If you’re moving from an urban center to the country, you’re probably looking forward to enjoying the peace and quiet, the space and the greenery, but one thing you may not be looking forward to is your new ownership of a septic tank.

If you’re never owned a septic system, you may be feeling out of your element. In urban or city settings, effluent that leaves your house through sink, toilets and showers are moved along piping until they reach the sewer system. Sewer systems are maintained by public works, which usually also control the water, and for which you are charged. While paying for it is a downside, the plus side is that you don’t really have to worry about what happens to your waste when you hit flush.

This is not the case with a septic system. A septic system is a fully contained, waste management system on your own property and you are tasked with caring for it and maintaining it, unless you want to suffer the smelly consequences.

The first time you need to know about your septic system, is that it will need to be inspected and pumped on a consistent basis. This is doubly important if you have an alternative system. The average household should have their septic system inspected at least every three years. Your septic tank will typically be pumped every 3 to 5 years, depending on the amount of people in the home, cleaning chemicals used, and what else gets flushed into the system.

Alternative systems will need much more regular inspection, since their septic tank parts include things like electrical floats, switches, pumps and other mechanical components that will need inspection at least annually. This is often done on a service contract, so that your system is inspected before something goes wrong

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