This is one of the first steps to understanding the septic service world: understanding the difference between a septic system and a holding tank.  It’s especially helpful if you’re looking to buy a home away from city sewer for the first time.  Each system type has its own unique maintenance requirements, so it’s smart to know these differences ahead of time.

In this post, we’ll discuss what a holding tank is…

Holding Tanks:   A system with a holding tank is fairly simple.  The home’s plumbing runs into a tank, or perhaps two connected tanks, that are buried out in the yard.  The covers to the tanks will generally be in the front yard because of strict guidelines allowing for close access for the pumpers.  When those tanks’ levels hit a certain point, an alarm is triggered to alert you that your holding tank is full.  The alarm can be silenced and then reset once the tanks are pumped.  When that alarm sounds, it’s time to call your pumper and get on their schedule.  They will come and empty the tanks, and you’ll be all set until next time the alarm goes off.

The biggest thing to be aware of with holding tanks is household water usage.  Keep in mind that your sinks, toilets, tubs, laundry, etc. all go into the holding tanks.  So a family is often surprised by how quickly those tanks can fill up.  We suggest learning how to conserve on water as much as possible: shorter showers, full loads of laundry, full dishwasher loads, fixing all leaking or dripping faucets, etc.  This can help you stretch out that time between pumpings a little more.

Holding tanks are very common and are less expensive to install.  The homeowner will want to keep in mind, though, that this type of system will require regular pumpings.

In our next post, we will explain how holding tanks are different from septic systems.