Catch a full tank before it becomes a backup in your home.
How a conventional septic system works: waste flows from the house into the tank, where solids settle as sludge and grease floats as scum. Clarified effluent flows out to the drain field, where it filters down through the soil.
The early warnings
Slow drains throughout the house, gurgling pipes, and faint sewage odors are the first signals that solids are building up.
The urgent ones
Sewage backing up into drains, lush green patches or standing water over the drain field, and an alarm on an aerobic system mean act now — a pump-out or inspection shouldn’t wait.