Septic Tank Pumping in Malibu, CA

We offer septic tank pumping if needed at time of inspection or maintenance of systems.

Pumping and cleaning your septic tank is essential to the health and functionality of your septic system. Although pumping and cleaning a often used interchangeably, the have slightly different meanings. Pumping typically means removing or vacuuming out the liquid and some floating solids or sludge, while cleaning is removing all the water and compacted sludge from the bottom of your septic tank. It may not seem like a big difference, but it make a huge difference on the impact of your system.

We recommend your septic tank be pumped on a regular basis, which is between 3 and 5 years. This way, the solids can be removed with ease. Once the sludge has become thicker, it is harder to remove the harder solids. If the sludge is too thick or heavy, extra water is added to the tank in order to break down the solids. In some cases the solids are too thick and can't be broken down and the tank would need to be pumped again in 6 to 12 months.

There are a few other factors to keep in mind when getting your tank pumped. The vacuum hose may not be able to reack the far sides of your tank if the access opening to the tank is too small. Newer septic tanks have two compartments and both need to be pumped every time. The walls that divide the tank may not be airtight which means the we may pump out all the liquid the tank holds, but there may still be solids left behind in the compartment that isn't cleaned. Roots can also interfere with your tank by getting entangled with the solids. If those roots can not be removed, the roots along with the sludge entangled in them will stay in the tank.