Emergency Septic Tank Repairs

Let’s say that you have kinfolks coming over tomorrow, and you have just discovered that your bathtub is backing up and the toilets won’t flush. You have a sewer or septic tank emergency. What should you do?

Here are the recommendations of some experts for quick relief of septic tank failures:

1. Call a local septic tank pumping company to get your tank pumped. Or, they may need to unstop the sewer or replace a pump…the technician can figure it out. Tell them the situation, ask how fast they can get out and what the cost will be. If you don’t like the answers, thank them and call another company. Select one and arrange for them to come out.

Don’t worry if you do not know how big or where the septic tank is, they know how to deal with those issues.

2. Stop all un-necessary use of water. Wash laundry elsewhere, at a laundromat. Take brief showers, not tub baths. Do not drain the hot tub into the home sewer system. Reduce toilet flushes…”if it’s yellow, let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down.”

3. If you are expecting a crowd, consider renting a deluxe portable toilet like they use at huge wedding receptions and similar high-class events. These things are trailer-mounted, are often heated and have electric lights, porcelain fixtures and hot running water. Some are wheelchair accessible.

These deluxe portables are nothing like the standard stinkholes like you see on construction sites. You can find porta-pottie rentals online and in the phone book.

These three steps should solve the immediate problem. After everyone (finally) leaves, please stop back by SepticTankInfo.com and read some of the “Homeowner Non-Emergency” pages here that tell you how to prevent future septic tank stopups and failures.