The septic system at our home in California is about 29 yrs. old. We've owned it for 20 yrs. and only had it pumped out once during the first year while under renovation. The painter cleaned his brushes out in the utility room with turpentine which killed the bacteria in the tank. About a year later we started getting a back-up.
Once pumped and restarted, it has worked flawlessly for 19 yrs. We put Rid-X in once a month. We have two 1,500 gallon tanks with a leach field.
There was talk a while back that we could connect to city services and I would if we could. But, all twenty one homes in our gated community would have to agree and each home would be assessed.
Safe travels,
MM.