Inspecting Your Septic Tank – By the Angus Home Inspector
In Ontario the home owner is responsible for maintaining their septic system. Failure to properly maintain your septic system can lead to contaminated ground water. That is why if your source of drinking water is a well you should have it tested on a regular basis.
Septic systems can also fail. Many malfunctions are investigated by Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing every year. They are often public health and environmental hazards and can also be very costly to repair. Many of these problems could easily have been prevented by proper use and regular maintenance.
It’s simple: a tank, a network of pipes and billions of microscopic organisms. Yet it’s received every flush, every shower, and whatever else you and anyone else who’s lived in your house has ever poured down the drain.
Your septic system large amounts of organic waste every year. The septic tank treats the sewage by allowing the heavy solid material to settle into the first tank and allowing time for lighter “scum” to float to the top and over the baffle to the secondary chamber. This partly treated liquid then flows into perforated pipes, called the leaning bed, where it filters into the ground and is further treated. Helpful bacteria and other soil organisms do the majority of the work. Some municipalities are now performing septic tank re-inspections, such as this notice from the town of Innisfil.
To preserve our drinking water and Lake Simcoe, provincial laws require the Town of Innisfil to re-inspect septic systems located within 100 metres of all Municipal wells, the Lake Simcoe shoreline and for “vulnerable areas” as defined in the Clean Water Act 2006, and Source Water Protection. By re-inspecting the septic systems, we hope to bring all potentially unsafe systems into compliance with the amended Ontario Building Code Regulation 315/10.
Most potential purchasers will require any maintenance or pumping information you have available for both your well and septic system. The typical septic system consists of a septic tank and a leaching bed.
Since the 1970’s most septic systems have consisted of perforated pipes surrounded by stone and sand. If the sand is not available on site it would have to be imported in. The field has a biofilm at the bottom of the stone and sand which is the final filter before the effluent enters the natural soil.
All the waste water from your home goes to your septic tank. The primary chamber allows all the solids to settle before the water moves to the second chamber where any remaining particles should settle.
The baffle prevents any floating particles from entering your bed. The expected life span of a septic tank is approximately 30 years. Over use can shorten it life span considerably which is why it is important that a system be properly sized for the house it is serving.
Most septic tank experts recommend that you have a licensed contractor inspect your tank prior to purchasing a home. He can give you a written evaluation of your tank after pumping out the solids and inspecting both chambers. Typically any rural property will have this included in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale.
Note: To protect the bacteria in your septic system you should keep all toxic and hazardous chemicals out of your septic tank system.