Fall leaves are beautiful but they must eventually be cleaned up, just like your home’s exterior must be prepared to withstand freezing temperatures, snow and ice. Unfortunately, out-of-sight, out-of-mind can easily become the approach we take to what’s going on outside underground. It’s important to realize that over time, everything requires some sort of maintenance and care, including your home’s septic, sewer and stormwater management systems.
Septic
Your septic system needs to be pumped out at least every one to three years, depending on the number of people regularly living in your home. You should also have the entire septic system inspected every few years to make sure everything is still functioning as intended. Following these two maintenance tips alone can significantly increase your septic system’s life, maybe by as much as decades.
Sewer
Homes with sewer lines need to keep in mind that all waste water and liquids from the home travel out and down a 4-inch diameter pipe. That includes cooking grease, soap products and other liquids and semi-solids that can, over time, build up on the interior of that pipe. Also, sewer lines that are located near trees, often end up with the tree roots growing into the sewer lines. Many homes have cast iron or terracotta piping underground. Over time, debris can build up inside this type of sewer line piping, significantly reducing its flow-through diameter.
Most times, throwing some drain-clearing product down the pipe will not clear the conditions inside the pipes, which require something more powerful and thorough. Water-jetting, which removes all the build-up inside the pipe, clears out the debris, and restores the pipe’s full diameter so everything can flow as it should.
Stormwater
Your home’s stormwater management systems — gutters and downspouts — may go underground and lead to or have sediment traps underground, with inverts, culverts or inlets blocked or packed with debris. If regular maintenance is not done, those systems can build up with sediment, leaves and other things that find their way down a drain or gutter. Your stormwater management drains will serve you well over the years if they’re regularly cleaned out and all the piping is water-jetted.
