Septic tank maintenance

septic tank roots

Chemicals used to keep roots away from French drains.

This article will cover chemicals used to keep roots away from French drains. There are homeowners who prefer having French drains in their premises. The French drain is also known as the blind drain, weeping tile, rock drain, rubble drain, French ditch, land drain, perimeter drain or drain tile. It is a constructed trench filled with rock, gravel, or a perforated pipeline. Its purpose is to redirect the groundwater or surface water away from the living area. The perforated pipeline extends below the layer of rock to help channel the water seeping through quickly. It was made popular by the pre-engineered version that doesn’t require the use of gravel or rocks anymore. The pre-engineered French drain has substitute lightweight gravel surrounding the corrugated, perforated pipe. The gravel substitute and pipe are then wrapped with a filter fabric. French drains are usually constructed to prevent surface water from damaging or penetrating the foundations of a structure. It also distributes wastewater towards the septic system. They are also situated at the back or retaining walls to eliminate the ground water pressure.

You can find French drains very useful in facing several issues such as water stagnation or collection that causes damage to the foundations of your home or areas of your basement. It could also help you eliminate the flooding in your yard every time heavy rains occur. French drains also help solve your problems with seepage if your property is situated near a water table that is near the surface.

In siting and constructing a French drain, you should consider the following:

  • It should be placed 3 feet from the house or building. The depth of the drain should be equal to its distance from the structure. The necessary distance keeps its trench from damage and the foundations from corroding.
  • The water source should be noted. You have to set where the water will come from. Is it low end or low end of the French drain. It would be ideal to divert the water flow to the downwards slope of the property or the house. It could easily be directed to drain into a dry well of a gravel pit where it could just seep into the ground. It could also be directed to flow into a natural drain in the area such as a creek.
  • Make sure that there is at least 1/8 inch fall in every foot of your drain. Essentially, this is 1 foot for every 100 feet of the drain’s length. You can effectively make a path for the drain with paint that could be sprayed upside down.
  • See to it that there are no plants or trees where the French drain is located. Root systems constantly look for abundant sources of food and nutrients for the growing organisms. If you French drain becomes invaded by roots, it is only a matter of time before it is clogged and fails to do its function. As you know, roots love moist environments. If they aren’t controlled, they will damage the French drain system. Consider the following in  French drain root control:
    • Replace the pipe is there is already significant damage or clogging.
    • Line the pipe to prevent the roots from getting into the holes of the pipe. This option is more practical than constantly replacing the pipe or extensively removing the trees.
    • Get experts to remove the surrounding trees or plants manually. This should be done on a regular basis because even if they are removed, there is still a possibility that they will grow back. Manual o mechanical removal of roots is usually done with other treatments such as chemical control.
    • Consider chemicals used to keep roots away from French drains. There are chemicals that can inexpensively remove and prevent roots from invading your French drain. However, caution should be considered because they are usually hazardous to the surrounding environment. That is why many homeowners and drain experts stick to copper sulphate-based root killers.

Always consult your local drain expert for additional information about French drain maintenance and care. You drain can serve you for a long time if they are protected from blockages brought upon by solid wastes and root systems.

How to keep roots away from drain field lines

This article will cover how to keep roots away from drain field lines. The holidays have come! Every homeowner knows that it is part of the season to decorate the lawn. It is always much more cozy to look at holiday decorations set up on your very own bushes and trees, rather than on artificial metal frames, right? That is why many people opt to have naturally growing plants on their lawns. Thriving gardens are always a welcome sight and they are very necessary elements on your property if you want to incorporate a Nature. In the desire to have trees and shrubs, the septic system often pays the price. The septic is usually affected by the invasive roots of hardwood plants. As you know, plants are living organisms that need a steady and abundant supply of water and nutrients. They are not mobile so they look for the closest sources available. In your property, the easiest to gain access to is your septic system.

The septic system needs to function smoothly to do the job of treating the wastewater that your household produces every single day. The process starts when the wastewater is collected in the septic tank. Here, the anaerobic bacteria break down the solid waste materials so that a clear effluent can flow outwards into the drain field. The drain field has drain field lines that help distribute the effluent so that it can be purified in the soil before it returns to the surrounding environment. The aim of the wastewater treatment is to make the effluent potable by the time it returns to the water table.

When you have plants on your property, you have to consider some things so that you may avoid septic system or drain field failure. You should know how to keep roots away from drain field lines so that your septic can go about handling the wastewater business without any issues. Tree root penetration or invasion is the biggest problem any homeowner could face if this issue is not taken seriously enough. Many trees are not suitable in a property that has limited space. Some trees need to have at least a hundred feet of distance from the drain field lines for them not to cause any blockage or failure. Tree roots are complex systems. They use time to their advantage. They grow gradually until they establish a firm hold onto your drain field lines. Drain field lines have perforations that roots can easily access. Once they are inside the pipelines, they grow deeper, over, and around the system to make sure that they get everything that they need.  Inside the drain field lines, the roots create a mesh that blocks the normal flow of effluent. This makes the raw sewage backup into your home, overflow onto your property, and flood the lawn. As a result, the aerobic bacteria in the drain field die off because the excessive moisture drowns them. Without the aerobic bacteria in the drain field, the biomat will increase in number. They become too abundant that they help clog the system. Eventually, the drain field fails. The damage will set you back thousands of dollars if the root invasion id not addressed properly.

Asking your septic expert about eliminating the roots near, over, or around your drain fields would be a good idea. They know exactly what to do about the problem tree and plant roots. They could manually eliminate the roots by excavating your lawn. They could also use some anti-root chemicals that can eliminate roots and prevent them from getting into your system.

Once you notice slow drainage, slow flushing, septic backups, and flooding in your septic, you should immediately consult your septic expert. You can also consult an arborist so that the trees could be safely replanted away from your drain field lines instead of killing them. It would certainly be nice to have plants on your lawn for the holidays but see to it that it is at a safe distance from your fully functional septic system.