Doing The Dirty Work At The Cottage: Your Guide To Septic Tank Management

When you dream about finally buying a cottage you mostly imagine the fun that you will have.  

Maybe you think about sitting on the dock pretending to read a book. Perhaps you might imagine what trees you are going to hang your hammock between. You might even start thinking about what you are going to grill on that new barbeque that you are going to buy.  

Do you know what you don’t think of?  

The bathroom.  

No, that’s not the stuff of dreams. However, if you don’t plan for your bathroom needs while at the cottage those dreams you are having aren’t going to materialize. The truth is that, unlike your nice home in the suburbs, your cottage might not be able to just hook up to a local sewage system. Instead, unless you want to rely on an outhouse, you may have to install and maintain a septic tank.  

Why should you install a septic tank at the cottage?

• It will allow you to have an indoor bathroom when you cannot connect to a municipal sewage system.  
• In rural areas, it is often more reliable than municipal service  
• It’s environmentally friendly, using no electricity and generating no pollution.
• No operation costs

How does a cottage septic tank work?

That’s great, you might be thinking, but where do I even begin? What is a septic tank?  

The short answer is that it’s a reservoir for the waste that normally goes into your municipal sewage system. It’s often something that we take for granted in the city, but that will require more attention in your cottage.  

A longer answer is that a septic tank receives waste water and then facilitates a flow of the waste to a leaching bed located in the soil. In turn, that treats the water before it goes back into the groundwater system.

There’s more to it than that, but that covers the basics.  

What size of a cottage septic tank do I need?

Getting the size right is vital. If you install too small of a system, it can cause overflow. That can be unpleasant to smell and clean up and can cause damage to the area around the septic tank. If you install too big a cottage septic tank it can cause bacteria to build up, which creates issues of its own.  

So, you’ll need to carefully consider the size.  

Consult a professional installer or local regulations to determine the correct size.  

How often should a cottage septic tank be pumped?

Maintenance is also vital. So, you’ll want to know how often you will need to pump out the tank.  

Obviously, this depends on use. If you are hosting a lot of social gatherings at the cottage you will want to increase the amount of times you pump the tank.  

However, in general, every three years for a family of four or more is about right. Smaller families may be able to get away with every three years.  

How do you winterize a cottage septic system?

This being Canada, many readers will be looking to winterize their cottage. In turn, that will require you to take extra steps to ensure that your septic system can handle the cold.  

This is a subject we will dive into in more detail in a separate blog, but the basics are this:

• Winterize the pipes
• Pump the tank
• Insolate the ground above the tank (i.e. the drain field)
• Fence off the drain field to ensure that land is not used  

The septic tank may not be the most pleasant thing to think of, but once it is properly taken care of you will have more time to dream about all the great things you are going to do in your cottage!

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