"Very proud to be the installer of the septic system for Extreme Makeover Home Edition home for the Koepke family in Osceola (Dundee) Wisconsin. Episode to air on ABC late November 2006"

The Herr family is in their fourth generation in the plumbing industry, specializing in the design, installation, and management of every type of Privately Owned On-site Wastewater Treatment System. These systems include conventional septic systems, trench systems, mound systems, in ground pressure systems, at-grade systems, mound systems, aerobic systems, sand-filter systems, experimental systems, etc. for new construction or replacement.

PUMPING
THINGS TO REMEMBER:

Have your septic tank(s) pumped on an annual basis.
Having your septic tank(s) pumped once per year is an excellent way of maintaining your system for maximum longevity. When your septic tank is pumped, the pumper is removing the solids accumulating in the bottom and at the top of the tank. These solids that are being removed are what will eventually cause your system to fail. Reducing the amount of solids before they create a problem is one of the best things you can do for the system.

It's not your grandfather's septic system.
Many people say "Well my grandfather had a septic and he never pumped it for fifty years." There are many things to remember about the times our grandparents didn't pump their septic tanks. As recently as twenty to thirty years ago clothes washing was not done in a manner in which extremely hot water was ejected in large doses into their septic system. Back then, the wash water was literally just poured out the backdoor.

Only recently have garbage disposals been prevalent, as well as dishwashers, the use of cleaners, anti-bacterial soaps, and other chemicals, which just were not used on a daily basis in our grandfather's day. The use of all of these things (EXCEPT THE GARBAGE DISPOSAL!!!) is fine with your septic system, but realize these are just some of the many things which have changed in the recent past and are all causes for you to be much more aware of the need to maintain and regularly pump your septic tank to prolong the longevity of your system.

Do not use a garbage disposal.
Using a garbage disposal is one of the worst things you can do to an on-site wastewater treatment system. Using a garbage disposal adds up to 36% more solids to the system! By using a garbage disposal you are asking for a problem. Not only do garbage disposals create fine solid particles, it also extracts greases and oils from the food while it is grinding it up, which adversely affects the system.

Do not pour cooking oils and greases down the drain
Of course any other oils or greases should be avoided as well, but in a residential setting, cooking oils will be the most prevalent.

Do not use additives in the system
Additives will not benefit the system and may actually harm it. Additives are covered in greater length in the next section.

Do not have your water softener regeneration discharge to your septic system.
Even if your water softener discharges to a floor drain or a sink, it is going into your system. Wisconsin administrative code IHLR 83.04(5) allows for a water softener to be discharged to the ground surface if a nuisance is not created. Very few people are aware of this code, so it is important to mention it here.

Use common sense
Imagine your system as a type of filter built in your yard, because in essence that's really what it is. Filters don't last forever and can only take so much of what they are supposed to filter out. These systems are not giant municipal sewer plants. "City folk" have become accustomed to the habit of if it fits down the pipe, I can flush it. This is far from the truth with your septic system. It is a system which if maintained properly can last for many years, but if not maintained will cause premature system failure.

TO ADD OR NOT TO ADD, THAT IS THE QUESTION :: ADDITIVES
DO NOT USE ANY TYPES OF ADDITIVES IN YOUR SEPTIC SYSTEM.
They do nothing beneficial and some may actually harm the system and/or the environment. Adding yeast to the system is one of the biggest septic myths of all time. Adding yeast to your system will do nothing at all.

Many additives claim to get rid of the grease in the system. What they mean is the grease will liquefy, or become suspended in the water and float out of the tank into the seepage bed!!! The reason you have a septic tank is to prevent greases and solids from getting out to the seepage bed portion of your system. This type of additive will only cause your system to fail faster!

Some other additives will cause some of the solids on the bottom to also become waterborne and get out of the tank; on it's way to clogging the seepage bed.

Additives may (and some will) cause your system to fail faster. Some do nothing at all as they are yeast based. There is no unbiased science supporting this myth. Some additives are actually caustic and not only will not help your system, but may be dangerous to the environment and groundwater by not being nonbiodegradable in an anaerobic treatment environment. These caustic chemicals may pass untreated through the system, through the ground, and eventually into the groundwater.

HOW LONG WILL MY SYSTEM LAST BEFORE IT FAILS?
How a system is used (or abused) is directly proportional to how long it will last. Systems that are extremely abused can fail in one year. Heavily abused systems (i.e. daily use of a garbage disposal, grease and/or oils poured down the drain, etc.) can fail in as little as four years or less. Mounds and conventional septic systems can last for many years if used and maintained properly. Proper maintenance and use of a system can add many years to a system and is basically common sense once you understand what causes a system a to fail.

HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR SYSTEM
On-site wastewater treatment systems are progressively failing systems. You definitely want your system to be designed, installed, and maintained so that you are not digging up your yard and replacing your system in just a few years. There are several steps that can be taken to truly extend the longevity of your system. Please read the following carefully and refer to the list of "Do's and Don'ts" posted at this site.

A typical washing machine will discharge significant amounts of lint and minute fiber particles, which remain in suspension in your septic tank, allowing them to move out to the drain field and cause early failure of your drain field. We strongly recommend the installation of a filter on your washing machine discharge line. A popular and proven effective device is the Septic Protector. This device is a reusable filter that you attach to your washing machine discharge hose and removes this damaging material before it plugs your drains and septic system.

If your lot allows enough room, a second tank is one of the most important things you can do to try to maximize the life of your system. A second septic tank has been shown to reduce the amount of solids getting from the first tank to the seepage bed or soil absorption portion of the system by up to 50%! Although a two-compartment septic tank is better than a standard one-tank system, a second septic tank is much better than the tiny second compartment of a two-chamber tank. Some of the major variables making a second tank important to reducing solids are; area, volume, and retention time in the second tank

One of the main causes of solids getting out of the septic tank and into the seepage bed portion of the system (or into the second tank) is water being introduced into the tank with such great force that a portion of the solids which are settling on the bottom of the tank are stirred up from the bottom, incorporated into the water, and washed out of the tank. Primary causes of this powerful surge of water are the force at which water enters the tank from second story plumbing, use of a sewage ejector pump in the basement, or septic tanks being set substantially downgrade of a house. If a second tank is incorporated into the system, the surge of water entering the first tank is slowed to the point of not affecting the solids in the bottom of the second tank nearly as much as in the first. This allows most of the solids escaping the first tank to settle in the bottom of the second tank, thus preventing release of a large portion of solids to the seepage bed.

A mound or other pressurized system has a septic tank and a pump tank. Many people assume (because the pump tank looks virtually identical to the septic tank) that the pump tank counts as a second septic tank. Absolutely not! The pump tank has a pump just inches from the bottom of the tank. Whatever gets from the septic tank and into the pump tank will be pumped out into the system. In this type of system, a second tank would be between the first tank and the pump tank, for a total of three actual tanks.

In all cases some solids will leave a septic tank, but in instances where a sewage ejector is used (where basements have a toilet), where there is plumbing on a second (or higher) story, or the septic tank is set well downgrade of the house, the amount of solids leaving the tank will be substantially more.

An effluent filter is also highly recommended for any on-site wastewater treatment system (as of 7/2000 Wisconsin State code requires an effluent filter for new system installations). An effluent filter takes the place of the septic tank?s outlet baffle and filters out solids (down to 1/16th of an inch) as water moves to the seepage bed. This filter must be periodically cleaned to prevent clogging. Maintenance and cleaning of this type of filter is quite easy and takes only minutes to perform.