Why is the Fraser Valley hard on septic systems?
A high winter water table leaves drain fields with less unsaturated soil to treat effluent, so a field that limps through summer can fail outright in November. Step off the sewer grid in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission or Langley and nearly every acreage, hobby farm and rural home treats its own wastewater. Sumas Prairie, Matsqui Prairie, Bradner, Ryder Lake, Columbia Valley, Glen Valley, the Mission hillsides: these are septic country, and the systems there work hard in conditions that are tougher than most of BC.
The valley floor sits on a high water table that rises with the winter rains. When groundwater comes up, a drain field has less unsaturated soil to treat effluent, so a field that limps along all summer can fail outright in November. That is why local systems reward regular pumping and early repairs, and punish neglect faster than systems on well-drained ground.
How service works, start to finish
- Call or request a quote. Tell us the property, roughly when the tank was last pumped, and what you're seeing. You get a clear price up front.
- We do the work. Pump-out, inspection, repair or install, with lids located, levels measured and everything put back the way we found it.
- You get a written record. What we found, what we did, and when your system should be looked at next. Useful for you, and gold when you sell.
Warning signs worth a phone call
- Slow drains or gurgling fixtures throughout the house
- Sewage odours indoors, near the tank, or over the field
- Wet, spongy ground or standing water over the drain field
- Grass over the field noticeably greener than the rest of the lawn
- Backups in basement or ground-floor drains after laundry or showers