Roughly about one-third of all homes in the US use a septic system, which means regular maintenance goes along with that. Typical septic systems should be able to hold at least two days worth of wastewater in order to allow the solids to settle out of the water which equates to about a 1,000 gallon tank minimum for a family of four in a two bedroom apartment. Despite the fact that regular maintenance is recommended, many don’t call in for repair unless there is a problem. Sometimes those problems are caused by unusual things. Read below to see some of the most unusual things found in a septic system.
Animals
No one wants to be working on septic tanks and dealing with septic repair and know that there is a real live animal in there. Relax a little, not like a fox, or a dog or a snake hopefully. Sometimes those performing septic tank service find things like frogs or even spiders in during the course of repairing septic systems.
Roots
Okay so maybe roots aren’t so weird or strange to some, but sometimes the size of the roots are what makes those performing service or repairs on septic systems say “Woah!” Roots are a common problem for septic issues, but sometimes these problems go on for quite a while before anything is done about them. This leads to one of two issues. Either there are a large group of roots that completely block everything, or it is one massive root that manages to grow it’s way right into the middle of everything else.
Dentures
Any question you could possibly be thinking about asking has probably already crossed their minds as well. We are pretty sure the directions do not state to clean dentures in the toilet, so figuring out how they manage to get flushed has us dumbfounded. Maybe a curious tot wanted to see if they would go down, who knows!
Condoms
Okay, everyone knows that girls are told from a young age that certain things are not flushable, so maybe perhaps those items that can’t be flushed should be expanded. Things such as this should probably be included on the list. Can you imagine the face of the homeowner knowing that this is what caused the problems? Can you imagine how the workers felt after realizing this? Not something we would want to go through, and probably not something that those responsible for repairing septic systems want to deal with either.
Cat litter
Yet another item to be added to the do not flush list. Somethings leave us shaking our head as we ponder how in the world the thought of flushing something down the toilet seemed to make sense. Cat littler, however, does not belong in your toilet or your septic tank. Wonder is kiddos thought they could get out of chores by flushing it instead of disposing of it properly?
Baby Wipes
Were the kids left with dad for a bit? How in the world do baby wipes make it into a toilet? We don’t have the answer for that, but we do have the answer for what happens when those wipes do in fact make their way down that toilet. The end result could be a stopped up septic system with the need for septic system repair immediately following.
Considering the things that have been found, it may be safe to say that there is no reason to be embarrassed when having your septic system repaired. From the sounds of it, they have most likely seen it all and then some. Plus consider the next time that something gets flushed down the toilet, that it could probably be worse!