In this article we will cover
how tree roots can harm cesspits. Nothing
can truly beat the feeling of having a lush, beautiful lawn. Leaving your home
and coming home to it feels good, knowing that you have a piece of paradise in
your own backyard. You take joy of taking good care of the largest garden tree
and the smallest fern. It is all in perfect symmetry until you place your
cesspit. You may have already known that the cesspit is a traditional
wastewater treatment system used by old homes and businesses decades ago. They
are so reliable that property owners maintained them and passed them on from
one generation to the next. Cesspits are mechanisms that could be harmed by
plants.
Plants are living things and they need sustenance to
survive. Big or small, they need to access a regular supply of water and
nutrients. The invasive plant and tree
roots harm cesspits. As the plant grows, the roots penetrate deeper into
the soil. If you have a flourishing garden or would want to have one, you
should consider a lot of things especially when the cesspit is concerned.
Plants, trees, and your cesspit do not mix so you have
to consider many things. Below are guidelines that you should keep in mind in
planting ornamental, vegetable, or fruit gardens over or near your cesspit
area:
- Shrubs and trees—cause complete failure in the seepage
bed, leach field, and drain field. - Vegetables, fruit trees, herbs—become unsafe for
eating because of the pathogens and contaminants that enter the plants’
systems. - Ground cover—damages the cesspit because of soil compaction,
root invasion, and damage to the cesspit components.
For
you to have a clearer idea of why the plants or trees should be planted away
from your cesspit, here are some scenarios that you need to take note of:
- The plants and trees have a high possibility of becoming
contaminated if the cesspit if right below where they are planted. - Pathogens are most likely to enter the plants and tress
because of the process of absorption. - Salts and chemical compounds from the cesspit are
detrimental to the plants. - The process of altering the soil to plant causes damage to
the cesspit underneath.
You
have to consider the crop type, soil type, environmental factors (such as
change in seasons), and the level of effluent so that you can find out the
right distance of your plants and trees from the cesspit. Discuss the following
with your septic expert:
- Importance of soil type
The type of soil affects the plants that you have. If you
have clay soil, a clear effluent comes out of it but it does not have a good
percolation rate. On the other hand if you have sandy soil, a much faster percolation
rate is obtained. With sandy soil, a greater distance is reached by the
wastewater treatment.
- The crops that you plant
If you plan to have potatoes and carrots in your garden, you
must not plant them over your cesspit because they will definitely penetrate
the cesspit components and absorb the septic components as well. Leafy
vegetables that grow above the ground also interrupt the wastewater treatment
process in the cesspit. At the same time, the splashing of water during
rainfall or watering will contaminate the crops of septic chemicals and
pathogens. If you have a vineyard over your cesspit components, they won’t be
contaminated that much at all. The cesspit won’t even be harmed significantly
either.
- Activities during gardening
Digging and walking are common garden activities that easily
harm the cesspit if you have a garden over it.
You
should take care not to make a garden of your cesspit’s surface. The roots are
invasive and persistent. They can easily penetrate into the cesspit and get in
between very small gaps. They damage the cesspit and block the treatment
system, resulting to wastewater backups, flooding, overflow, and failure.
