Happy Halloween Gravel Grading and Excavating fans! Tis the season for stories that send a shiver up
your spine and leave you feeling a little unsettled. Halloween is all about a little bit of a scare, right?

We have all the spooky stories about septic backups and (dare I say it) top soil erosion!

So settle in with some candy, light a fire, and get ready for some scary stories.

Spooky Story #1:
First up is a story that will have you checking your septic system every day and even through the night.

Typically when septic professionals open the lid to a septic tank, there’s a 10-inch air gap, but during one
inspection, the home inspector found herself looking into a tank filled to the brim with wastewater.

When the inspector walked out to the drain field, where wastewater from a septic tank is slowly
released underground, she found a massive green and black puddle.

“The scary thing was, there were boats and toys in the water,” the inspector says, indicating that the
family’s kids had been playing in that spot.

The homeowner mentioned that the puddle had been there since the last rain – two months prior to the
inspection.

“I had to explain that was no puddle,” the inspector says. “It was wastewater surfacing and she didn’t
want to let her kids play in it. She was horrified.”

Now that’s a scary situation!

To avoid this happening to you, be sure to pump out your septic system regularly. Timeframes depend on number of people in your household and volume of water used. If your septic system is in need of repair or replacement, contact our crew before it’s too late.

Spooky Story #2:
This is a short and not-so-sweet story that some farmers know all too well.

Soil erosion can lead to lost topsoil that you can never get back.

This equates to potential loss of yield for farmers and investment for property owners. Lost top soil can also lead to inefficiencies with your equipment, inconsistency of input placement, and lost dollars. The effects of soil erosion go beyond the loss of fertile land. It has led to increased pollution and sedimentation in streams and rivers, clogging these waterways and causing declines in fish and other species too. Degraded lands are also often less able to hold onto water, which can increase flooding too.

Contact our crew at Gravel Grading & Excavating to install ag tile, waterways, and detention
ponds to preserve your precious dirt.

Don’t let your Fall and Winter months get scary, contact our crew today so you don't become the next scary story we share with our followers!

If you are looking for residential services from our Gravel Grading & Excavating crew, get on our remaining 2020 schedule or book for early 2021 by calling 563-542-6610.

As a homeowner, there are many systems in your home that you depend on every day for the comfort and safety of your family: heating, cooling, electrical, internet, etc.  But for your peace of mind (and your wallet), the system you cannot have fail in your household is your septic. With all the water the average family consumes daily in their bathrooms, washing machines, and kitchens, having confidence in your home's wastewater collection and treatment system is priceless.  

Gravel Grading & Excavating recently had the opportunity to complete a new septic system install for the Hosch family of rural Cascade, Iowa.  For this project, we worked closely with the family and state of Iowa and EPA codes and regulations to make sure the new system was both functional and environmentally sound.  After weighing their options and spending some time consulting with Terry, the homeowners decided that a septic tank and drainage field system was their family's best choice.

How does it work?
All water running out of the house filters into a two-compartment, water-tight septic tank.  The heavier, solid waste settles to the bottom of the first compartment in the tank, while oil, grease, and waste water floats to the top and moves into the second chamber.

From the second chamber, liquid wastewater (effluent) travels out of the tank and into a series of pipes laid out in an underground drainfield.  This drainfield moves water out of the piping through a series of both man-made and natural materials to percolate through sediment, rock, and soil to naturally clean and purify the wastewater before it reaches the water table or the surface as safe, drinkable water.  

Time for installation:
First, we had to go to the site and assess the best location on the property for the drain/leach field.  For this, we needed both the square footage necessary for the drainfield and proper soil quality that had the capacity to absorb and purify effluent exiting the system. 

Once we determined the proper location, our crew came to the site with our excavating equipment to dig out the pit for the tank and drain field.  The tank's trench was then lined with gravel and tested for level to ensure the proper fall to the pipes for optimum drainage.  Our crew was then able to set the tank in place and begin assembling the drainfield.

Our crew started this stage of the install by backfilling the trench with soil and gravel to form the naturally-filtering layers.  Each layer was carefully graded to assure correct degree of fall for the pipes and then measured to ensure accurate thickness for optimum water treatment and to comply with Iowa and EPA code.  After ensuring proper base protocol, the Gravel Grading & Excavating crew began laying out the pipes and covering them with layers of gravel, landscaping mat (to prevent plant and tree roots from growing into and thus disrupting the drain field), and topsoil.

Gravel Grading & Excavating is licensed with the state of Iowa for residential septic system installation, and we follow proper protocol and follow-up with the DNR to make sure that our projects are both functional for your family and safe for the surrounding environment. 

Thank you, Hosch family, for choosing us for your septic installation, and thanks to all our customers for their ongoing business.

Need more information? 
Check out these helpful sites listed below:
State of Iowa Laws and Codes: http://www.iowadnr.gov/Environmental-Protection/Water-Quality/Private-Septic-Systems
EPA Standards & Guidelines: https://www.epa.gov/septic
More detailed recommendations and installation instructions: https://www.thenaturalhome.com/septic.html