Four signs your septic tank needs pumping

A septic tank does not fail quietly. Before a backup ever happens, the system almost always sends warnings. You just have to know what they look like. Here are the four we tell every customer to watch for.

1. Slow drains, everywhere

One slow sink is a clog. Every fixture in the house draining slower than it used to is a tank. When the tank gets full, everything upstream of it slows down together.

2. Gurgling in the pipes

That sound is air working back through the plumbing when water goes down. It means the water is fighting for room, which usually means the tank does not have any left.

3. Bad odors near the drains

Septic smell near the drains inside the house, or near the tank outside, is the system telling you waste is sitting where it should not be sitting.

4. Soggy spots or lush green patches

Wet ground over the tank or drain field, or grass that is suddenly greener and thicker in one patch than anywhere else in the yard, means liquid is surfacing instead of draining. This one matters most, because it can mean the drain field is taking damage.

Seeing two or more at once?

That usually means the tank is due now, not next season. Call (207) 439-1250, and if it is actively backing up, call any hour. A real person answers the emergency line 24/7 and our on-call manager calls you back.