How Septic Systems Work
There are many design variations of septic systems. While the systems may be somewhat different, they all perform the same basic function. That is, to process raw sewage into a cleaner effluent that can be evenly distributed beneath the ground and blended with the groundwater as not to create a health hazard.
There are passive and active systems. The overwhelming majority of home systems are passive and anaerobic. Therefore, we will describe a typical passive system. A septic system is designed and constructed of simple and durable material such as concrete, steel, clay pipe, cast iron pipe and or PVC plastic pipe.
The basic components of the system are the inlet pipe, the septic tank, the outlet pipe and an absorption component. The waste stream is almost always in motion. As an example, when a toilet is flushed in a house, approximately 3 gallons of water and waste flows into the outlet pipe ed to the septic tank . The equal amount of waste (3 gallons) then flows out of the septic tank through the outlet pipe to the absorption component. The equal amount of waste (3 gallons) flows through the absorption unit into the ground.
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