Congratulations!  There are a few steps you need to take:

1. Register your system so we can contact you about inspections, if needed.
2. Go through our online orientation.
3. Add 3 gallons of bleach to your reservoir.  You will need to add 1 gallon per month.
4. Make sure your system is turned on!  Sometimes it gets switched off during the construction process.  You can verify by moving the front switch to “Test”.  You should hear the alarm come on.  If it doesn’t come on, give us a call.
5. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

We will be visiting you twice a year for the first two years for maintenance.  Visit with your technician or contact us if you have any questions.

Putting any prohibited items in your tank may void your warranty but so can exceeding the designed flow for your system.  

For example, exceeding the designed flow can occur if too many people live in the house or if you have an RO water filter system or leaky plumbing fixtures.

• Do not use quilted or other heavy toilet papers.
• Do not allow strong detergents, disinfectants, chlorine tablets in toilet tank, or bleaches (other than small amounts used in day to day house cleaning and laundries) into the system. Follow manufacturer recommended amounts when using the above mentioned items.
• Do not allow any disposable items such as: wipes (including flushable), diapers, tampons, sanitary napkins, rubber products, large quantities of paper products, tobacco products, or similar items in the system.
• Do not flush down drains or in toilets harsh chemicals, acids, motor oil, gasoline, paint thinner, condoms, etc. Anything that is non-biodegradable should not go into the septic.
• Do not allow coffee grounds, chemical wastes, oils, or grease (such as cooking grease) into the system.
• If you have a garbage disposal do not put leftovers, potato skins, cooking grease, etc. down the drain. Food scraps from your plate are the extent of what can go into the garbage disposal.
• If possible, do not allow the discharge from any type of water softeners or similar equipment to drain directly into the septic system.  The additional water can overwhelm the system and the salt can change the density of the water affecting the separation of solids.

You may have received an inspection showing solids in your pump tank or high sludge or scum levels in your trash tank and you’re wondering why.  We will quiz you on a few things that are known to cause higher than normal sludge and scum levels but, ultimately, this can be a difficult question to answer.  

First, the normal suspects we may ask about:

• water softeners or ice makers
• tank additives
• harsh household cleaners
• powdered detergents
• some toilet papers
• garbage disposal
• high usage (large families or a lot of visitors)

If you answer “no” to all of the above it gets much harder to diagnose.  Other causes such as:

• home businesses or hobbies (daycare, bakery, brewery, canning, etc)
• household medications or illnesses (cancer, TB, longterm antibiotics, etc)
• household dietary habits (excessive dairy, coffee, or fats)
• tank pH outside neutral

As you can see, the causes can vary greatly and we will attempt to help you identify the problem but we don’t monitor everything that goes into the tank on a daily basis.  Anything that adds solids to the tank or has a pH outside 6.5-7.5 could be a suspect.

It could even be something that occurred prior to you moving in – we’ve seen contractors wash grout down the sink!  

Depending on the severity of the issue, we could recommend getting the tank pumped or closely monitoring the tank during future inspections for additional buildup.

You may see small, gnat-like bugs around your drains.  These are sewer flies.  They lay their eggs in the scum that can line your pipes.  (They can’t come up from your septic due to the p-traps). The easiest way to get rid of them and keep them from coming back is to occasionally pour boiling water down the pipe.  This will kill the eggs and reduce the scum available for them to lay eggs in the future.

Yes, there is a 2 yr warranty. It ensures that your aerobic treatment unit is free from material defects and workmanship defects from the date of installation for two years. The manufacturer’s sole obligation under the warranty shall be to repair or exchange any component, service call may not be included, that is defective from the manufacturer’s perspective.

This warranty applies only to the treatment system itself and does not include any of the plumbing, drainage, and/or disposal system or house wiring.

This warranty does not cover any system that has not been properly maintained, wired to 220v,  flooded by any external means, infested by ants,  disassembled by any unauthorized person, or has had anything other than normal household wastewater introduced into it. Losses due to acts of nature are not covered by this warranty.

If you are having a problem with your system, check our aerobic system orientation page or call the Cyclone Septics to talk to an expert.

Under normal conditions, an aerobic treatment unit should not be turned off for two reasons.

First, the bacteria in your aerobic septic system will start to die from the lack of oxygen supplied by the compressor. This will create a foul odor when turned back on and produce contaminated effluent from the sprinklers.

Second, the wastewater in the system will fill up and flood all compartments of the tank, mixing solids throughout the system. This will also produce contaminated effluent from the sprinklers.  You will need to pump your tank if this happens.

There are two alarms for your aerobic system. One is red and the other is amber. Red represents a high water alarm (HWA). Yellow represents an aeration alarm (COMP). For each alarm light, there is a corresponding audible alarm, which can be muted and tested.

You will need to take action based on the color of the light. Call Cyclone Septics for help.

Chlorine is put in the chlorine reservoir. For our systems, this will be a 4-inch PVC pipe sticking out of the ground above your tank or a reservoir located in the pump tank. 

IMPORTANT! DO NOT PUT LIQUID BLEACH IN A TABLET CHLORINATOR OR VICE VERSA. Pool tablets can cause an explosion hazard.

For a liquid chlorinator, any type of liquid household bleach is acceptable excluding splashless or scented, although generic brands tend to clog parts less frequently. If the bleach is concentrated, dilute it to a one-to-one ratio. The bleach reservoir usually holds around 3 gallons. Do not put chlorine tablets in a liquid chlorinator.

If you have a tablet chlorinator, sanitary chlorine tablets are required. Do not use swimming pool chlorine tablets. Doing so could cause bodily harm and/or damage equipment or property. Do not put in more than four tablets at a time. Do not put liquid chlorine in a tablet chlorinator.

Visit the disinfection page in our orientation guide for more information.

The most common cause of this is a dry p-trap somewhere in the house.  The likely locations to find one are a rarely used bathroom or a floor drain (such as in the garage or below your hot water tank).

If you don’t find a dry p-trap, you should also check your sewer vents on the roof.  Birds have been known to build nests in them and it could be preventing the gases from escaping.  

Finally, a bad toilet seal or broken vent line could be the culprit.  Contact a plumber to inspect these items.

We do not recommend any tank additives. However, if you are on strong medications that prevent the bacteria from getting established you can use limited additives to help the system recolonize.

Under most circumstances, the human body has everything needed to keep your tank healthy.

Yes, but the impact may vary. It depends on the model you have, and where the drain is plumbed.

It is recommended that the drain line for all water softeners, ice makers and RO water filters bypass the treatment process and connect directly to the pump tank. Otherwise, you could exceed the design for your septic system.

If water is available at the time of installation it’s recommended.  If water was not available, you may have a yellow light on.  Once the tank is full the alarm will turn off.  In the meantime, it can be muted using the switch on the front of the control panel or by adding ~3′ of water  to the center compartment.

Check to make sure your system is on and the compressor is running. Then, reference our list of items to avoid to learn what can adversely affect your system. If any prohibited items have entered your system, stop using them.  You may need to contact Cyclone Septics to service your septic system.

Finally, if you are using more water than your system is designed for, it could cause the system to run less efficiently. Or, if you are putting anything down the drain that could alter the pH of the tank the beneficial bacteria can die off.

Has your water usage been high? If so, that could be the reason. In this case, you may also have an alarm on the control panel. If the alarm clears in 24 hrs and it doesn’t re-occur, there isn’t a problem.

If a power outage occurred, your timer will be wrong and could be the reason it’s spraying during the day.

If you believe none of these apply to you, it could be a bad float.  Give us a call for service.

It depends. If you know you want to install an aerobic system, you do NOT need a soil profile or perc test.  Even if the city (or another entity) tells you to get one, call us first.  

If you would like to install a conventional system, you will need one. The soil profile will determine if your soil type is acceptable for a conventional system and how many feet of lateral lines you will require. Estimates for conventional systems are based on lateral footage.

Contact us to schedule a soil profile.

You can call our expert team or visit our blog!

You can also visit the Oklahoma Department of Environment Quality to learn more.