For years now, there has been much public conversation and concern relative to water pollution, and to the importance of protecting this precious natural resource. However, aside from changing faucet screens or showerheads, the average consumer rarely considers the amount of water that is being used in their home. Unfortunately, if we are blessed to live in an area where water is still plentiful, we give it very little thought, if any.
If you are on a septic system, you can help protect the environment and extend the life of your septic system by conserving water. In a septic system, household waste water and other materials that go down the drain flows to the septic tank where it is separated as to solid and liquid waste. The liquid flows or is pumped out of the tank into a nearby drain field. However, inherent with having a septic system, homeowners should also monitor and conserve the amount of water that is being used by the household at any given time. Because the septic tank needs time to process and separate the incoming wastewater from all the household drains, it can only handle so much water at one time.
If, for instance, you have a large household and tend to do a lot of laundry at one time, you may want to consult with your local septic professional about increasing the size of your septic tank. Another way to conserve the amount of water that you use at once could be to spread that laundry out over a period of several days during the week. Perhaps you’ll want to replace your existing toilets with those of greater efficiency and install low flow nozzles on all of your faucets. Finally, if you observe a leaky faucet or continuously running toilet, make sure to get those fixed right away as, in these cases, a little leak adds up quickly to a lot of wasted water.
