East Texas septic questions, answered.

An aerobic treatment unit adds air to the wastewater so oxygen-loving bacteria break it down far more completely than a plain septic tank, then disinfects it with chlorine before it is sprayed or dripped onto the yard.

A typical Texas unit has three compartments: a trash or pretreatment tank, an aeration chamber with an air pump, and a pump tank that feeds the spray heads through a chlorinator. They are common in East Texas where shallow soil, clay or a high water table rules out a conventional drain field.

Yes, at least at first. TCEQ requires aerobic and other advanced systems to be maintained under a contract with a licensed maintenance provider, with inspection reports at least every four months.

After the first two years some homeowners may maintain their own system, but only where the local permitting authority allows it, and some require training or don’t allow it at all. Check with your county before letting a contract lapse.

At least every four months under TCEQ rules, which works out to three visits a year. With an approved electronic monitoring system, that can drop to once every six months.

The provider has to submit the report within 14 days of the visit. Keep copies; buyers and the county may ask for them.

Only calcium hypochlorite tablets made and labeled for wastewater disinfection. TCEQ says not to use swimming pool tablets, which are made from trichloroisocyanuric acid and are not approved for treating effluent.

Read the label for the active ingredient before you buy. Never mix the two kinds of tablets: the Houston-Galveston Area Council warns the combination can form an explosive compound. Wear gloves and keep tablets dry and away from children.

No. Pool tablets dissolve too slowly in a septic chlorinator to disinfect properly and aren’t approved for wastewater. Buy calcium hypochlorite tablets made for septic chlorinators.

Mixing pool tablets with calcium hypochlorite in the same tube is also dangerous. If you’ve already put pool tablets in, call so they can be removed safely.

The air pump runs to keep the bacteria alive, and a pump sends treated water to the spray heads. Without power the system stops treating and the tanks fill.

If the breaker for the system trips, you can reset it once. If it trips again, leave it off, cut back on water use and call. Don’t open the control panel; it carries line voltage.

The Van Zandt County Fire Marshal’s Office in Canton handles on-site sewage facility (OSSF) permits through its TCEQ Designated Representatives, at 24634 State Highway 64, (903) 567-6026.

The county says complete applications are approved or denied within 30 days. Plans and the site evaluation come with the application.

Henderson County runs septic permitting for property outside city sewer through its office in Athens. Call the county to confirm the current office and process before you buy, build or replace a system.

Inside a city with sewer service, the city decides whether you must connect.

Usually, yes. In Texas, installing a new system or making major repairs to an existing one generally needs a permit from the county or the authorized agent, and the work must be done by a TCEQ-licensed installer.

Routine pumping does not need a permit. Ask your county what counts as a major repair.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) licenses OSSF installers, maintenance providers, site evaluators and designated representatives. Ask the contractor for their name and license number and verify it on TCEQ’s licensing search.

The license belongs to a person, not a company, so ask who on the crew holds it. Your county permitting office can also tell you whether an installer is working in good standing there.

There is no statewide rule requiring a septic inspection at sale in Texas, but most buyers and lenders want one. If the system is aerobic, the buyer should get the maintenance contract and recent reports.

A pumping at the same time lets the inspector see the tank, baffles and levels instead of guessing.

It comes down to the soil and the water table. A drain field needs enough permeable soil above clay, rock or groundwater to finish treating the effluent. Where there isn’t enough, Texas rules call for more treatment, often an aerobic unit with surface spray.

Around Ben Wheeler and LaRue it is common to find deep sand on one ridge and clay a foot down at the bottom of the same hill.

Clay soaks up water slowly. A drain field built in or just above heavy clay can fill faster than it drains, especially in a wet winter or spring, and leave wet spots or slow drains in the house.

That is why a site evaluation digs or bores to see what is below the surface, and why clay sites so often end up with aerobic spray systems.

It is the level where the ground is saturated with water. In low ground and creek bottoms in East Texas it can rise close to the surface for weeks in wet seasons.

When groundwater reaches the drain field, the effluent has nowhere to go and isn’t treated as it should be. Systems on those sites are designed with more separation or more treatment.

Not necessarily. After a long wet spell, the ground around a field can be saturated, and the field may recover as it dries. If it stays soggy, smells or the house drains slow down, have it checked.

In the meantime, spread out laundry, fix leaky toilets and keep roof runoff away from the field.

Yes. Roots follow moisture into pipe joints, cracked tanks and drain lines, and can clog or break them. Keep trees and large shrubs well away from the tank and field.

If drains slow down again soon after pumping, roots in the outlet line or field are a likely suspect.

TCEQ recommends pumping a conventional septic tank every three to five years. Aerobic units are pumped when the sludge reaches the level the manufacturer and your maintenance provider set.

More people, a garbage disposal, a smaller tank or heavy laundry all shorten the interval. A record of past pumpings is the best guide.

Sludge and scum build up until solids wash out into the drain field or spray system. That clogs the soil or the pump and spray heads, and replacing a field costs far more than years of pumping.

Pumping is cheap insurance.

Wipes (even “flushable” ones), grease and cooking oil, paper towels, feminine products, cat litter, medicines, paint and solvents.

Also go easy on bleach, drain cleaners and antibacterial products, which can kill the bacteria the system depends on. The toilet should take only toilet paper and human waste.

A healthy system doesn’t need them. Normal household waste supplies the bacteria a tank needs, and no additive replaces pumping.

If you’re reaching for an additive because something seems off, have the system looked at instead.

No. Vehicles, livestock and heavy equipment can crack tanks and lids, crush lines and pack the soil in the field so it can’t absorb water.

Mark the area, keep traffic off it and don’t build over it.

Risers bring the tank access up to ground level so it can be found and opened without digging. They make every pumping and inspection faster.

Lids must be secure and child-resistant. Never leave a tank opening uncovered.

Slow drains throughout the house, gurgling pipes, sewage odor in the yard or house, wet or unusually green spots over the field, and sewage backing up into tubs or floor drains.

With an aerobic system, add a constant alarm, an aerator that doesn’t run, a chlorinator that’s dry and spray heads that don’t pop up. Call early; small problems are cheaper to fix.

Stop using water right away, keep people and pets out of the affected area and call (903) 275-3748. Sewage is a health hazard.

Don’t keep flushing or running the washer to see if it clears. Avoid touching the sewage, and wash hands and anything it touches thoroughly.

Cut back on water use, check whether the breaker for the system has tripped, and call. An alarm usually means a high water level in the pump tank, a failed pump or float, or an aerator problem.

You can silence most alarms with the button on the panel, but the cause still needs to be found. Don’t open the control box.

Never enter a septic tank or lean into an open one. Septic gases such as hydrogen sulfide and methane, and the lack of oxygen, can kill within minutes, including people who try to help.

Keep lids secured, keep children and pets away from open tanks, and leave tank work to a crew with the right equipment.

A sewage smell outside can come from a loose or cracked lid, a full tank, a failing field or an aerobic system that isn’t treating or chlorinating properly.

Check that lids are secure and keep everyone away from wet spots, then call to have it traced.

Yes. Commercial waste systems are one of the company’s listed services, along with septic cleaning, repair and aerobic service.

Call (903) 275-3748 with the tank size and how the property is used to talk about a pumping schedule.

Often enough that grease and food solids never fill more than about a quarter of the trap. For busy kitchens that can mean every month or two; slower ones can go longer.

Your permitting authority or city may set a schedule. Keeping grease out of the septic system protects the tank and field from expensive damage.

They see very heavy use on a few days and almost none the rest of the week. Big surges can stir up solids and push them into the field.

Regular pumping sized to that peak use, low-flow fixtures and a plan for big events keep the system working.

Since 1986, according to the company’s Better Business Bureau profile. The business is owned by Jesse Kennon.

Call (903) 275-3748 to talk about your system.

The company is listed in LaRue, in Henderson County, and in Ben Wheeler, in Van Zandt County, and works around both. That covers towns like Athens, Brownsboro, Canton and Edom.

If you’re not sure whether you’re in range, call and ask.

Its listing names Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, check and cash.

Confirm when you schedule.