Maintaining Your Leech Drains
Is your home still connected to a septic tank? Does the Water Corporation’s deep sewage system not run through your area yet? If your home’s wastewater runs to a septic tank on your property, you will have leech drains; large drainage channels running from your septic tank that carry your wastewater from your septic tank into the surrounding soil. These channels are essential for your household plumbing and need to be maintained to ensure not only your families comfort, but also the integrity of your plumbing and insurance requirements.
Maintaining your leech drains is like maintaining your normal plumbing drains and pipes in your home, the only difference being that there will usually a septic tank and then one or more leech drains where the pipework from your home drains into. Follow these tips to keep your leech drains running smoothly:
- Watch What You Put Down the Sink
- Ensuring Your Septic is Active
- Tree Roots
- Change Your Drains Over
- Listen To Your Plumbing
Watch What You Put Down the Sink
Whatever you put down the sink, toilet or drains in your home will travel to your leech drains. Fat, soaps and thick substances that do not dissolve in water will become lodged in your leech drains and form ‘plugs’, effectively diminishing the efficiency of your drains by preventing the water from draining out. Keep these substances out of the pipes by disposing of them alternatively.
Ensure Your Septic Tank Is Active
Adding enzymes to your septic tank allows it to dissolve and process the wastewater more effectively, allowing for less chance of blockage in your leech drains.
Tree Roots
Ensure trees and plants with evasive roots are not too close to your leech drains. Root systems are notorious for weaving into the holes of concrete drains, or running down the sides of the more porous, mesh-type leech drains and providing a thick barrier that waste water cannot escape through.
Change Your Drains Over
If you have more than 1 leech drain it is a general rule of thumb is to change your leech drains over every 12 months, however if you have a large family, you may want to do it more often. This swap gives one drain the chance to rest while the other takes over the drainage duties, allowing the ground to dry out a bit and more efficient evacuation from the leech drain. If you only have 1 leech and are having issues you may need to consider getting a 2nd leech drain added. Speak to Mainline Plumbing and Cheap Hot Water and Gas about your options.
Listen To Your Plumbing
Just as you will find with household plumbing pipes and drains, leech drains do not respond well when clogged with debris, oils, fats and soaps. Gurgling toilets, slow to drain sinks and drains and a large amount of water coming up from the diverter tap are all signs that your septic tank is full and your leech drains are not working to their full capacity.
Who Can Help With Your Leech Drain Maintenance?
The team at Mainline Plumbing and Cheap Hot Water and Gas are experts in the plumbing industry, with over 30 years’ experience in the South West. For all your enquiries regarding all things plumbing, hot water and gas, call the trusted name in plumbing on 9791 1608 (Bunbury) or 9759 1317 (Dunsborough) for a free quote today.