This article will cover how tree
roots can harm cesspools. Almost all property owners want to have thriving gardens
in their yards. Who wouldn’t want to have fresh air circulating around your
home or a natural space for pets and kids to play in. gardens are also perfect
for special gatherings especially if the plants are all well-taken care
of. Home gardens can also be perfect
conversation pieces when you have guests. Whatever a garden does for you, their
beauty is more than enough to make you stay happy and content in living exactly
where you are. Having a home garden is
indeed the perfect symbol of a stable home but it doesn’t necessarily mean that
your other property elements will be just fine with it. One such component is
your cesspool. Tree roots can harm
cesspools and you have to make some considerations before you put plants
and your cesspool together in one piece of land.
Your
cesspool is your wastewater treatment facility. It has been used by many homes
decades ago and most of the modern homeowners today still use the cesspool for
their wastewater treatment needs. Others who can afford a more modern septic
system “grandfather” their cesspools until they fail. However, there are
homeowners who would rather save money and maintain their inherited cesspools
from previous homeowners. If you want to keep your cesspool running, you have
to make sure that you perform your responsibilities well by doing the
following:
- Use
environment-friendly cleaning products. These do not harm or kill the resident
anaerobic bacteria. So the wastewater treatment process will not be disrupted
or stopped. Ultimately, this is one way of making sure that your cesspool
system will not fail. - Do not treat your
drains and toilets as garbage bins. They are not supposed to receive
non-biodegradable materials like plastic and grease. These substances cannot be
degraded by bacteria. They just stay in the cesspool and clog the entire
process. - Remove structures
and vehicles over or near the cesspool. They cause soil compaction, which
damages the cesspool structures. The damage results to leaks, backups,
flooding, and inevitable system failure. - Have regular
pump-outs. Your cesspool needs to have its sludge pumped out regularly. This
makes sure that the wastewater is treated well and that all clogs are removed. - Remove trees from
your cesspool area. Their invasive roots will penetrate, clog, and even damage
the cesspool system.
Trees
and other hardwood plants are a great threat to the cesspool especially to the
soil absorption area. The cesspool also has perforations along its sides. These
holes serve as portals for the pretreated effluent to flow out into the soil
absorption system. Trees have complex root systems that grow vertically and
horizontally to assure access to abundant water and nutrients. Trees that have lateral
growing roots can easily damage a cesspool system.
Many
arborists firmly believe that trees in general are not supposed to be placed
anywhere near a cesspool. In fact, they have established a list of trees that
should not be planted in a cesspool area:
- Gum trees (Eucalyptus sp.)
- Silver maple (Acer saccharinium)
- Cypress trees (Cupressus)
- Poplars (Populus sp.)
- Birches (Betula sp.)
- Elms (Ulmus sp.)
- Willows ( Salix sp.)
- Walnut trees (Juglans)
These
threatening trees locate the most abundant and most proximal sources of water.
They also want to gain access to the abundant nutrient supply in the soil
around the septic. If you want these tree in your yard you should plant them at
least about 50 feet from any component of your cesspool. It would be best to position
them at the very end of the soil absorption system where the soil is not
saturated that much. Consider planting walnut trees, weeping willows, and
Monterey pines 100 feet away from your cesspool.
Tree roots can harm
cesspools.
You have to talk to your local arborist for the right trees or plants to have
around your cesspool so that you won’t have to worry that your cesspool will
fail because of invasive root systems.
