There are preventive measures to avoid septic system failure. Today, you'll learn how and why septic tanks fail and how to avoid that predicament. Septic systems are expensive, ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 or even more. Yet most homeowners have little or no idea how they work, how to care for them or how and why they fail. In reality, septic tanks don't fail, the soil fails by not allowing liquids to pass through it. The culprit is solids that wash out into the drain field rather than settling in the tank. One of the most problematic, surprisingly, is lint generated from washing machines. It is light and buoyant initially and floats right through the system where it then settles and creates a carpet effect that prevents proper drainage into the soil. This creates puddling in the low spots of the lawn. The answer is an inline filter for the washing machine discharge hose. Costing about $150, it traps most lint particles and eliminates the No.1 "secret" problem contributing to most septic tank failures. And that's the On The House tip for today.