1. Activities Near the System
You should not build on, excavate, pave or drive over any parts of the system. Homeowners should protect the filter modules, drainfield and surrounding area and inspect them on a regular basis. Wet spots on or near the filter modules or drainfield are potential indicators of advanced problems or RSF failure.
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2. Landscaping and Soil Protection
The OMNI RSF system requires the area over the Filter Modules to be covered with a mulch type material ONLY.
The system owner is responsible for maintaining any landscaping features, including any mulch located over the OMNI Filter Modules and keeping required covers accessible and/or to grade.
OMNI is not responsible for the removal or disposal of any inappropriate materials located over the Filter Modules or system covers. All costs associated with the removal and disposal of such material is the sole responsibility of the system owner or other responsible party.
Sprinkler systems should not be installed in or within 10 feet of the RSF for the following reasons:
- Damage to the Filter Modules by digging into it for sprinkler installation;
- The additional water load to the Filter Module;
With lawn care equipment, such as riding lawn mowers or tractors, be careful not to travel on the Filter Module or covers. Winter landscape work on the Filter Module and drainfield should be avoided to minimize frost penetration or compaction.
Any landscaping you choose to do must not adversely alter or disturb the Filter Module or drainfield or the soils around them. You should not place fill soils over the Filter Module. This will block airflow into the Filter Module and greatly reduce the effectiveness and shorten the operating life. Placing concrete, asphalt sections or plastic sheets over the Filter Modules also reduces the supply of oxygen necessary for the sewage treatment process.
Do not allow any surface runoff to be directed onto or around the Filter Modules or drainfield.
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3. Additives
The use of Septic additives of any type is NOT recommended. Septic Tank additives will not reduce the need for Septic Tank pumping. Some additives may actually cause solids to be carried out of the Septic Tank and into the Filter Module. This can cause plugging of the Filter Modules; gradually causing them to fail. Other additives may pass into the soil and pollute the groundwater.
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4. What CAN and CAN NOT go down the drain
Your RSF is for treatment of typical kitchen, bathroom and laundry wastewater and should not be used as a disposal site for other types of waste. Any materials that do not readily biodegrade within the Septic Tank should not be flushed down a toilet or poured down a drain. This would include the following: sanitary napkins, flushable baby materials and/or wipes, tampons, coffee grounds, grease or oils of any kind, hair, "disposable" diapers, cigarette butts, paper towels, paper napkins, newspaper, dental floss, any paints (latex paint is very bad for filter baffles and the sand filter), solvents, degreasers, pesticides, prescription drugs such as antibiotics or any toxins. Large quantities of disinfectants (e.g., bleach) should also be kept out of your Septic Tank. Normally laundry or household cleaning chores should not pose a threat to your system. Avoid putting products labeled “Danger” down the drain. This includes caustic oven cleaners and caustic drain cleaners. Drains can often be cleaned using a mix of baking soda and vinegar, followed by boiling water.
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5. Garbage Disposals
It is recommended that a garbage disposal not be used. If you must use it, do so very sparingly. Garbage disposals, by design, use large volumes of water and pass significant quantities nutrients and suspended solids into the Septic Tank. Garbage disposals very commonly overload typical septic systems and RSFs. If you use the disposal you will need to have the Septic Tank pumped much more frequently. Regardless of the frequency of Septic Tank pumping, garbage disposals will increase the waste concentration, which can overload the sand filter and unbalance the biological process. When you consider the total cost associated with the extended operation of a garbage disposal, it might be the most expensive appliance in your home.
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6. How much water can your RSF handle
Each RSF is designed based upon a residence's anticipated wastewater production, called the “loading rate”. Loading rate projections are based on the expected maximum number of people that will reside in a house (usually considered to be two people per bedroom) with a maximum daily wastewater production per person of about 55 gallons per day.
Also, sometimes surface water or ground water leaking into the Septic Tank can overload a drainfield. Surface runoff should always be diverted away from the Filter Modules, leaching field and tank covers.
The system will not continue to operate properly at a loading rate higher than that for which it is designed. The maximum designed loading rate for your RSF is 110 gallons per bedroom per day.
A common cause of periodic overloading is saving a number of wastewater generating activities for the weekend, when the laundry, dishwasher, bathtub and shower are used heavily. This overloads the system on weekends, while a lower loading rate occurs during the weekdays. This high weekend water use can cause the system alarm to go off. These peak load spikes should be avoided by spreading wastewater-producing activities (e.g., laundry) evenly throughout the week. In many cases, life styles may need to be adjusted to help protect the environment.
Remember all septic systems have a limited capacity to treat and dispose of wastewater.
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7. Water Conservation
It is important that you practice good water use habits to get the maximum life span from your RSF. Laundry washing should be spaced throughout the week and not all done in a single day. Wash only full loads of laundry or dishes. Low flow plumbing fixtures (toilets, faucet aerators, and showerheads) should be installed if not already present in the house. (Low flow fixtures will be present in homes built in or after 1993.) Water-conserving appliances, such as front-loading clothes washers or the new spray-rinse washers should be chosen when replacing your appliances. Any water-generating activity should be thought of in terms of its impact on the RSF.
If your system has a pump timer, the alarm will sound, should the design capacity of the system be exceeded. If this happens repeatedly it can serve as a warning of excessive RSF loading.
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8. Power Failures
As with most systems relying on electrical power, there is a potential for disruption of operation during a power failure. The OMNI fail-safe design automatically defaults to standard mode in the event of a power failure, with no interruption to the use of the system. However, in the event that a power failure does occur, the performance features that make the system unique will not function properly, allowing wastewater entering the system to be discharged untreated, subsequently defeating the very purpose of the enhanced treatment.
During a power failure, the wastewater cannot be pumped to the Filter Modules and therefore, will accumulate in the recirculation tank. You should begin water conservation measures as soon as the power goes out. All new systems using pumps are now equipped with timers. The timer limits the frequency with which the pump starts and thereby limits how much effluent goes into the sand filter in a 24-hour period. It ensures the Filter Module only gets as much effluent as it was designed to handle. A timer controlled system will take care of itself over time once the power comes back on. In order to let your pump system catch up, continue to conserve water for an additional day or more once power is restored. If the high water alarm sounds when the power comes back on, this will indicate the effluent has backed up into the emergency storage area of the recirculation tank. The alarm can be silenced manually and will shut itself off once the pump system has pumped the excess wastewater from the tank.
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9. Periodic Maintenance
It is essential your RSF be inspected and maintained on a regular basis. This will help catch most problems before they harm the system. The State and Local RSF regulations require periodic system maintenance. Sand filter systems are relatively complex, susceptible to abuse and costly to repair so therefore must be monitored six months after installation; again six months later and semi-annually thereafter.
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