Your plumbing and septic system are connected, but there is a difference between a plumbing issue and a septic problem. Your plumbing refers to the pipes and water system inside the house, while your septic system involves waste pipes, your septic tank and drain field. However, both can cause drain issues and sewer backups in your home. How do you know when you just have a clogged drain or if it’s a septic problem?
When a drain or pipe is clogged in your plumbing, it is usually a localized issue. If your toilet or kitchen sink drain is clogged, only those fixtures are affected. Your toilet can overflow due to a clog, but the bathroom sink and shower will still drain. These are clogs in the smaller pipes. Larger plumbing waste pipes can get clogged, but they will still usually only affect one area of the house, not all drains.
A septic backup will affect all drains in your home, usually the ones closest to the main sewer drain pipe first. This means drains in your basement or first floor are most likely to be the first to drain slower. If there is a septic backup, eventually all drains in the home will become slow and may begin not draining at all, or sewage may come up through the drains.
Any sewer backup in your home is a good reason to call a plumber. However, if you have what appears to be a septic backup, you want to call a septic professional. Your septic tank could be full or you may be experiencing a septic failure. Your local septic professional can perform an inspection and figure out the problem and propose a solution.
Posted on behalf of:
Metro Septic LLC
1210 N Tennessee St
Cartersville, GA 30120
(678) 873-7934