Keep your septic tank working properly with Sun Plumbing & Septic Service, your best bet for septic maintenance and tank cleaning services. We offer these services throughout the Southeastern Hillsborough County area.
What a Septic Tank Is
A septic tank is a buried, watertight container typically made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic. It holds the wastewater long enough to allow solids to settle out (forming sludge) and oil and grease to float to the surface (as scum).
The septic tank also allows partial breakdown of the solid materials. Some solids are removed from the waste water, some are digested, and some are stored in the tank. Up to 50% of the solids retained in the tank decompose, while the remainder accumulate as sludge at the bottom of the tank and must be removed.
Compartments and a T-shaped outlets in the septic tank prevent the sludge and scum from leaving the tank and traveling to the drain field. Newer septic tanks have risers with lids at the ground surface to allow easy inspection and pumping of the tank. The septic tank should retain the waste water for at least 24 hours.
Septic Maintenance
When septic systems are designed, constructed, and maintained properly, they effectively reduce or eliminate most human health or environmental threats posed by pollutants in household wastewater. However, they require regular maintenance or they can fail. Septic systems need to be monitored to ensure that they work properly throughout their service lives.
