Hickory Woods homes have septic systems which consist of a large buried rectangular tanks made of concrete and a leach field. Some of the residents also have a pump as part of their septic system.

Wastewater from all plumbing fixtures drains into the septic tank. Heavy solids settle to the bottom where bacterial action produces digested sludge and gases. Lighter solids that float such as grease, oils and fats, rise to the top and form a scum layer.

You as a home owner in Hickory Woods are responsible for maintaining your septic tank and for properly using and maintaining the system so that damage to the components will not occur.

The leach field (or drain field) is the second part of the septic system. The Hickory Woods Homeowner’s Association (HOA) is responsible for the leach field portion of the system provided that the unit owners have properly used and maintained their portion of the septic system, i.e. the tank.

Not properly using or maintaining your septic system may result in damage to the leach field. If the leach field is damaged as a result of improper maintenance of your septic tank, resulting repairs will be your responsibility.

Septic Tank System

Most residents have 1500 gallon tanks with two compartments.

21 residents have 2100 gallon tanks with pumps and three compartments.
(These are identified by a red alarm light outside the house and an alarm box located in the basement.)

Protecting Your System

Proper maintenance of the system will provide a lifetime of use with few or no problems. Improper use or lack of maintenance may lead to complete failure of the system, particularly the leach fields.

To avoid damage to the system:
• Don’t pour chemicals, such as bleach, harsh cleaners, etc. down your drains. These can destroy the bacteria that decomposes your waste.
• Don’t drive over the septic drain field in your vehicles or with heavy machinery.
• Dispose of oil or grease in proper containers and recycle them or put them out with the trash. Do not pour oil or grease down the drain. These can clog the pipes and if you have one, damage the pump.
• Don’t flush anything down the toilet except bodily waste and white toilet paper. Other materials, such as sanitary products, paper towels, non-biodegradable plastics, cigarettes, cat litter, etc. will damage pumps and clog drains.
• Do not install or use a garbage disposals unless it is rated for septic system use. Be sure to use the disposal according to the directions to avoid damage to the septic system.

Septic Tank Maintenance

The unit owners are responsible for the pumping of the septic tanks. Based on normal usage the tank should be pumped out every 3-4 years. There are a number of service providers available and charges may vary which can include digging down to the tank cover.

Regular pumping of the system is necessary to avoid damage to the leach fields. The opening and pumping of the system is also a good time to have the pump checked if you have one.

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Shared Leach Fields and Septic Tank Pumps

If you are one of the 21 unit owners with a pump system the following information is important to understand. If you do not have a pump, this information does not apply to your home.

Twenty-one homes here in Hickory Woods share leach fields with homes around them. These homes are equipped with a pump tank which pumps waste water from their septic tanks to the shared leach field.

This 2100 gallon pump tank contains a sewage effluent pump, control floats, and a high water alarm.

The control floats are set so that a specific volume of effluent is sent to the leach field. When the effluent in the pump tank rises to the “on” set level of the control float the pump is activated until the level reaches the pump “off” float setting.

Pump Alarms

Should the “on” float fail to activate the pump or should the pump itself fail the level of effluent in the pump tank will continue to rise in the pump chamber. When this level reaches the alarm float an audible and visual signal will be activated. (Here in Hickory Woods, homes that are serviced by pumps have a red light attached to the outside of the house and an audible alarm in the basement.)

Why septic tank alarms go off?

An alarm system gives you a warning when the water level in the pump tank is rising more than it should be. All septic systems with pumps should have some sort of timer installed. The timer controls when the pump is allowed to pump waste water into the drainfield. This prevents the leach field from being overdosed during periods of increased water usage.

What creates alarms:
• The alarm may be temporary, due to excess water entering the septic system, or it may be due to a failure of the system.
• One of the temporary causes is, too much water is being used. Several loads of laundry, increased amount of dish washing, and a lot of long showers are all reasons that can cause too much water usage.
• Something may be wrong with one of the septic system’s components. The pump, floats, alarm, timer, etc. may have something wrong that is not allowing them to work together properly.
• Also, a failure may have resulted due to foreign material clogging the pump or floats.

What to do if your alarm goes off:

Push the silence button on the alarm box. The box may be located near the circuit breaker panel or on another wall.

This will turn off the audio alarm. There will be a red light and a green light located on the alarm box. The green light should always be on. The green light means the system has power. The red light means the alarm is getting a signal from the pump tank that the water level is getting higher than it should be.

Next, check the septic pump circuit breaker to make sure the pump has power. If the breaker is on, then check to see if there is any water puddling around the septic tanks. If you have been using large amounts of water, reduce your water usage and give the septic system a couple of pump cycles (12-16 hours) to see if the alarms red light goes out on its own. If the red light goes out, the system is working properly. It just needed to catch up with the additional water that was introduced into the system.

If the red light is still on after 12-16 hours, contact Harvard Management to set up a call for service. An alarm signal does not mean sewage is about to back up into the house. Alarms are installed to give you 24-48 hours of normal usage until sewage will start to back up. If the alarm is going off, reduce your water usage to a minimum. This will allow the pump to catch up quicker. If something is wrong, reduced water flow will ensure there is plenty of time before sewage backs up into the house.

Service Responsibility of pumps

Hickory Woods HOA is responsible for the maintenance and service of the pumps. In the event of an alarm, you must call Harvard Management Solutions (HMS) and request service. HMS will schedule when this will be done.

If service is due to resident misuse then they will be charged for the call and repair charges.

Routine maintenance of the pumps, if needed, will be provide by the HOA, through HMS.

If you have any questions about your septic systems please feel free to contact one of the Board of Directors and we will be happy to assist you.