{"id":4534,"date":"2009-07-28T20:21:07","date_gmt":"2009-07-29T02:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staufferandsons.com\/blog\/?p=29"},"modified":"2021-10-10T14:25:13","modified_gmt":"2021-10-10T20:25:13","slug":"how-do-wells-and-septic-systems-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staufferandsons.com\/how-do-wells-and-septic-systems-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask the Builder: “How Do Wells & Septic Systems Work?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
Wells and septic systems are installed within the same time frame: before framing or foundation work begins. (What we call “site-prep”). Here’s a little info about each of them:<\/p>\n
Wells today are essentially the same as they’ve been for thousands of years. In old movies, you’d see a little girl with a small bucket in her hand, skipping down to the family well to fetch water. Today is basically the same, only today we use pumps, drill bits and pipes. To begin, a hole several inches wide is drilled into the ground (usually several hundred feet) by a well driller who uses a large truck with a very long diamond-impregnated drill bit. This process can take hours, or even days, depending on the soil composition. Once the hole has been drilled, a pump is installed at the very bottom of the well which is connected to a pressure tank at the surface, which creates negative pressure to suck water out of the ground and push it into the home.<\/p>\n
After this process, the County Health Department will test the water for simple potability (drinkability). If a more detailed analysis of the water is desired, a water sample is then taken to an environmental health laboratory. A cheap, quick way to test your water is to look in your dishwasher: is your water discoloring your plastic dishes? If so, you may have heavy minerals. Once a well is installed, there is no regular maintenance necessary. Occasionally, a well pump will need to be replaced, but they’re built to last for decades.<\/p>\n
Waste water from toilets (called “black water”) and runoff from showers, washing machines, sinks and dishwashers (called “grey water”) is collected and drained downhill into a two-chambered tank (called a “septic tank”). The first chamber catches and holds solid waste, while the liquid waste will spill over a specially designed wall (called a “baffle”), and into the second chamber, then out of the tank into a leach field. A leach field is a network of perforated pipes buried in gravel. This disseminates all liquid waste into the ground, responsibly, legally and hygienically.<\/p>\n
Septic systems require more maintenance and care than wells. They also cannot be abused like sewer systems can. Unlike living in a city with a sewer system where you can flush anything and everything down the toilet or use a garbage disposal to discard items never meant for a sink in the first place, septic systems need special attention. Fats and oils, as well as bones and other solid matter should never be disposed of in a septic tank. Garbage disposals are also not recommended for septic systems as they will clog up the lines faster than anything.<\/p>\n
All septic tanks should be pumped every few year or so, depending on how many people are living in the home. Septic tanks can also be probed with a scope to visually inspect for damage. Occasionally, complications arise, particularly with leach fields. We’ve had some clients with older homes with a leach field that had become completely saturated. In this situation, a new (secondary) leach field must be dug, or disastrous results can follow: a flooded basement, toilets backing up, etc.<\/p>\n
When Stauffer & Sons Construction builds a home, we like to set the septic tank lower than the slab (bottom of the basement) whenever possible. This avoids needing a special pump to force waste uphill\u2014which is problematic and not recommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wells and septic systems are installed within the same time frame: before framing or foundation work begins. (What we call “site-prep”). Here’s a little info about each of them: How Wells Work: Wells today are essentially the same as they’ve been for thousands of years. In old movies, you’d see a little girl with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":10465,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n