We clean Septic Tanks in the greater Auckland region

We have found over the years, that most people do not understand or do not want know the workings of the septic tank

We are going to try, through this web site, to correct that.

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We have read lots of books about septic tanks, follow this to a copy of the Councils TP58, for the Councils this is the manual they follow 

The other book we like is and we will be refering to this, it has an easy, smilpe way of explaning the septic system, worth a read.

The Septic System Owner's Manual

By Lloyd Kahn, John Hulls, Peter Aschwanden

  • Did you know. There is nothing stopping you installing a gravity septic tank. (Similar to the old style septic tank) The Council will try and fight you on this, but if the engineer and the drain layer, that have you employed, says that everything is all right and you meet all the right standards then there's nothing to stop you. If it's not allowed, then why are they still making the old style septic tanks?
  • The biggest problem is people do not look after their septic tank. It's your own sewage works, it helps keep your family and the environment healthy. If you are not happy about oil going into the sea, what about your un-cleaned septic tank discharging into the environment?????
  • The job of a septic tank is to intercept the solids
  • The job of the drainage field is to purify and disperse the effluent which then returns to the water table, is taken up by plants and or evaporates.

A typical conventional septic tank consists of two basic working parts:

  1. A septic tank
  2. An underground disposal field (sometimes called a drainage field, Leachfield, soil absorption field)

Waste water flows from the house to the tank

Effluent (the waste water minus the solids) flows from the tank to the drainage field

The main job of the tank is to intercept the solids

The main job of the drainage field is to purify and disperse the effluent

The soil filters and purifies the effluent which then returns to the water table, is taken up by plants and or evaporates

The most serious problem with a septic systems occurs when sludge and or scum is carried out into the drainage field

This can cause surfacing of effluent or system backup into the house

We have found that if there are wet black patches in the lawn, that when we have cleaned out the septic tank after a while the black patches have gone away. The reason is that the tank has not been cleaned in a while and the solids are being washed into the drainage field. This causes the biomat organisms to have excessive growth and reducing the premeability. In other words the black stuff is over fed and has now blocked the drainage field. When we have cleaned the septic tank there's is less food for the biomat and it die's back unblocking the drainage field.