Septic System Inspection In Brandon, FL
If you are one of the 120,000 property owners in Hillsborough County, Florida with a septic system, it is extremely important to take good care of your septic tank and the overall system. This includes regular maintenance like septic pumping, and regular septic system inspection to ensure the components of your system are operating correctly and won’t cause you any problems in the future.
Coleman Tank Solutions, Inc. is a vacuum truck company that specializes in septic tank and septic system inspection. We are based out of Brandon, FL and serving all of Hillsborough County and the surrounding area. Whether you need a septic system inspection because your system is having problems or you need a septic inspection completed as part of a real estate transaction, we can help.
How Does Our Septic System Inspection Work?
The first part of our septic system inspection is a quick consultation with (you) the homeowner or property owner. We will need to know things like how many bedrooms are in the home, how many people are living in the home, how old the septic system is, and what (if any) maintenance has been performed. With this knowledge we will have a better idea of what we need to look for with regards to your septic tank and your drain field. Septic system inspections should be thorough and involve every component of your septic system.
Locating Your Septic Tank and Septic Drain Field
Most homeowners know exactly where their septic system is located but if your home or property is older and has changed hands many times over the years, this information can be lost.
As properties become overgrown, additions built, landscaping performed, and the lay of the land changes, it’s not uncommon for a septic tank and the septic drain field to be “lost”. It still works, it’s just that nobody really knows where it is! We have various methods that we can employ to locate your tank and the different system components. This can often involve digging with shovels or using electronic locating methods.
If we’ve had to dig to find your septic tank it’s a good idea to have a septic tank riser installed. Risers will make it easier to locate and access your septic tank and distribution box for future service. We can install septic tank risers as part of our services.
Visual Inspection Of The Tank & System
There isn’t much to see inside of a septic tank but to a trained eye there are many clues that can tell us the overall health of your system. We are looking for cracks in the tank walls (which are much easier to see after pumping), clogged tank baffles, clogged or missing effluent filters, proper septic pump functionality, and we will also have you flush your toilets so we can see the actual flow of waste water coming into the tank.
After a good visual inspection of the tank, we can use a special tool to check the scum and sludge layers of your tank.
Scum Layer: The scum layer is the top layer of your septic system. At first glance it might look like a very heavy foam, but it should resemble a very rich soil. You should see bugs and worms calling the sludge layer home, and this is a good sign that your tank is working correctly and breaking down the waste. If you scum layer is very deep, or nearly touching the top of the tank lid, it’s a strong indication that your tank should be pumped.
Sludge Layer: The sludge layer are the solids built up in the bottom of your tank. Generally we are looking for a sludge layer of no more than 12 inches in depth, but this can also depend on the size and type of your system and how much use it receives. Too much sludge in your tank can cause problems with your system and will require a pump out.
Inspection Of Your Septic Pump and Float System
If your system is gravity fed then you will not have a pump. If your septic system is “pushing” effluent up a slope, or you have a pressurized system, you will have a septic dose pump and it will also need to be inspected. When we inspect your septic pump we are looking for a number of potential issues:
- Clogged or blocked inlet screens
- Clogged or broken impellers
- Any wiring or electrical issues
- Float switch or timer performance and reliability
Video Inspection Of The Outlet and Inlet Pipes
If your system is running slowly, or you have sewage backing up into your drains, then we will likely need to complete a video inspection of your tank inlet, outlet and drain pipes. We are going to be looking for any blockages due to baby/flushable wipes, tree roots, fats, oils, or grease, and anything that would be blocking the flow of effluent into your tank. Our video inspection equipment can also be very useful when locating tank components, as it can record the distance it travels within your pipes. The video inspection can be recorded and provided to you.
If you need to have a septic system inspection please call (813) 687-4990 or fill out our online contact form and we will get back to you promptly to schedule a time to provide service.
