Failure of the sewerage system can poison the life in a private house in a direct and figurative sense. Information about the reasons for the siltation of the cesspool and methods of cleaning will help to avoid troubles and minimize the consequences in the event of an emergency.
Sump operation and construction
A pit is organized in each private house to accumulate household waste in a certain place on the site. When building a house, the optimal size of the tank is calculated in accordance with sanitary and building codes. Placed so as to provide a convenient access for large-sized special equipment. The volume of wastewater entering the settling tank every day is determined by the number of people living and the amount of water-consuming equipment. The design of the waste pit depends on the owner's requests.
A simple outdoor toilet and a complex sewage system work on the same principle, despite the fact that a high-tech septic tank is very different in appearance from a sewage pit. By type of construction there are:
- sealed - domestic waste water is isolated from penetration into the environment in large containers;
- open - a container without a bottom is installed on a filtering layer through which purified industrial water seeps into the ground;
- combined - a system of three or more reservoirs, where sequential wastewater treatment takes place, with the first of the hermetic type, and the last open.
Regardless of the usable volume or device, the cesspools are regularly filled with water, organic waste and need to remove excess viscous liquid. If this is not done, organic residues and inorganic particles suspended in domestic wastewater gradually settle to the bottom of the tank. A viscous sludge is formed, gradually compacted, turning into a solid sediment. Sludge deposits in the pit worsen, and sometimes make it impossible to use the tank as a storage facility for household waste.
The combination of mechanical, chemical, biological methods of cleaning allows you to keep the sump in working order.
Reasons for siltation of a septic tank
If the domestic waste container overflows too often, it is necessary to understand why this happens. Possible options:
- In a country house or dacha, the number of permanent residents has increased. A pit designed for a smaller volume of drains does not cope with its work. If the guests are staying temporarily, for some time it will be necessary to pump out the technical water on their own more often or to call the flushers for this. If the tenants have settled permanently, it is necessary to increase the storage capacity.
- Silting occurred, and less liquid began to fit in the pit. A layer of sewage accumulated at the bottom reduced the useful volume of the reservoir. To restore functionality, it is necessary to get rid of the sludge in the cesspool.
- Fat deposits have formed. Fat particles insoluble in water thicken the loose sludge and impair its filtering properties. The water stagnates.
- The decomposition of waste has slowed down. Bacteria do not have time to process the increased flow of household water, or the number of bioactive microorganisms that decompose waste has decreased. This can happen during the cold season or in a chemically aggressive environment.Microorganisms are killed by excessive use of chlorine-based detergents or synthetic detergents. Unprocessed waste settles to the bottom, forming a layer of solid sludge.
Silting can also be caused by external reasons: violation of the tightness of the sump, due to which groundwater flows into the reservoir; improper operation of the drainage system.
Signs of sedimentation in the sump
When the first signs of deterioration in the performance of the pit appear, measures must be taken to identify and eliminate the problems. Pay attention to the following signals:
- Domestic wastewater outflow is very slow. The pit began to hold less liquid.
- It is necessary to pump out polluted water with a drainage pump for sewerage or to resort to the services of a sewer not once every two months, as before, but every three to four weeks.
- The silt mass that appears on the surface of the water can be seen through the inspection hatch.
- Traces of grease are visible on the surface of the drains or on the walls of the tank.
- Unpleasant odor spreads over the site even with the hatch closed.
- The container is filled with solid sediment.
Any of these signs are a warning of impending problems. Timely cleaning helps to restore the functionality of the cesspool.
Effective ways to fight
The problem of sedimentation in the sump can be solved in several ways:
- manually remove silt from the cesspool using a bucket on a rope;
- use mechanical devices: a powerful sewer pump or a sewage machine sludge pump, equipped with a vacuum pump and a hydraulic gun to break up solid sediments.
For easier removal, the sludge must first be softened: add pure water to the pit for a day or more, or use biological preparations.
The sewage drainage fecal pump is equipped with a grinder. It effectively grinds solid inclusions of the sediment layer, turning them into a semi-liquid mass that can be easily removed from the pit.
An attempt to clean the sump of sludge using household chemicals, especially those containing chlorine, can destroy bacteria that decompose organic household waste into simple components. This will reduce the efficiency of the settling tank for a long time. Chemical methods of cleaning tanks are used in the cold season, when biological products cease to work for natural reasons.
Chemicals are effective but not cheap. Previously, ammonium salts and formaldehyde were used to remove silt from tanks. However, these compounds were found to be extremely poisonous. Now sodium nitrate is used, thanks to which the bottom sludge can be used as fertilizer.
Preventive measures
Simple procedures will help to avoid siltation of the pit. It is important to conduct them regularly:
- pump out liquid household waste, without waiting for the overflow of the container or stagnation of the liquid;
- knock down solid deposits from the walls or bottom of the tank using a jet of water under pressure or a stiff brush once every two months;
- renew microorganisms in the reservoir by pouring out a pack of biological product, at least 1 time per month.
Protecting the cesspool from freezing by creating a heat-shielding layer or deepening the tank below the level of freezing of the soil is an effective prevention of siltation, helping to maintain the performance of bacteria at a high level even in the cold season.
