What goes on in a septic tank?
A. To quote the bard, “Things you wouldn’t understand. Things you couldn’t understand. Things you shouldn’t understand.” Ha ha! Just kidding. My own treehouse has a septic tank. It’s buried in the yard, the usual place for one. It holds 1,000 gallons, a typical size for one. Inside, bacteria digest waste and water that drain from the house’s pipes. The bacteria, called anaerobic (“an-uh-ROE-bik”) bacteria, don’t need any oxygen. (Good thing!) The pipes include the pipes that come from my toilet, bathtub and kitchen sink. First the stuff collects in the tank. Then it divides into layers: Sludge (solids) at the bottom. Effluent (“EFF-loo-ent”; half-clean water) in the middle. Scum on top. In time the effluent rises and goes up and out of the tank by a pipe. The pipe goes into a leach field: a stone-filled underground trench. There more bacteria help finish the job. The water ends up clean and safe. It gurgles back into the soil. Hurray! Non-odorously, Twig P.S. It’s gotta go somewhere! A
