When acquiring ownership of a home that includes an on-site septic system, most new owners have had several opportunities to view and inspect the property. Other new owners may face a different path to ownership without access to reliable information about the existing septic system. 

If you are facing this type of unusual septic system situation, contacting a septic tank pumping service may be your best plan. The following information will help you understand why. 

1. When an inherited property has remained vacant for several years

When a home is inherited by adult children or grandchildren, it is not unusual for it to have been vacant for a period of time. For example, if the bequeathing parents or grandparents moved from the house to a care facility, the home may have remained vacant until their deaths occurred and the will was probated. This situation can also occur when the owner passes without a will and the probate process takes months to complete. 

When a residential septic system is idled for a long period of time, existing sludge and solid waste can harden and impede the normal bacterial action found in a healthy, functional septic tank. With no influx of fresh liquid and solid waste material, the colonies of bacteria may become diminished and cease their waste-processing activities. 

Septic pumping services can remove the cover of the septic tank and examine the contents to determine the best way to help restore the system to full functionality. If the level of contents in the tank is low and the material is dried or hardened, the septic tank pumping service may advise the homeowner to run a few hundred gallons of water into the tank to help rehydrate the contents and improve the pumping process. 

2. When little is known about the septic system drain field

While the septic tank is usually able to be located by following the sewer line and the location of sewer line cleanouts, the drain field can be much more difficult to find. Homeowners who have just taken possession of a property they know little about may want to utilize septic tank pumping as a proactive measure until they can find the location of the drain field and ensure that it is working. 

A functional, properly sized septic tank can safely hold several hundred gallons of waste, even when the drain field is not fully functional. In this situation, a septic tank pumping service would pump the tank as soon as the home becomes occupied and then revisit on a regular schedule to see if additional pumping is needed. If drain field repairs or replacement is needed, septic tank pumping services can help homeowners manage their waste disposal needs until the work is completed. 

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