) you need repair service promptly. If your aerobic system uses a timer for pump control, make sure that device is working and has power before attacking a pump that's "not working".
  
  
• Protect from Insect Damage In some areas (such as parts of Texas) insects can damage the aerator system and void your warranty. Dulworth Septic Systems in Texas recommends putting ant poison around the aerator compartment.
  
  
• Protect from Vehicle Damage Do not drive over the septic system nor any of its components - you may damage or destroy the system. Keep grass mowed to avoid blocking or jamming components or interfering with evaporation from the absorption system.
  
  
• Aerobic Treatment Maintenance Contracts Use and maintain an aerobic treatment unit maintenance service if you are not able to reliably and properly care for your system. Studies (West Virginia) demonstrated that a high failure rate for aerobic treatment systems was due to lack of proper maintenance.
http://www.ahc.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=815 Adelaide Hills Council, Australia

Using an Aerobic System to Extend the Life of a Drainfield

An aerobic system might be retrofitted to a conventional septic system in an attempt to extend the life of a conventional drainfield. Also, adding aeration or oxygen to a septic system may boost aerobic bacterial action in the biomat, improving the drainfield function. But it's not quite that simple.

We would look closely at any proposals to make this "improvement" to a conventional septic system. One reader wrote that their installer wanted to simply install an aerator in the original one-compartment septic tank. Our opinion was that unless a settlement chamber or tank outlet filter were installed the result of aeration and agitation in the primary single-chamber septic tank would be to push suspended solids out into the drain field where it would be clogged quite rapidly.

While there are a number of interesting pre-packaged advanced wastewater treatment systems on the market, a web search (in 2005 and again in 2006) does not turn up much on installation, operating, or repair costs. The manufacturers argue that each site is unique so installation costs vary. OPINION: we suspect that as with any costly but necessary product, some vendors just don't want to give the bad news up front. When we collect more explicit septic system failure and maintenance cost data we will post it at this website.

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  Wastewater Treatment Levels
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    ATU Tank Sizes
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  ALTERNATIVE SEPTIC DESIGNERS
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More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

• Aerobic Septic System Disinfection with Calcium Hypochlorite - Use of calcium hypochlorite tablets for aerobic septic systems
• Aerobic Septic System Disinfection with Chlorine Tablets - US EPA declares use of swimming pool chlorine tablets illegal for septic system disinfection
• The Septic System Information Website home page for this topic
• Septic Systems Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance- online textbook. Detailed how to inspect, maintain, repair information
• The Home Buyer's Guide to Septic Systems
• Septic Tank Pumping Guide: When, Why, How to pump the septic tank
• Home & Outdoor Living Water Requirements
• Septic Tank Capacity vs Usage in Daily Gallons of Wastewater Flow, calculating required septic tank size, calculating septic tank volume from size measurements
• How Big Should the Leach Field Be? - table of soil percolation rate vs. field size
• Septic System Drainfield Absorption System Biomat Formation - what leads to drain field clogging and expensive drainfield repairs
• Table of Required Septic & Well Clearances: Distances Between Septic System & Wells, Streams, Trees, etc.

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