People who live in the countryside generally do not have access to the centralized sewer system. They usually depend on septic tanks for getting rid of the wastewater generated at their households. Whether you are doing the laundry, washing dishes or using bathrooms, your home keep on producing wastewater. Have you ever wondered how a septic tank processes this massive amount of sewage and safely gets rid of it? To answer this question, you will need to know how a septic tank system works.
How Does a Fairfax, VA, Septic Tank Work?
To understand the working of a septic tank system, first, you need to know how they are built and what are their key components. Septic tanks generally have two key elements, the tank and the drain field. The septic tank receives all the wastewater generated at your household. After undergoing treatment there, it is transferred to a drain field nearby which helps to distribute it safely to the soil through porous pipes.
To understand how does a Fairfax, VA, septic tank work, we need to understand the way it is constructed. A septic tank has two compartments. Out of these, the first compartment or chamber receives all the wastewater expelled from your kitchen sinks, laundry and toilet. Once it reaches there, the solid part of the sewage is allowed to settle at the bottom of the tank. This solid part is called sludge.
However, the greasy and oily part present in the wastewater will float to form a top layer called the scum. In between these two layers, that is between scum and sludge, the liquid part of the wastewater will be present. This liquid part is called effluent. The septic tank also has a second compartment which is connected to the first chamber by a T shaped outlet. This outlet is positioned towards the middle portion of the wall separating the two chambers. This unique position of the T shaped outlet makes sure that the sludge and scum formed in the first compartment cannot exit the first compartment. Instead, only the effluent can exit it.
The effluent reaching the second chamber further gets settled down there. Now whatever the liquid part remains between the scum and sludge in the second chamber is allowed to exit it and enters the drain field. The drain field distributes the wastewater it receives slowly through porous pipes into the soil. This completes the wastewater treatment.
However, make sure not to overload the drain field with too much wastewater than it can handle at a time because this will cause back up in your sinks and toilets. Call SES Mid Atlantic if you want to know more about septic systems. We provide all septic tank related services, including installation and maintenance.