After a Heavy Rain: Why We Won’t Pump a Flooded Septic Tank (and What to Do Instead)

Posted on by relentless
Paper cut-out illustration of a North Georgia home after heavy rain, with standing water over the drain field and a septic lid in the lawn

When a week of hard rain rolls through North Fulton, our phone starts ringing. Toilets are gurgling in Milton. A backyard in Roswell looks like a pond. A homeowner in Johns Creek wants the tank pumped today, before things get worse.

We understand that instinct. But right after a big storm, pumping the tank can be the wrong move, and we would rather explain why than take a job that won’t help.

What Heavy Rain Does to Your Septic System

Your drain field works by letting treated water from the tank soak down into the soil. That only works when the soil has room for it. After several days of rain, especially in our red clay, the ground is already full. The water leaving your tank has nowhere to go, so it starts pushing back toward the house.

That’s why drains run slow and toilets gurgle after a storm, even when nothing is broken. The system isn’t failing. It’s waiting for the ground to dry out.

Why We Wait to Pump a Saturated Tank

The EPA’s flood guidance for septic owners says not to pump a tank while the drain field is flooded or saturated. Two reasons:

  • It doesn’t last. Pumping is only a temporary fix when the ground is soaked. Water around the tank can work its way back in, and you end up paying to empty a tank that refills with rain.
  • It can damage the tank. An empty tank sitting in waterlogged soil can shift or even float up out of the ground, and that movement can crack or pull apart the inlet and outlet pipes.

A full tank is heavy, and that weight helps keep it settled while the soil is soft. Once the water table drops, pumping makes sense again. After real flooding, it’s a smart call, because silt and debris can wash into the tank and need to come out.

What You Can Do While the Ground Dries

  • Cut way back on water. Space out laundry, take shorter showers, and give the dishwasher a day or two off.
  • Don’t send floodwater down a sink or toilet, and go easy on the system until the ground over your drain field is no longer soggy.
  • Keep cars, trucks and riding mowers off the drain field. Wet soil packs down easily, and packed soil doesn’t drain.
  • Don’t dig around the tank or drain field while the ground is wet.
  • If you have a septic pump or alarm, stay away from wet electrical parts and have the connections checked before the power goes back on.
  • If your private well was under water, don’t drink from it until it’s been tested. Your county environmental health office can point you in the right direction.

Signs It’s More Than a Soggy Yard

Most systems that struggled during a storm settle back down after a few days of dry weather. Call us if you notice:

  • Sewage backed up into the house, or drains are still slow after the yard has dried out
  • A sewage smell around the tank or drain field once the rain has stopped
  • The ground over the tank has sunk or settled
  • Your septic alarm is going off
  • The drain field stays wet and spongy long after the rest of the yard is dry

If sewage did back up into a basement or crawl space, open things up for fresh air, wear gloves, clean the area, and disinfect with a bleach solution. The EPA suggests about half a cup of chlorine bleach per gallon of water.

How We Handle Storm Calls

When you reach us after a storm, Matt Banta and our crew start with questions, not a truck. We’ll talk through what you’re seeing, tell you straight whether to wait out the water, and set up your pumping or inspection once the ground can handle it.

If something did break, like a damaged line, a settled tank, or a drain field clogged with silt, we repair and replace those too. We’re a licensed, state-certified Georgia septic contractor with more than 20 years of work in Alpharetta, Milton, Roswell, Cumming, Sandy Springs and across North Atlanta, open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day with emergency service available.

Fall storms and the tail ends of tropical systems tend to roll through Georgia this time of year. A little patience after the rain protects your tank, your pipes and your wallet.

Call Action Septic Tank Service at 770-922-1434 or visit actionseptictankservice.com to schedule service.

Hydro Jetting vs. Snaking: Which One Does Your Sewer or Septic Line Really Need?

Posted on by relentless
Paper cut-out illustration of a North Georgia home with a cutaway sewer line being cleared by a water jet on its way to a septic tank

A slow drain gets most people reaching for the same fix: run a snake down the line, pull the clog, move on. Sometimes that is exactly right. Other times the drain is slow again three weeks later.

We get asked about this all the time in Alpharetta, Milton and Roswell. Here is how we decide between snaking and hydro jetting, and what each one can and cannot do for your line.

What snaking does

A drain snake, or auger, is a flexible steel cable with a cutting head on the end. It spins its way down the pipe and punches a hole through whatever is blocking it. Water starts moving again, and for a single, simple clog that is often all you need.

The catch is that a snake opens a path. It does not clean the pipe. Grease, scale and root hairs on the walls stay behind. In a line that has been building up for years, the clog was just the last straw, and the pipe is still narrow.

What hydro jetting does

Hydro jetting sends water at very high pressure through a specialized nozzle. Jets point backward and sideways, so the nozzle pulls itself down the line while it scours the full inside wall of the pipe. Grease, soap scum, sludge and fine roots get cut loose and flushed out.

When it is done, the pipe is closer to its original diameter instead of just having a tunnel through the middle. That is why a jetted line tends to stay clear much longer than a snaked one.

How we decide which one fits

It depends on what is in the pipe and what the pipe is made of. Snaking usually makes sense when:

  • You have one stubborn clog in an otherwise healthy line, like a toy or a wad of wipes
  • The pipe is older or fragile, and high pressure could do more harm than good
  • You need water moving tonight and a full cleaning can wait

Hydro jetting is usually the better call when:

  • The same drain keeps backing up every few weeks or months
  • There is heavy grease buildup, common in busy kitchens and in commercial lines
  • Fine roots are working into the joints and need to be cut back
  • A restaurant or office needs its line or grease trap connection kept clear on a schedule

Why we look before we jet

Pipe material matters here in North Fulton. A lot of homes from the 1960s through the 1980s still have clay tile, cast iron, or even old fiber pipe running out to the tank. Water pressure strong enough to strip grease can also find a cracked joint or a collapsing section and make it worse.

So before we jet an older line, we want to know what we are working with. Sometimes that means a camera look down the pipe first. If the camera shows a broken or sagging section, no amount of cleaning fixes that, and you are better off knowing now than after a second backup.

Where your septic tank fits in

A clean sewer line only helps if the tank at the end of it is in good shape. If your tank is overdue for pumping, the solids can rise to the outlet and back up into the line no matter how clean it is. The EPA recommends having a typical household system inspected about every three years and pumped about every three to five years, depending on household size and use.

When we come out for a stubborn drain in Johns Creek or Cumming, we look at the whole path: the line, the tank level, the baffles and the outlet.

A few habits that keep your line clear

  • Wipe greasy pans with a paper towel before washing them
  • Keep wipes, even the ones labeled flushable, out of the toilet
  • Call when a drain first starts running slow, not after it stops

If a drain in your house keeps coming back, it is usually telling you something about the pipe behind it. We are glad to take a look, explain what we find in plain terms, and give you a quote for the fix that actually fits your line.

Call Action Septic Tank Service at 770-922-1434 or visit actionseptictankservice.com to schedule service.

Garbage Disposals, Washers and Dishwashers: The Everyday Appliances That Overload Your Septic Tank

Posted on by relentless
Paper cut-out illustration of a North Georgia home showing kitchen and laundry appliances draining to a septic tank and drain field

Most of the septic trouble we see around Alpharetta and Milton doesn’t start with anything dramatic. It starts in the kitchen and the laundry room, with machines you run every day without thinking twice. A garbage disposal chewing through potato peels. Four loads of towels on a Saturday. The dishwasher going twice after a big family dinner.

None of that is a mistake on its own. Your septic tank just can’t tell the difference between a busy day and a flood. With Thanksgiving a few weeks out, this is a good time to look at how your appliances are treating your system.

The Garbage Disposal: Handy, but Heavy on Solids

Your tank works by letting solids settle to the bottom while bacteria break down what they can. A disposal sends ground-up food straight into that tank, and much of it doesn’t break down quickly. It piles onto the sludge layer, so you reach the point of needing a pump-out sooner. Grease that rides along with food scraps can also travel toward the drain field and start sealing up the soil.

County health departments put it simply: on a septic home, eliminate or limit the disposal. Here’s what we tell families in Roswell and Johns Creek:

  • Scrape plates into the trash or a compost bin before rinsing.
  • Never pour pan grease down the sink, disposal or not. Let it cool, then toss it.
  • If you use your disposal every day, let us know. You may need a shorter pumping schedule.

The Washing Machine: A Lot of Water All at Once

The EPA warns that too much water at one time can overload a septic system, and laundry is the usual culprit. Every load pushes a big slug of water through the tank. Run load after load and the tank never gets a chance to let solids settle before that water heads out to the drain field. In our North Georgia clay, which drains slowly to begin with, the soil can only take so much in one day.

  • Spread loads across the week instead of saving them all for one day.
  • Run full loads, or match the water level setting to the size of the load.
  • Use the amount of detergent the label calls for, not extra.
  • Shopping for a new washer? An ENERGY STAR model uses less water per load.

The Dishwasher: Fine Alone, Trouble in a Crowd

A dishwasher by itself is rarely the problem. Trouble comes when it runs at the same time as the washer, a couple of showers and the disposal. The EPA recommends spreading laundry and dishwasher loads out over the day. Starting it late at night, after everyone is done showering, gives your tank a steadier flow to work with.

Hidden Water You Might Not Notice

Some of the biggest water users aren’t appliances you see. A toilet that runs all night can send a surprising amount of clean water into your tank, so fix leaks and running fixtures quickly. Sump pumps and gutters should send their water away from the tank and the drain field, never into them. If you have a water softener and you’re thinking about changing where its recharge water drains, ask us first. We’d rather look at your setup than guess.

Signs the Appliances Are Winning

  • Drains slow down after laundry day
  • Gurgling in the pipes when the washer empties
  • Soggy ground or extra-green grass over the drain field
  • A sewage smell near the tank or in the yard

Any of these can mean the tank is full or the drain field is struggling. A pumping and inspection tells us which one you’re dealing with.

A Simple Plan Before the Holidays

  • Book a pumping if you’re due, or if you can’t remember the last one.
  • While the tank is open, have us check the baffles and the effluent filter.
  • Set one house rule: one big water job at a time.

Matt Banta and our crew have been doing this for more than 20 years across Alpharetta, Milton, Cumming, Sandy Springs, Peachtree Corners and the rest of North Fulton. Every tank and property is different, so pricing is quoted for your home, and we’re glad to answer appliance questions while we’re out on your property. We’re open every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., with emergency service when you need it.

Call Action Septic Tank Service at 770-922-1434 or visit actionseptictankservice.com to schedule service.

Your Septic Alarm Is Beeping: What It Means and What to Do Next

Posted on by relentless
Paper cut-out illustration of a North Georgia home with a septic alarm panel on the side wall and a septic riser lid in the autumn yard

Most people don’t know their septic system has an alarm until the night it goes off. A red light on a little box by the garage. A buzzer that won’t quit.

We get these calls all over North Fulton, from Milton and Alpharetta down through Roswell, Johns Creek and Sandy Springs. The good news is that an alarm is not a disaster. It’s a warning, and it usually gives you some breathing room if you respond the right way.

What That Alarm Is Actually Telling You

Not every septic system has an alarm. A plain gravity system, where wastewater flows downhill from the tank to the drain field, often doesn’t need one. But many homes around here sit on slopes and Georgia red clay, so the drain field ends up uphill or far from the house. Those systems use a pump tank, and alternative systems often rely on pumps too.

Inside that pump tank, a float switch rides on the water. When the level rises past where it should be, a second float triggers the high water alarm. Water is coming in faster than it’s going out. Something has stopped moving it along.

The Usual Suspects

After two decades of answering these alarms, we see the same handful of causes over and over:

  • A tripped breaker or a power outage that shut the pump off
  • A worn out or failed effluent pump
  • A float switch that’s stuck, tangled or worn
  • A clogged pump screen or effluent filter
  • Heavy rain soaking into the tank or a saturated drain field that can’t take more
  • A big spike in water use, like back to back laundry loads or a houseful of holiday guests

What to Do the Moment It Sounds

Most pump tanks are built with some reserve storage above the alarm level for exactly this situation. County health departments that oversee these systems describe it the same way: that extra space buys you time, but not forever.

Here’s what we tell our customers to do:

  • Press the silence button on the panel if it has one. Don’t unplug or disconnect the alarm. You want it working.
  • Cut back on water right away. Hold off on laundry, the dishwasher and long showers. Flush only when you need to.
  • Check the breaker for the pump. If it tripped, reset it once. If it trips again, leave it off and call us.
  • Give it a little time. If the alarm clears on its own after the water level drops, the pump likely caught up. Keep using water lightly for a day or two.

If the alarm comes back, or it stays on for hours even after you’ve cut your water use, the pump isn’t keeping up. That’s when you need a licensed technician on site.

What Not to Do

Please don’t open the tank lid to look for yourself. The gases inside are dangerous, and a pump tank is not a place to go reaching around. Don’t keep running the washer and hope the light goes away. And don’t keep flipping a breaker that keeps tripping.

After a Power Outage

When the power goes out, your pump stops, but your drains still work. Every flush and shower keeps filling the tank. Once power comes back, the pump has a backlog to push out to the drain field. Ease into normal use so you don’t flood a drain field that’s already soaked from the same storm. If your alarm sounds after the lights come back on, treat it like any other alarm and conserve water first.

How We Handle It

When we come out, we check the panel, the breaker, the floats and the pump itself. We clean the pump screen or effluent filter if it’s clogged, test the float switches, and pump the tank if it’s overloaded. If the pump has reached the end of its life, we’ll walk you through the replacement options and give you a straight quote before any work starts.

A septic alarm is one of the few parts of your system that speaks up before there’s sewage in the yard or the house. Listen to it, take the pressure off with less water, and get it looked at. If it goes off at night or on a weekend, we’re open every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., with emergency service available.

Call Action Septic Tank Service at 770-922-1434 or visit actionseptictankservice.com to schedule service.

Where Does Your Roof Water Go? Gutters, Dry Wells and Your Drain Field This Fall

Posted on by relentless
Paper cut-out illustration of a North Georgia home with a downspout piped to a gravel dry well away from the septic drain field

This time of year, leaves pile into gutters all over Alpharetta and Milton, and the fall rains start stacking up. Most homeowners think about where the leaves go. Fewer think about where the water goes once it leaves the downspout. If your home is on septic, that second question matters a lot.

Why roof water and drain fields don’t mix

Your drain field is where the real treatment happens. Wastewater leaves the tank and soaks slowly into the soil, where it gets filtered and cleaned. That only works when the soil has room to breathe. The EPA advises keeping roof drains, sump pumps and other rainwater drainage away from your drain field, because excess water slows down or stops the treatment process.

A roof is a big collection surface. Every downspout gathers the rain off a whole section of it and drops it in one spot. Point that spot at your drain field and you’re soaking the one part of your yard that needs to stay the least soggy. Add North Georgia red clay, which drains slowly to begin with, and the ground can stay saturated for days.

Signs your runoff is landing in the wrong place

  • Downspouts that empty onto the lawn uphill from the drain field
  • Spongy ground over the field a day or two after a rain
  • Slow drains or gurgling toilets that show up after storms and fade in dry weather
  • Bright green stripes or standing water over the field lines
  • Soil washing away around the tank lid or risers

None of these automatically mean your system is failing. They mean water is going where it shouldn’t, and that’s usually a fixable problem.

Simple fixes you can handle

  • Clean your gutters after the leaves drop. Clogged gutters overflow at random spots, often right along the foundation or across the yard.
  • Add downspout extensions or splash blocks that send water away from the tank and drain field.
  • Walk your yard during a good rain. Watching where the water actually runs tells you more than any drawing.
  • Keep a healthy grass cover over the field. Grass holds the soil in place and uses up some of the moisture.

When a dry well makes sense

Sometimes there’s no easy place to send the water. Lots in Milton, Roswell and Johns Creek can be sloped, tight or wooded, and the only downhill direction runs right across the septic area. That’s where a dry well can help.

A dry well is an underground pit, usually filled with gravel or built around a perforated chamber, that collects roof runoff through a buried pipe and lets it soak into the ground slowly. Instead of sheeting across your yard, the water goes to a spot built to take it.

We install dry wells for homeowners around North Fulton, and location is everything. It has to sit far enough from the tank and drain field that the water it releases doesn’t drift right back toward them, and it has to suit the soil it’s going into. Setback and permit requirements can vary, so we check what applies to your property before we dig.

Before you build, regrade or add a patio

Any project that changes how water moves across your yard can change how much reaches your drain field. New gutters, a room addition, a wider driveway, even fresh landscape beds can redirect runoff. If you’re planning work this fall or winter, it helps to know where your tank and field lines are first. We can locate them, look at the drainage, and tell you whether downspout changes, a dry well, or nothing at all is the right move.

The short version

Your septic system was designed to handle what comes out of your house. It wasn’t designed to handle what comes off your roof. Keep those two jobs separate and your drain field has a much better shot at a long life. Matt Banta and our crew have been doing this work around Alpharetta for more than 20 years, and we’d much rather help you move a downspout than replace a drain field.

Call Action Septic Tank Service at 770-922-1434 or visit actionseptictankservice.com to schedule service.

Buying or Selling a Home With Septic in North Fulton: What to Check Before Closing

Posted on by relentless
Paper cut-out illustration of a couple checking an open septic tank lid in the backyard of a North Georgia home for sale

Fall is a busy stretch for house hunting around Alpharetta, Milton and Johns Creek, and plenty of those homes sit on septic. The tank is the one major system nobody sees on a walkthrough. You can open the breaker panel and run every faucet in the house, but the tank and drain field stay buried under the lawn.

We get called out to a lot of yards in the middle of a sale. Sometimes it’s the buyer’s agent, sometimes the seller. A little homework up front keeps a closing on track, and it keeps a new owner from inheriting a surprise.

For buyers: ask for the paper trail first

Before you fall for the backyard, ask the seller for:

  • Pumping and service records, with dates
  • The age of the system and any repairs done on it
  • The permit or “as built” drawing showing where the tank and drain field sit

The EPA’s homebuyer guide points people to the local health department for that as-built drawing. Here, that’s Fulton County Environmental Health, and the North Fulton Regional Health Center office can steer you the right way. Older homes in Roswell and Sandy Springs sometimes come with a thin file. Don’t panic if the records are light. It just means the inspection carries more weight.

Know what your home inspection covers

A lot of general home inspections stop at the foundation. The inspector may flush toilets and watch the drains, and that tells you very little about what’s happening out in the yard. Ask your inspector point blank whether the septic system is included. If it isn’t, book a separate septic inspection.

What a real septic inspection looks at

When we inspect a system for a sale, we check the same basics the EPA lists:

  • Sludge and scum levels inside the tank
  • The condition of the tank, the baffles, and the inlet and outlet pipes
  • Signs of backup, like staining above the outlet
  • Signs of leaking, like a water level sitting too low
  • The distribution box, so each drain line gets an even share
  • The drain field, where we look for soggy ground, standing water or odor

In our red clay, the drain field is where trouble likes to hide. Clay holds water. A field that’s been overworked for years can give itself away with a strip of grass greener than the rest of the yard, or ground that stays mushy days after a rain.

For sellers: get ahead of it

If you’re listing a home in Cumming, Milton or Alpharetta, think about having the tank pumped and inspected before the sign goes up. You hand the buyer clean records, you find any problem on your own schedule instead of during a tight due diligence window, and you take a big bargaining chip off the table. A few things help:

  • Locate the lid, or add a riser so it’s easy to reach
  • Pull together every receipt you can find
  • Fix small issues like a cracked lid or a worn baffle before they land on someone else’s report

Pumping and inspecting are two different things

A freshly pumped tank looks great, but pumping by itself doesn’t prove the system works. Pumping is often part of a good inspection because it lets us see the tank walls and baffles. Either way, ask for a written report you can hand to the other side.

If something turns up

A problem doesn’t have to kill the deal. A broken baffle or a cracked line is usually a quick fix. A failing drain field is a bigger job, and that’s where buyers and sellers tend to negotiate repairs or credits. A clear estimate from a licensed contractor gives both sides real numbers instead of guesses. Every property is different, so we quote after we’ve seen the site.

A local set of eyes

Matt Banta has spent more than 20 years inspecting, pumping and repairing systems across North Fulton as a licensed, state-certified Georgia septic contractor. We know the soils, the older neighborhoods and how systems around here tend to age. Whether you’re buying your first place in Peachtree Corners or selling the family home in Roswell, we’ll give you an honest look at what’s underground.

Call Action Septic Tank Service at 770-922-1434 or visit actionseptictankservice.com to schedule service.

Holiday Guests and Your Septic Tank: How to Host a Full House Without a Backup

Posted on by relentless
Paper cut-out illustration of a North Georgia home hosting holiday guests, with cars in the driveway, a septic lid and the drain field in the yard

Every year, right around the week of Thanksgiving, our phone starts ringing with the same story. The house in Milton or Johns Creek is full. Cousins in the guest room, kids on air mattresses, a turkey in the oven and a sink full of pans. Then somebody notices the downstairs toilet gurgling, or the shower drain won’t empty. A septic system that worked fine for a family of four is suddenly trying to keep up with twelve.

Good news: you don’t have to cancel the gathering. You just have to give your tank a little help. Here’s how we tell our customers in Alpharetta, Roswell and Cumming to get ready.

Why a Full House Hits Your Tank So Hard

Your septic tank works on time. Wastewater comes in, solids settle to the bottom, grease floats to the top, and the clearer liquid in the middle moves out to the drain field. That settling only happens if the water sits in the tank long enough.

The EPA puts typical indoor use at up to 70 gallons per person per day. Add six or eight guests for a long weekend and you can double what your system normally sees. Water rushes through faster, solids get pushed toward the outlet, and the drain field gets more than it can soak up. Here in North Georgia, with our tight red clay, that soil already drains slower than you’d like.

Before Everyone Arrives

The best thing you can do happens a few weeks out, not the morning of.

  • Think about your last pumping. Most household tanks need it every three to five years. If you’re at the edge of that window, or you can’t remember the last time, get it done before the holidays, not after.
  • Fix that running toilet. A single leaky toilet can waste up to 200 gallons a day. That’s a lot of extra water your system doesn’t need on its busiest week.
  • Keep the drain field clear. Don’t let guests park on it. The weight of a car packs the soil down and can crack the pipes underneath. If you need overflow parking, put out a few cones or point folks to the street.
  • Check where your gutters drain. Late fall rain plus a full house is a hard combination. Downspouts should send water away from the field, not onto it.

While They’re Staying With You

  • Spread out the laundry. Doing every load in one day can flood the drain field. Run one or two a day instead of six on Saturday, and only run full loads.
  • Space out the showers. If you can, have some folks shower at night and some in the morning so the tank isn’t taking it all at once.
  • Run the dishwasher full. Scrape plates into the trash first. Go easy on the garbage disposal, since every scrap it grinds ends up as solids in your tank.
  • Put a small trash can in each bathroom. Guests don’t always know your house is on septic. Wipes, even the ones labeled flushable, along with feminine products and paper towels belong in the can, not the toilet.

The Turkey Grease Problem

This is the big one. After the meal, someone always wants to pour the roasting pan down the sink with a little hot water. Please don’t. Cooking grease, butter and gravy cool and harden in your pipes and add to the scum layer in your tank. Let it cool, pour it into an old can or jar, and toss it in the trash.

Signs Your System Is Struggling

Keep an eye out for these during the visit:

  • Gurgling sounds in drains or toilets
  • Sinks and tubs draining slower than normal
  • A sewage smell near the tank or in the yard
  • Wet, spongy ground over the drain field

If you notice any of these, ease off the water right away. Hold the laundry, keep showers short, and give the tank a chance to catch up. If things don’t settle down, that’s the time to call us. We’re open every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and we handle emergencies across North Fulton.

A little planning now means your family remembers the food and the stories, not the backed-up bathroom. Matt and our crew have spent more than 20 years helping North Atlanta households through the busy season.

Call Action Septic Tank Service at 770-922-1434 or visit actionseptictankservice.com to schedule service.

The Effluent Filter: The Small Part Standing Between Your Tank and Your Drain Field

Posted on by relentless
Paper cut-out cutaway of a septic tank with a cylindrical filter at the outlet catching solids before clear water flows to the drain field

Your drain field is the most expensive part of your septic system to replace. On many tanks, the thing protecting it is a plastic cylinder about the size of a coffee can.

It’s called an effluent filter, and most homeowners have never heard of it, even when they have one.

What It Does

Inside your tank, solids sink to the bottom and grease floats to the top. The liquid in the middle is what flows out to the drain field. That liquid is supposed to be fairly clean, but small particles still drift along with it: bits of food, lint, hair, fine sludge.

Without a filter, those particles ride straight into the drain field pipes and settle into the gravel and soil. Over years they build up and seal the ground, so water can’t soak in anymore. That’s how a lot of drain fields die.

An effluent filter sits at the tank’s outlet and catches those particles before they leave. It’s a simple screen with a big job.

Signs Your Filter May Be Clogged

The filter does its job by holding on to debris, so eventually it fills up. When it does, water backs up in the tank. You may notice:

  • Slow drains throughout the house
  • Gurgling toilets
  • Water backing up into the lowest drain
  • A tank that looks overfull even though it was pumped not long ago

Those symptoms look a lot like a full tank, which is why a filter gets missed. Pump the tank, never touch the filter, and the backup comes right back.

How Often It Needs Cleaning

It depends on the filter, the household, and habits like garbage disposal use and laundry volume. Some local health departments recommend checking and cleaning it at least once a year. A good rule is to have it checked every time the tank is pumped or inspected, and more often in a busy household.

Why It’s Not a DIY Job

Cleaning means opening the tank, pulling a filter covered in raw sewage, and rinsing it so the debris goes back into the tank, not onto your lawn or into the field. You’re working over an open tank with harmful bacteria and gases. Leave it to a professional who has the right gear and knows how to put it back properly.

Don’t Have One?

Not every tank has a filter. Many older systems have only an outlet baffle. During a visit, we can tell you what your tank has and whether a filter makes sense for your system.

Protect the Part That Costs the Most

A clean filter costs little. A failed drain field costs a lot. Action Septic Tank Service checks baffles and filters as part of pumping and inspections across North Atlanta, and we’ve done it for more than twenty years. We’re open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Call Action Septic Tank Service at 770-922-1434 or visit actionseptictankservice.com to schedule service.

Septic Tank Lid Safety: The Backyard Hazard Families Forget About

Posted on by relentless
Paper cut-out illustration of a child and dog playing in a backyard at a safe distance from a secured, flush septic tank lid

It looks like a plain round lid in the grass. Kids jump on it. The dog naps on it. The mower rolls right over it every week. Most of the time, nothing happens.

But under that lid sits a deep tank of wastewater and gas, and every year somewhere a lid cracks, slides, or gives way. It’s one of the few places in an ordinary backyard where a small mistake can turn very serious, very fast.

Why a Septic Tank Is Dangerous

  • Falling in. A tank can be several feet deep and full of liquid. A child or pet who falls in can’t climb out alone.
  • Gases. A working tank produces gases, including hydrogen sulfide and methane. They can push oxygen out of the space inside. People have lost consciousness simply leaning in to look, and would-be rescuers have gone in after them and been overcome too.
  • Weak covers. Old concrete lids crack and crumble. Some older tanks have lids that were never meant to carry weight, and they sit just under a thin layer of soil where no one can see them.

A Five-Minute Lid Check

Walk out and look at your tank access points:

  • Is the lid cracked, chipped, or crumbling?
  • Does it sit flat and tight, or does it rock when you step near it?
  • Is it held down with screws or a lock, if it’s the type that should be?
  • Has the ground around it sunk or washed out?
  • Do you know where every access point is, including any buried ones?

If you can’t find your lids, that’s worth fixing too. Records from your last pumping, or the county’s septic permit drawing, usually show the location.

House Rules That Keep Everyone Safe

  • Teach kids the lid isn’t a play spot.
  • Never let anyone lift a lid without a professional on site.
  • Never enter a septic tank, for any reason. Not to grab a dropped tool, not to look at a pipe, not to rescue a pet. Call 911 and call us.
  • Don’t drive or park on the tank or its lids.
  • Keep fire, cigarettes, and sparks away from an open tank. Methane can ignite.

Risers and Secure Lids

Some homes have lids buried several inches underground, which means digging every time the tank needs service, and lids no one can see. A riser brings the access up to ground level so it’s easy to find and service. Paired with a secure, fastened cover, it keeps the opening visible, closed, and out of curious hands.

Let Us Take a Look

During pumping or an inspection, we look at the lids, the access points, and the ground around the tank, and we’ll tell you plainly if something needs attention. Action Septic Tank Service has worked North Atlanta backyards for more than twenty years.

If your lid is cracked, loose, or missing, rope off the area and call us today. We’re open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Call Action Septic Tank Service at 770-922-1434 or visit actionseptictankservice.com to schedule service.

Is It a Plumbing Clog or a Septic Problem? How to Tell Before You Call

Posted on by relentless
Paper cut-out cutaway of a two-story house with its drain pipes joining into one main line that runs to a septic tank, with a magnifying glass over the junction

The kitchen sink won’t drain. Is that a plumber’s job, or is it the septic tank?

It’s one of the most common questions we get, and the answer saves people real money. Call the wrong trade and you pay for a visit that doesn’t fix anything. Here’s how to narrow it down in about five minutes, without touching a tool.

Ask One Question: How Many Drains?

One fixture acting up almost always means a local clog. A slow bathroom sink is usually hair. A slow kitchen sink is usually grease and food. A single toilet that won’t flush right usually has something stuck in its own trap. The rest of the house works fine, because the blockage is between that fixture and the main line.

Several fixtures acting up at once points downstream. The kitchen, the tubs, and the toilets all share one main line out of the house, and that line feeds the septic tank. When everything slows down together, the problem sits where they all meet: the main line, the tank, or the drain field.

Watch the Lowest Drains

Water takes the easiest way out. When the main line or the tank backs up, wastewater comes up first through the lowest openings in the house: a basement floor drain, a lower-level shower, a downstairs toilet.

Try this. Run the washing machine or a bathtub upstairs, then watch the downstairs shower drain. Water bubbling up, or a toilet gurgling down there, means the backup is past your indoor plumbing.

Clues That Point to the Septic System

  • Slow drains all through the house
  • Gurgling in toilets when other fixtures run
  • Sewage odor outside near the tank or drain field
  • Soggy ground or unusually green grass over the field
  • Trouble that’s worse after heavy rain or a big laundry day
  • No record of pumping in the last three to five years

Clues That Point to Indoor Plumbing

  • A single fixture is slow and everything else is fine
  • The problem started right after something went down that drain
  • A plunger or clearing that one trap fixes it for good

What Not to Do

Don’t pour chemical drain cleaner down a drain when you suspect the septic system. It won’t reach a full tank, and harsh chemicals can kill the bacteria the tank depends on. Don’t keep flushing to “see if it clears.” And when more than one drain is backing up, stop running water until somebody looks at it.

When It’s Past the House

When the trouble is in the main line, the tank, or the field, that’s our work. Action Septic Tank Service handles septic pumping, sewer line cleaning, hydro jetting, and line and drainfield repair across North Atlanta, and has for more than twenty years. We’ll find where the blockage actually is and fix that. We’re open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and provide emergency service.

Call Action Septic Tank Service at 770-922-1434 or visit actionseptictankservice.com to schedule service.