One of the most important elements of your septic system is the billions of bacteria that live in your septic tank. These naturally occurring microscopic bacteria do a lot of the work necessary for your septic system to operate properly and for the vast majority of septic systems, they do it without the need for any help from the homeowner.
The first step in the treatment process of a septic system occurs in the septic tank. Household wastewater accumulates here and is held for a day or two to allow solids to settle to the bottom of the tank and greases and oils to rise to the top to form the sludge layer
The bacteria in the tank go to work digesting the solid materials and converting about half of these materials to liquids or gasses. The liquid effluent flows into the drain field where further treatment occurs. The non-digestible solids and the sludge layer remain in the tank.
As long as the accumulated non-digestible solids and the sludge layer are removed from the tank periodically by septic tank pumping, the system should operate for years without the need for any human assistance.
Pouring bleaches or strong chemicals down the drain can kill off large numbers of the beneficial bacteria in the system, but it is very difficult to kill all of the bacteria and the bacteria colony will quickly recover, usually within a few hours. There is no need to add any bacteria, enzymes, or other septic system treatments. The best thing a homeowner can do for the bacteria in their septic system is to do nothing at all!
