Your Guide to Maintaining Your Home's Cesspool

Several areas throughout the United States don't have dedicated sewer systems. Instead, homeowners rely solely on cesspools in order to manage their waste. For the average homeowner, according to Bob Vila, the annual maintenance costs associated with a cesspool can range from $2,300 to $4,335 per year. Unlike sewer systems, homeowners are responsible for maintaining their home's cesspools to keep them functioning properly. Here are some recommendations from cesspool pumping businesses for maintaining your home's cesspool. 

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, a homeowner must pump their cesspool every three to five years. This ensures the cesspool itself, which is essentially a holding area for a household's waste, doesn't overfill with solid matter. While any liquid is eaten by enzymes present in the cesspool system, contractors need to come out to physically remove that solid matter.

While a cesspool only requires maintenance every three to five years, as mentioned above, there are ways homeowners may negatively affect the efficiency of their septic system. For example, we've seen that if certain chemicals are used to clean toilets, drains, and other aspects of the septic system, the chemicals may eliminate the beneficial bacteria in the cesspool. Those bacteria are what break down wastewater. In addition, flushing diapers and paper towels or pouring grease down the drain affect how quickly the cesspool fills with solids.

When living in a home with a cesspool, there are several symptoms you may notice from a full cesspool that needs maintenance. If you smell an odor near your drains, for example, that's a sign the solid waste container is full and needs emptying. Slow draining is another sign of a full tank. Additionally, failing to pump a full tank results in wastewater flowing either into the home or from the ground where the cesspool is located.

Just like any other aspect of homeownership, managing your home's cesspool is a responsibility you'd need to consider when purchasing and living in a home. However, we've seen that the maintenance aspect is as easy as finding a local septic cleaner and having them do the work, at best, twice a decade. If you have any questions regarding what chemicals to clean your drains with, other preventative maintenance, or cesspool cleaning scheduling, don't hesitate to contact Busch Bros Cesspool Sewer & Drain Corp today!