Drip Septic System Pros And Cons: A better Option
Is your home situated very close to wet areas? Or is it in no way linked to any sewage system that annexes the city that you live in? Then a drip septic system is highly recommended for you. Although it requires a high cost of maintenance and can be a bit more complex, provided you fall under that category, the drip septic system is the solution you need.
It is essential for your home improvement in terms of wastewater treatment by increasing its treatment right before transports it back into the soil. The drip septic system also enhances the release of a small amount of wastewater at once.
However, this drip septic system is a good alternative to conventional septic systems and a leach field. It has its pros and cons. As homeowners, you need to know if it can fit into your tight budget or not.
Below are the pros and cons of a drip septic system:
Pros
1. It Is Eco-friendly
A drip septic system is known for its ability to treat wastewater before it gets to contaminates both water and the environment as a whole. In fact, it is beneficial to the soil by releasing the treated water directly into the soil. Its dispersal system usually works by performing a slow release to treat the water very well.
2. Operates By Placing It On A Raised Water Table
It is quite easy for drip septic systems to work in areas with underground high water tables, unlike the conventional septic system. This is one of the advantages of a residential drip septic system because it does not have to be seated firmly that far underground. So, it is less of a problem for the likes of a residential drip septic system to get placed on a higher underground water table.
3. It Is Completely Controllable
Homeowners can easily control the activity of their drip septic system because it gives them full control over the amount of wastewater that goes directly into the soil. With a control panel that oversees the temperature, daily flow, performance, and change in pressure, you can easily operate it without any problem. If there is any problem whatsoever, you will hear the sound of an alarm.
4. The Cost For Hiring A Pumping Service Is Not Needed
When it involves a residential drip septic system, you don’t need to worry or pay attention to keep it functioning by sparing a high cost for its maintenance. However, in a conventional septic system, there is always a need for you to continually pump the tank yearly or every 2 or 3 years for its proper functioning.
Cons
1. Not Proper For Smaller Property
In this case, distance needs to be properly considered when you want to connect the distribution lines of the drip system far away from your home. So, there is a need for a bigger property in order to get your drip system to work.
2. Requires High Cost Of Maintenance
Normally, the septic system does not have any problem aside from getting pumped yearly or so, but the drip septic system has a lot of areas to get maintained. For example, the system needs to be kept clean, monitored, filtered, and changed daily to get an effective operation.
3. It Is Usually Very Expensive
Homeowners with a tight budget might not be able to consider owning a drip septic system because of its high price. This is the major disadvantage of a drip septic system. There is also the need to purchase supplies needed for water treatment.
For Proper Functioning, It Needs Many Components
Drip septic systems require more components than the traditional septic system. Components such as pumps, distribution lines, smallholding tanks, and much other stuff.
How Long Does A Septic System Last?
Septic systems like drip irrigation are designed and installed in many homes. It is essential for homeowners to know the basics of how their septic system works to have an idea of how to prolong its life through adequate maintenance.
Generally, the life span of these septic systems is around 25 to 30 years.
Drip Septic System Maintenance Tips
Homeowners use a drip septic system because of its mode of operation by dripping water (as its name implies “drip”) into a waste mixture that is later added to the septic tank. This process would aid the breaking down of waste or its separation as it is coming through to properly absorb waste materials into the leech field or ground table.
In addition, a drip septic system is commonly utilized in rocky areas such as golf courses which are difficult to install a leach bed piping.
However, if you want to prolong your septic system and let it continue in its proper functioning, you need to care for its maintenance.
So, below are a few tips on maintaining your drip septic system. They are:
- Filter and Heads Cleaning
- Make it your daily routine to take out your drip septic system and catch filters out for cleaning.
- Do a blockage check-in of your drip lines and keep to the daily flushing of the actual lines.
Improper cleaning of drip lines would lead to the inability of waste to get absorbed, so ensure there is no solid waste in the drip lines and clean its filter screen thoroughly.
Proper Maintenance Of The Lift Tank
The lift tank handles the regulation and distribution of wastewater, so doing a thorough regular check on this panel will prevent further problems.
Proper Cleaning Of The Septic Tank
- Ensure that the filters and drip lines are cleaned to avoid clogging.
- Regulate its liquid levels and do daily flushing of your septic.
- Do not forget to remove any build-up and residues from your tank sides to prevent plugging lines and plug filters.
Installation Of Thermocouples Near Drip Spout
- Installing thermocouples helps in the detection of any temperature changes in the tank.
- It will get you alerted for any potential freezing so that you can make a quick regulation as soon as possible.
How A Drip Septic System Works
The drip septic system works in cooperation with all its components, and the main goal of the drip septic system is to reduce the risk of untreated wastewater by increasing the treatment of sewage.
Pretreatment systems such as sand filters and aerobic septic systems are often used with the drip septic system.
However, the role of each of the three main components of a drip septic system (lift tank, dispersal unit and control panel) defines how the drip septic system works. This is through the following:
Dispersal unit which carries wastewater to the soil
Then there is perforation, also known as drip emitters, that are positioned at an interval of 12 to 24 inches, allowing wastewater to gain entry into the soil.
Tubing plays its role whenever it is time for the system to automatically flush back, and this is connected to a feed line on one end and a return like on the other end.
The lift tank containing the pump and filters is responsible for the distribution of wastewater evenly through the soil.
Whenever there is any change in pressure, temperature, daily wastewater flow and pump performance, the control panel would alert users to tackle the potential problems.
Mound Septic System Pros and Cons
Aside from the drip septic system, another alternative to other septic tanks is the “Mound septic system.” It operates via the use of “sand” as its means of wastewater disposal by absorbing the waste without siphoning it directly to any body of water. The Mound septic system does not require a container for waste disposal, and it is comfortably set near the top of the ground.
As homeowners, there are important good and bad characteristics of the mound septic system that you must know. They are called the pros and cons of the mound septic system.
Listed below are the pros and cons of the mound septic system:
Pros
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It Is Very Economical
The mound septic system requires not much work for its installation just by getting the filters and pipes installed and then working on an area for excavation.
However, for other septic systems, there’s the need to do bulky jobs on them, which would even take lots of energy, such as the casting of concrete or metals in replacement of a holding tank.
When the holding tanks get filled up in another system, you have no choice but to do the expenses on it by calling the assistant of a professional, which would require quite a huge amount of money. This is not the same with the mound system because it is cheap. All that you need to do is just turn and dig the sand over again for a reset.
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Serves As A Protection For The Water Table
The mound septic system is more efficient in protecting the water table than the drip septic system. What the mound septic system does is protect the water table from waste products. However, there has to be thorough maintenance of the water table because of the risk of getting it contaminated by a damaged septic tank.
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Suitable For All Weather Condition
The mound system can be put into operation in any weather condition or climate change.
Cons
1. Can Lead To Air Pollution
This is usually due to the closeness of the mound septic system near the sewage, and if leaching takes so long, it makes its way to the top, thereby giving off an awful smell.
2. Limited Space Due To Land Use
As a homeowner, if you do not have enough land space to dispose of waste and also keep the dugout water table (which is because a mound system does not have a container just like the other kinds of septic system which already has a large container placed underground and buried), then there will be a problem of creating a larger space for your mound septic system.
3. Might Not Look Attractive For Some People
Most users later find themselves hating the looks of their mound septic system. Due to this reason, they are left with no choice but to go for landscaping.
4. More Expensive
Unlike other conventional septic systems, the alternative mound system is highly expensive and hard to purchase for homeowners with tight budgets.
Drip Distribution System
A drip distribution system describes a subsurface tube that runs through the soil surface, thereby distributing wastewater with a flowing emitter. Installation is done at various depths below the ground surface. The general components of the drip distribution system are:
- Pump tanks
- Filtering device
- Pump and controls
- Pretreatment device (s)
- Flow metering device
Drip distribution field
How they work:
Here’s how some of these components of the drip distribution system listed above work.
Pump tanks – mainly for storage of treated wastewater till it gets dosed. The action is carried out by a high-head pump delivering water directly from the pump tank using the filtering device down to the drip distribution system.
Filtering device – mainly for removing large particles from wastewater to prevent blockage on the drip emitters. Aside from the sand filter, there are also the disk and screen filters. It has an automatic backwash depending on its system design. Flushing can be manual, continuous, and automatic.
Pump and controls are efficient in regulating dosing to the drip fields and implementing a system of time-dosing to the fields. Both backwashing and Field flushing are automatically controlled by control panels as well.
Flow metering device – using a flow meter, event counters, and elapsed time, this device can monitor total hydraulic loading to the drip fields.
Flow meters ensures a direct measure of flow and measure the flow rate
Elapsed time meters and events counters use pump flow rate to calculate the flow to the fields
Drip Irrigation Septic System Problems
Drip irrigation septic system becomes a problem when:
There is not an ongoing maintenance contract for the maintenance and operation of the drip field
Clogging occurs in the emitter because of poor maintenance, unfiltered large organic solids and organic matters.
The installation is not up to 6 to 8 inches below the surface and when there isn’t at least one foot of unsaturated soil beneath the drip tubing.
Also Read: How to dispose of bleach with a septic system
Drip System Septic Tank
A drip septic system carries out its operation by its name “drip” in that it releases a reduced amount of wastewater at regular intervals. This is the process of releasing little amounts of untreated wastewater that flows through the soil.
Homeowners who find installing trenches difficult use the drip system septic tank. It is also used in forested areas, steep slopes, and many other places. Pretreatment systems such as sand filters and aerobic septic systems also utilize the drip septic system.
Lastly, drip septic systems are specially used in places usually used during the warmer months of the year, such as resorts and golf courses.
Conclusion
Homeowners have always found it a bit tasking to choose any septic system, and it gets worse to the extent that they cannot get the conventional ones such as the drip septic system.
However, if you follow the tips mentioned in this article, you would be having no problem choosing any septic system of your choice.
