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• What is a septic system? - the basics for home owners and buyers of a home with a septic tank and drainfield or alternative septic system design

This chapter introduces septic systems with a brief description of what a septic systems is and how it works. This is the introduction to our online book: "Septic Systems - Design, Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance" whose chapters are shown at the left of this page. Citation of this article by reference to this website and brief quotation for the sole purpose of review are permitted. Use of this information at other websites, in books or pamphlets for sale is reserved to the author.

Technical review by industry experts has been performed and is ongoing - reviewers welcomed and are listed at "References." This document is a chapter of Inspecting, Testing, & Maintaining Residential Septic Systems an online book on septic systems.

© Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

An Introduction to Septic Systems

• piping connecting the building to the treatment tank
• a septic or treatment tank which retains solid waste
• piping connecting and conducting clarified effluent from the treatment tank to a distribution box
• a distribution box connecting the effluent line from the tank to the absorption system or "drain field"
• an absorption system which permits effluent to drain to soils below
• a bio-mat or bio-mass of pathogen-digesting bacteria which forms in soil below the absorption system.

Many variations on this general scheme are used, depending on local climate, soil conditions, available space, economy, and available materials. Special equipment and systems may be designed for problem or difficult sites such as rocky or wet ground, permafrost, or wet tropical marshlands.

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Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

Buyers' Guide: Home Buyer's Detailed Guide to Septic Systems - Buying a Home With a Septic Tank
Cesspools if you don't know what they are.
Components of a Septic System- the Basic Parts of a Conventional Septic Tank and Leachfield, a chapter in the Home Buyers Guide to Septic Systems
Drywells if you don't know what they are.
Don't Flush these things into a septic system
Safety Septic System, Septic Tank, & Cesspool Safety Warnings for Septic Inspectors, Septic Pumpers, and Homeowners.
Sketches of the Septic System Components Private Sewage Disposal Systems - Septic Drawing Library
Wastewater Treatment Basics describes the basic processes that occur in wastewater treatment processes
What is a Septic System An Engineer's View - Types of treatment tanks, adsorption systems, pumps, and other special equipment are discussed in some further detail in this text

Septic Systems Online Book

The Septic Systems Online Book - Where Are We?

• This Chapter: INTRODUCTION of the Septic Systems Online Book
• Next Chapter: SEPTIC SYSTEM SAFETY WARNINGS
• Contents: CONTENTS of the Septic Systems Online Book

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

• Our recommended books about building design, inspection, and repair, and about indoor environment testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore.
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More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

• 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.

Pennsylvania State Fact Sheets relating to domestic wastewater treatment systems include

• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-161, Septic System Failure: Diagnosis and Treatment
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-162, The Soil Media and the Percolation Test
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-l64, Mound Systems for Wastewater Treatment
• Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-165, Septic Tank-Soil Absorption Systems
• Document Sources used for this web page include but are not limited to: Agricultural Fact Sheet #SW-161 "Septic Tank Pumping," by Paul D. Robillard and Kelli S. Martin. Penn State College of Agriculture - Cooperative Extension, edited and annotated by Dan Friedman (Thanks: to Bob Mackey for proofreading the original source material.)

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Use this simple, economical mold test kit by following our instructions on how to collect and mail mold samples to our lab

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Building Inspection, Problem Diagnosis, Forensic Investigation & Testing, Repair Consulting

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