For people living in rural areas, septic systems are a natural part of life – and along with these treatment systems comes septic tank cleaning and maintenance. Here’s what you need to know to ensure your septic system is functioning well…

People living in urban areas would rarely spare a thought for where their bathroom and laundry waste water and sewage goes. But for rural home owners, a septic treatment system is often their only option. Such a system comes with a responsibility to ensure that it is working efficiently, so our waterways are kept clean.

Most people would be quick to call in the professionals when there’s a problem in the bathroom or laundry, such as a blocked toilet, but according to plumber Greg Butler, a properly functioning septic systems require ongoing care and maintenance to avoid the cost of repair or replacement.

"Even though people might not be having an obvious problem with their septic tank, if it’s overfull then it will stop working properly. Solid material can pass through the tank and out through the absorption line and you can seriously damage the system," he says.

For this reason, it’s important to have your septic tank regularly checked to make sure it’s working properly and that it’s not full. The newer style waste-water treatment systems usually have regular checks built into the maintenance contract, but for those with traditional systems, you’ll need to organise this yourself.

Greg says that while it’s possible for home owners to check the sludge level in their septic treatment system, it’s not an easy job, and many people feel more comfortable having a professional come out and do it. It’s recommended that levels are checked at least annually.

When full, the tank will need emptying, a process called desludging. Greg says this should be done every three to four years, although it can vary with the number of people using the system. "If there’s only a couple living in the house, then you can get a bit longer out of them, but there might be a household with five or seven adults, which would need cleaning more frequently," he says.

Legal requirements for cleaning a septic tank vary from state to state, so it’s important to check with your local water authority or council what your obligations are.

In addition to having septic systems regularly monitored and desludged, Greg says there is another way to ensure it runs as efficiently as possible, and that’s to be careful about what goes into it.

"You’ve got to ensure that you don’t kill off the microbes that make the system work by putting things like bleach in there," he says. The chemicals and detergents that people will commonly use in the laundry and bathroom can upset the balance of your septic system, so always opt for brands marked ‘septic safe’.