Can I Use The Bathroom While The Septic Tank is Being Pumped?
Septic tanks can be an excellent and environmentally friendly way to deal with waste water and sewage on your property, and can result in a significantly greater degree of personal autonomy, while simultaneously helping to restore and maintain natural groundwater.
In order to stay properly functional, and to prevent leaks and other issues that can cause pollution to your immediate environment, or can cause waste backups into your home, it's important to make sure that your septic tank is regularly maintained and pumped.
First and foremost, Good septic tank maintenance involves drainage of the tank when solids reach a particular threshold – typically between 30-50% of storage space.
While septic tank pumping is important, you might well have a variety of different questions related to the septic tank pumping process, in order to ensure that you have a clear sense of what the process is going to entail, and how you can ensure that your septic tank remains in optimal condition.
Common Septic Tank Pumping Questions
It's natural that you will have a variety of different questions surrounding the process of having your septic tank pumped, and it's a good idea to have a basic understanding of why this maintenance step is essential, and what you can expect from it.
Here are a few common septic tank pumping questions.
Can I Use The Bathroom While The Septic Tank is Being Pumped?
The process of having your septic tank pumped involves powerful hoses primarily designed to remove solid buildup within your septic tank.
Using the bathroom while your septic tank is being pumped is unlikely to cause any particular issue for the pumping process itself, but it's important that you speak with the pumping team who are doing the work.
Different specialists may have different instructions and preferences, which may also be influenced by the equipment they are using and the type of septic pump setup you have.
Do I Need to Get My Septic Tank Pumped Whenever it’s Full of Waste Water?
Many people have the mistaken belief that the point of having a septic tank pumped is to reduce excess water that has built up within the tank.
In fact, however, a normal and properly functioning septic tank will always be "full," with the waste water level being near the top of the tank. The way the septic tank is set up, wastewater will be continually filtered out to the drainfield.
When it reaches the drain field, the wastewater will be subject to additional bacterial breakdown, in addition to filtration, and will then help to restore groundwater.
Having your septic tank pumped is mostly a matter of dealing with solid waste. Even after your tank has been fully pumped, the water level will return to “full” after just a few days.
Is it normal to smell odors after septic tank pumping?
You may smell some odors after your septic tank has been pumped, but these odors should be confined to the outdoors, and the area surrounding your septic tank. These odors should also go away after a few hours.
If you smell odors inside the home, this is not supposed to happen, and may indicate an imminent back-flow of sewage and wastewater.
