Installing a septic tank yourself may seem like a good idea when it comes to cost savings, however, there is much to consider before you make the choice to go the DIY route. The installation process is not as simple and straightforward as one may hope and making mistakes down the line and then having to fix them can be just as costly as it would be to hire professionals in the first place. With this in mind, we’ve jotted down a few reasons why you should consider hiring professionals to install a septic tank.
Picking the Right Location
The first step in septic tank installation is choosing the correct spot for your septic system (including the drain field). By law, septic tanks need to be a minimum of 3 metres away from your home. However, this also depends on the area available for digging and installation.
Practically speaking, your system needs to be in a spot that won’t inconvenience anyone when the need to dig them up arises (for instance, your parking lot would be a bad spot). Other factors to consider when choosing a location are hygiene and environmental safety – choosing the wrong location could cause your drinking and surface water to be polluted. Professionals, such as ourselves, have extensive knowledge of which locations you should avoid in order to ensure legal compliance and proper hygiene.
Soil Classification
Before you proceed with your installation, it is necessary to sample your surrounding soil. This is called a percolation test and it involves determining the amount of filtration and percolations that will take place within the various soil types. Typically, a geotechnical engineer will conduct this test before installation is carried out. But it’s best to use a company that specialises in septic tank installation because they will have an in-house soil expert – it’s often more cost effective to make use of a company that provides turnkey septic solutions instead of contracting out many individual jobs.
Mapping Your Septic System
Legally speaking, you need to have your septic tank design and location on paper. It is a wise idea to have professionals draw this up for you and have this approved by your local municipality. This ensures that if you sell your property, you are able to hand over the correct documentation that will allow future owners to locate it. Septic tank plans also help when it comes to maintenance. For example, when you need to empty out your tank, your pumping team won’t have to waste time locating it. Septic tank installation specialists will be able to draw this up for you, saving you from outsourcing one of the many different jobs that are required for installation.
Using the Right Equipment
Without the correct equipment it will take a lot longer to install your septic tank and require a lot more manual labour. An installation service will have equipment such as excavators, which will help speed things up (equipment such as this can be quite costly to hire out for a once off job).
While there are many more reasons why you should consider hiring professionals to install a septic tank, we hope that these 4 reasons above will give a good idea of whether you are ready to take on a DIY installation or not. As always, we look forward to hearing from you, so if you have any queries about septic tank installations, please feel free to give us a call.
