Elkhart Effluent Filter Cleaning

When the filter needs cleaning

Slow drains throughout the house, or a backup, are the usual reasons people call us. The filter sits in a holder at the outlet side of the tank, so you can't see it without opening the manhole. That's why it can clog well before you notice anything inside the house. Cleaning it is also the cheapest thing to rule out before anyone starts blaming the drain field. If the filter has never been touched since the system went in, we'd clean it anyway.

Opening the tank

Many plastic lids are held down with screws. We back them out with a drill and the right bit and drop them in a container, so none end up in the tank. Once the lid is off we look down at the filter and holder before touching anything. If the filter is the problem, you'll see it right there. If it looks clean and the drains are still slow, we tell you the trouble is somewhere else, such as the baffle or the lines.

Pulling and rinsing the filter

We pull the filter straight up by its handle and hold it above the open manhole. Then we rinse it with a garden hose and aim the loosened material back down into the tank, where it belongs. The hose stays out of the manhole and never touches the filter. Once it's clean, we set it back in the holder and close the lid. In a hot, humid Elkhart summer we don't leave the tank open any longer than the rinse takes.

What it costs

Routine effluent filter cleaning runs $75 to $150. We can give you that typical range on the phone, and we confirm the exact number once we've seen the tank. Wet ground is common in this part of the county, and groundwater near the St. Joseph River, the Elkhart River and their tributaries can be less confined than elsewhere. Site conditions vary a lot from yard to yard, so we like to see yours first. If the filter turns out to need more than a cleaning, we tell you what we found before we do anything beyond the quote.