Septic Maintenance

The more complex a septic treatment is, the more time is needed to maintain it.

At a minimum the effluent filter should be cleaned once a year and the septic tank should be pumped every 3 to 5 years depending on the amount of water used in the household. An excellent resource for guidelines on caring for your septic system is provided by the University of Minnesota website at www.septic.umn.edu/homeowner/maintenance/index.html.

Viita’s can provide you with various maintenance options depending on how complex your system is.

The Quick Check

This is just a simple system check. We will come out to your site, clean the filter, check the sludge and scum levels in your tank to see if it needs pumped, check to be sure the pump is working and do a visual inspection of your system components.

Septic Pumping

How do I know if my tank needs to be pumped?
If your tank has not been pumped in the last 5 years it is usually a good idea to have it done, depending on how much water you use. To know for certain, the sludge and scum layers need to be checked. Inside a septic tank there are 3 layers, the scum layer is on top and consists of anything that will float on water like soap bubbles or cooking oil, water is in the middle of the tank and anything heavier than water settles into the sludge layer on the bottom of the tank. A sluge judge is inserted down to the bottom of the tank and there will be a dark area that shows how deep the sludge layer is. If the sludge layer is more than 10 inches, your tank should be pumped.

A thorough cleaning of your septic tank is crucial to the proper operation of your septic system. A tank should never be pumped through an inspection pipe, it should only be pumped through a manhole. A tank cannot be cleaned properly through the inspection pipe because only the sludge immediately around the inspection pipe will be removed.

At Viita’s Excavating Inc. we use a Crust Buster tool to stir the tank and break up the solids so that they can all be removed.

Viita’s Excavating Inc. does not recommend the use of additives to your septic tank. Often these products are ineffective and occasionally do more harm than good.

Maintenance Contracts

For commercial systems or systems on an operating permit Viita’s offers customized maintenance contracts that take care of all of your maintenance needs including system monitoring and record keeping. Call us for a quote for maintaining your system.

Line Cleaning

Viita’s offers high pressure jetting of septic and water lines that are frozen or clogged. At times this is the only alternative short of digging up clogged lines.

Repair Services

Viita’s Excavating Inc. can repair any problem associated with your septic system. We understand that there are few things worse than having a sewage backup in the home. We do not have a 24hr call out service, but our phone messages are checked every day including Sunday. We urge our customers to educate themselves on how to monitor the performance of their septic systems or to have a maintenance contract with us to prevent problems before they occur.

There are times when parts fail or something outside of your control happens. We keep many basic repair items in stock, but if we do need to order a repair part, we can pump your septic tank to allow you to use your system until the repair is completed.