How To Clean A Septic Vent Pipe

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If you take tedious drains, pooling h2o in your yard, or bad odors almost your septic system, it could possibly be clogged at one of the pipes. Luckily, there are ways that you lot tin remove clogs in your septic organization without having to call a septic service professional. Start by looking for whatever visible clogs within your septic tank to see if you can force them out. If you need to reach the clog deeper inside a pipe, try using a mechanical auger to cutting through information technology instead. After you remove the clog, be sure to properly take care of the septic organisation to go along it clean!

1
Lift the tank's access lid closest to your home to check the inlet pipage. Wait for the plastic or physical encompass in your 1000 that'due south the closest to your dwelling. Carefully lift the lid up and off of the tank so you can look within. Await for the cease of a white or green pipe that's on the side of the tank closest to your home, and bank check if annihilation is blocking the end. If there is, then it may be the clog causing the trouble.^[1]
- If the water level is below the inlet pipe, so the clog may be somewhere in the drain pipage betwixt the septic tank and your abode.
- If the h2o level is above the inlet but there isn't anything blocking the end of the pipe, then the clog may be in the leach field.
- You may demand to dig upward the admission lid with a shovel or use a pry bar to lift information technology up.
Tip: Consult with your home's as-built drawings, which are blueprints drawn after your abode is built, or a septic service if you can't find the admission chapeau for your septic system.^[2]
2
Push the scum away with a pole or stick if it'south stuck in the stop of the inlet pipage. The scum layer is the solid waste material that builds on tiptop of the septic tank. Use a long, solid slice of wood or metallic and employ it to move the scum downwards or to the side of the inlet pipe. Continue pushing as much of the scum from around the pipe equally you lot tin can so it tin can continue filling your tank.^[three]
- Ever vesture gloves while working in your septic tank and so you don't become whatever bacteria or waste on your easily.
- If water starts flowing out of the pipe after pushing around the scum, then you've removed the clog.
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3
Probe the end of the piping with the pole or stick if the clog is deeper inside. Feed the finish of the stick or pole yous're using into the end of the pipe equally far equally you can. Scrape the sides of the pipe with the end of your probe and pull out whatever waste product into the tank. If the clog is at the end of the pipe, you should be able to suspension it apart then the water begins flowing once again. If water doesn't flow out of the piping, then the clog is deeper inside the pipe.^[4]
- You may not be able to feed your probe into the pipe depending on the pipe'southward location.
iv
Disinfect any tools y'all used with a 5:one water and bleach solution. Pour 1 office chlorine bleach and 5 parts clean h2o into a large bucket and stir it together. Dip your tools in the solution and allow them soak for well-nigh five minutes to impale any bacteria that are left on the surface. Pour the liquid back into your septic tank when you're finished.^[5]
- Effort to take a shower or bathe every bit shortly as you can after working on your septic tank.
- Apply bleach or laundry sanitizer when yous launder your dress just in instance any bacteria got on them.
v
Put the access lid back on the septic tank if you stock-still the problem. Elevator the chapeau and hold information technology over the hole leading into the septic tank. Slowly lower the lid down so it covers the hole completely and doesn't motility around. If you lot haven't cleared the clog, leave the lid off then you lot can insert a mechanical auger.^[half-dozen]
- Never exit the septic tank open while you're not working on it so goose egg can autumn in.
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Have a professional service pump your tank within 5 days if information technology was full. Even afterward removing the clog, your tank is probable to back up once more if the main tank is filled to the inlet pipe. Reach out to septic service professionals and permit them know that the scum level has reached the piping. Endeavour to schedule them within the next v days, or else you increase the chances of the septic fluid traveling back up the pipes. The service will empty your septic tank then the scum can't get into the pipes again.^[vii]
- Getting a septic tank pumped ordinarily costs between $75–200 USD depending on the size and amount they need to make clean.
- Take your septic tank cleaned and emptied every 3–v years, or when information technology gets full.
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1
Remove the septic tank access chapeau closest to your abode to reach the inlet pipage. If your septic tank has multiple access lids, choose the one that's closest to your home since it's most likely to take the inlet piping. Lift or pry the lid off of the tank and gear up it aside while you're working. Look inside of the tank for the end of a white or greenish pipe sticking out of the side that'southward nearest to your home.^[8]
- If you aren't sure where the admission lids are for your tank, bank check your home's every bit-built drawings or contact a professional service.
2
Feed the cut bract of a mechanical auger into the end of the chock-full pipe. A mechanical auger has a long metal cable you put into your pipes that has a rotating bit to cut through the blockage. Starting time from the end of the chock-full piping or at an access betoken for the pipe, such every bit a cleanout port. Place the cut blade of the auger inside the pipage that's chock-full, and button the line in most 1–2 anxiety (30–61 cm).^[9]
- You can buy a mechanical auger online or from your local hardware shop.
- Check if a local hardware store offers equipment rentals to see if you tin become an auger for a mean solar day without having to pay the full price.
3
Put on safety glasses and work gloves earlier y'all plough on the auger. Since mechanical augers have rotating and moving parts, protect your eyes so yous don't injure yourself if you lose command of the automobile. Put on thick piece of work gloves to avert spreading leaner or getting injure while yous handle the line. Plug the auger into the nearest electrical outlet and turn the switch to the On or Forward position.
- Y'all may need an extension cord to plug in the mechanical auger.
- Don't run the auger without gloves or safety glasses since you could severely injure yourself.
- Never start the auger if you have the cutting finish outside of the pipe since it will spin violently.
4
Keep feeding the auger deeper into the pipage so it breaks autonomously the clog. Hold the auger's line with both hands and guide it into the pipe until yous hit resistance. If the resistance feels solid, attempt turning the line in your hands to come across if it moves further inside since information technology may accept striking a bend in the pipe. Otherwise, push and pull the auger in curt, dorsum and forth strokes to forcefulness the blockage apart. Continue forcing the auger into the clogged section of pipe until it moves through it easily.^[10]
- If you remove the clog, water volition offset flowing through the pipe once more while you take the auger inside it.
- Mechanical augers come in different lengths, then if you aren't able to reach the clog with the one you're using, endeavour renting the next longest size.
Tip: Always hold the auger's line with at least 1 hand while it'southward running so information technology doesn't spin or rotate every bit yous try to feed it.
5
Turn the auger off before pulling it out of the pipe. Flip the power switch on the auger to the Off or Reverse setting so you can remove information technology without difficulty. Guide the auger'due south line dorsum into the container with both easily, and pull it slowly dorsum through the piping. Carefully pull the cease of the auger out of the piping and clean off any debris or waste that's stuck on the terminate with a hose or paper towel.^[11]
- Don't take the auger out of the pipe while information technology's still running since it could hurt you lot.
- Avoid touching the auger's line with bare easily since it was just in a piping that contains waste and harmful bacteria.
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Make clean the tools with a solution of 5 parts water and 1 role bleach. Pour ane part chlorine bleach and 5 parts make clean water into a saucepan and stir the solution together. Wipe the end of the auger with a cleaning rag to impale any bacteria left on the surface so yous don't contaminate anything else. Pour the solution into your septic tank when you're finished.^[12]
- Don't dump the cleaning solution in another bleed since information technology has harmful pathogens from your septic tank.
7

Put the chapeau dorsum on your septic tank. Grab the hat by the handles or sides and elevator it off of the ground. Carefully lower the chapeau back on top of the pigsty leading into your septic tank so it'south completely covered. Make sure the lid doesn't slide or shift, or else it could come off of the septic tank easily.^[thirteen]

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Avert putting anything in your drains besides water and natural waste. Septic tanks are merely meant to handle water, human waste product, and toilet paper, and so other items can cause the entire organization to clog. Throw abroad newspaper towels, wet wipes, food scraps, or other solid material in with the regular trash and then it can't block the pipes. Let other people in your domicile know what they can and cannot rinse downwardly the drains so they don't clog the pipes.^[fourteen] ^[15]
- Avoid using rinsing any harsh chemical cleaners down your drains since they could kill the natural bacteria in your septic tank that normally breaks downward solid waste.
- Never rinse grease down your drains since it can solidify in your pipes and class clogs that are hard to remove.^[16]
Tip: You exercise non need to add together whatever boosted natural enzymes or bacteria to your septic tank for breaking down solid waste. Whatsoever added enzymes won't be every bit effective as the ones that naturally occur in the tank.^[17]
2
Employ less water in your domicile then the septic system can drain properly. Don't run water in your home unless you lot have to, or else y'all could cause the tank to fill up as well quickly. Try to limit how much h2o y'all utilize when you're bathing or cleaning so you lot only accept equally much as you need. If y'all have any old or leaking fixtures, repair them or opt for more than efficient systems, such as toilets that flush less water or faucets with aerators fastened to them.^[18]
- Limiting your water utilise will also help you lot save money on your utility bill.
3
Don't bulldoze or plant over the area with your septic tank. Heavy weight tin can cause pipes leading from your septic tank to collapse or break, then try to avoid using a vehicle over the area if you can. Plant roots can also grow into the pipes or septic tank and cause them to easily clog. If y'all desire copse or plants, go on them at least 20–30 feet (half-dozen.one–ix.one m) away from your septic organization so the roots aren't able to grow inside.^[19]
- You can always cut roots out of your pipes with a mechanical auger, just they will abound dorsum if left untreated.
- Root barriers from gardening stores kill roots on contact and can protect your septic arrangement from overgrowth. Dig a trench that'due south ii feet (61 cm) deep around your septic system so it's 3 anxiety (91 cm) away from any pipes. Place the root bulwark vertically in the trench before filling the dirt dorsum in.
4
Clean the effluent filter on the outlet pipe to ameliorate drainage. The effluent filter is a plastic cylinder in your septic tank'due south outlet pipage that prevents solid waste material from escaping. Open the access lid on the tank that's furthest from your home. Await inside for a vertical white or green pipe that'south property the filter and sticking out from the peak layer of scum. Pull the filter directly out from the vertical pipe and rinse the waste back into the tank with a hose. Push the filter back into the pipe again so it continues blocking waste matter.^[20]
- Not every septic system will have an effluent filter.
- Check your filter any time you have your tank pumped or inspected so it'south less likely to clog.
5

Have your septic tank inspected by a professional every 3 years. Septic tanks usually take about 3–5 years to fill, but information technology may vary depending on the size or amount of water y'all employ. Contact a professional person service to check the water levels and pipes for your system to run across if you need to brand any changes. If the service has any concerns, accost them as soon every bit possible so you lot don't take a faulty septic system.^[21]

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Add together New Question

Question

How do you locate your septic tank?

David Balkan
Professional Plumber & CEO of Balkan Sewer & Water Main

David Balkan is a Professional Plumber, CEO of Balkan Sewer and Water Main Service, and President of Balkan Sewer and Drain Cleaning. As a hands-on possessor of these companies for over 40 years, David is knowledgeable nigh water service lines, sewers, and drain line issues. David is a Committee Chairman of the Master Plumbers Quango and has sabbatum on the Executive Commission of the Sub Surface Plumbers Association of New York for over 30 years. His knowledge and solution-oriented approach contributed to Balkan Sewer and Water Chief Service being the largest and most trusted service in New York City and the recipient of the 2017 Angie's List Super Service Accolade.

Professional person Plumber & CEO of Balkan Sewer & Water Main

Expert Respond

Ordinarily they accept clean outs that are visible because they take to be pumped out every and so oftentimes. And the easiest style is to locate your main house trap or clean out. Typically, the showtime tank would be 15 anxiety or slightly more out from the exterior wall of your house because that'south often the minimum required distance. Once you lot find your main cleaner or your trap, at that place are tools that professionals utilise. They can insert electronic pipage tracing devices downwardly your master sewer line, and they can pinpoint where the tanks are located.
Question

Is using as well much Rid X bad for my septic tank?

Using too much Rid X will not hurt anything.
Question

Would very intense rain/storms cause problems for my septic arrangement?

Danieland Robin Kirby

Customs Reply

if yous have problems every time it rains, you desire to wait for a concave indention over y'all field lines or over your septic tank. Information technology allows the water to sit right on top of your field lines resulting in a flooded sewer system. To prepare it, simply make full in the sunken areas. A small ridge in the center sloping downward to normal grade near two feet on both sides of the field line will prepare this.
Question

Is at that place a natural enzyme, like dry out yeast, instead of having to pay for expensive enzyme treatments or having to become a septic used by one person pumped out?

The homo servicing our septic had many years of experience. He told me that nosotros could save money by only dumping in a package of regular yeast once or twice a calendar month. I purchase the store brand (79 cents a package) and dump a couple of those a month down the toilet. That's it.
Question

What is all-time to utilize in the toilet for my septic system?

Danieland Robin Kirby

Community Answer

In a septic tank, although there is plenty of nutrient for your bacteria, information technology dies for lack of oxygen, so if you lot put in more bacteria, they just die about as soon equally you flush them. In a treatment plant where oxygen is pumped into the tank, you go from millions of bacteria in a septic tank to billions of bacteria when aerobic and anaerobic bacteria can thrive! That existence said, handling plants are recommended to be pumped out more regularly than septic tanks.
Question

What can I use to unclog a sink drain if I accept a septic arrangement?

Personally, I use a plastic drain snake. It is a plastic ribbon with small barbs that grab whatever is clogging your bleed (unremarkably hair). They are only $2-3 and they piece of work great, only they are a petty messy.
Question

What do I do if there's a clog of grease and hair bleaching products in my septic tank?

No oil or grease should get into the septic organisation. Collect it in a grease tin can and dispose it. As far as bleach goes, it kills the bacteria your septic organisation needs to digest waste. You lot may want to look into septic safety products.

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If you lot aren't able to unclog your septic tank or if there'southward serious impairment to the pipes, contact a septic professional to make the repairs for you lot to ensure that everything is up to code.^[22]
Always wear safe spectacles and disposable gloves while working on your septic tank to avoid any contagion.

Things You'll Need

Gloves
Pole or stick

Mechanical auger
Safety glasses
Work gloves
Hose
Newspaper towel

Garden hose

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