Maintaining a septic system is a big responsibility. If you allow the tank or the field to clog up, you won't be able to use your toilet or send water down the drains. Even worse, you could be looking at expensive repairs. Understanding how to clean and maintain your system is important. Here are three things that help your septic tank stay in good shape that you may not know about.

Use Quick-Dissolving Toilet Paper

You may not realize there is a big difference in brands of toilet paper. You can test this yourself by placing a wad of toilet paper in a small glass of water and watching what happens. Some paper dissolves right away, and other paper maintains its shape for a long time. You can see an even bigger difference when you test tissues and paper towels. Your septic tank is healthier when you flush paper that dissolves quickly.

That way the paper doesn't build up in the tank and create clogs or cause you to need a service call for cleaning before it's time. Tissues and paper towels shouldn't be flushed at all. Paper towels are made to be tough for cleaning, and they take a long time to break down. Tissues are often coated with moisturizers to be gentle on your nose. These can make the tissues tougher or water resistant.

Conserve Water When You Can

Limiting the amount of water you flush down your drains helps your septic tank work better. The longer water sits in the tank, the better because there is more time for solids to settle to the bottom. If you take long showers all the time or dump a tub full of water at the same time the washer drains, too much water can flush through the tank and carry bits of solids through to the drainfield. This can cause clogs in the tank and clogs in the field as well. Practice water conservation measures and your septic tank will operate more efficiently.

Limit Garbage Disposal Waste

If you don't mind having your septic tank pumped out and cleaned more often than necessary, then you can use your garbage disposal as much as you want. However, if you want to stretch the time between service calls for as long as possible, then you may not want to use the garbage disposal at all. Everything that goes into the disposal ends up in the septic tank and contributes to the solid layer that accumulates on the bottom. While using the disposal occasionally may not matter too much, using it with each meal causes your tank to fill up faster.

These three maintenance tips can help your septic tank operate more efficiently and last longer between cleanings. However, the most important tip of all is to have regular service, so the tank doesn't get too full and back up into your home or clog up the drainfield. When that happens, you could be looking at costly repairs.

Contact a company like Mr Bob for more information and assistance.