Theres nothing worse than human skin for Steve Smith of Bowling Green. Human skin is extremely slimy, he said, rubbing his fingers together. While it may sound a bit crazy, Smiths thinking has sound reasoning to back it up. He and his wife, Shelia, own Double S Septic Tank Service. Steve Smith cleans the tanks while Shelia Smith answers the phones and schedules her husbands appointments. Anything that has ever been in the house – flushed, washed, drained – comes out the septic tank, Steve Smith said. When you take a bath, you shed skin. When it collects, it collects together. Its like fatback. Skin isnt the only thing that Steve Smith has found on the job. Everything thats like itself collects together in a septic tank. We find hair, prophylactics, feminine products, he said. I remove the lid (from the tank), take the hoses and vacuum all the stuff out. Shelia Smith has witnessed just how nasty Steve Smiths job can be. Sometimes I make him strip on the back porch, she said. His clothes go immediately in the washing machine, theyre so rank. Weve hosed him down outside in the summer. Rotten objects arent the only things Steve Smith has to deal with on the job. He also does a lot of digging the tanks are anywhere from 18 inches to 5 feet below ground. I have to locate the tank with a probing rod the size of an ink pen. I find it and dig it up with a shovel. Its strenuous, he said. If its down too deep, I use an excavator. While the Smiths have owned Double S for only seven years, Steve Smith has known the dirt on the septic tank business for much longer. My dads in it and Ive helped him, and I bought this business from a cousin who had been in it for a long time, he said. The Smiths are accustomed to early morning and late-night phone calls from frantic customers. They call when they flush (the toilet) and stuff comes up in the shower or bathtub, Steve Smith said. Ive also been to jobs where stuff was packed up so much that you stick a shovel in and it will stand up on its own. That makes it harder because you have to break that stuff down. Ive been on jobs that take three-and-a-half to four hours to pump the tank after it was dug up. A gurgling sink often is a sign that the septic tank is getting too full, but people often do the wrong thing, Steve Smith said. Most people will go to the hardware store and buy a bunch of chemicals and pour it in. They contain acid that can eat up metal pipes, he said. (The gurgling is) telling you its time to pump it. It wont go out on its own unless its emptied. Its like if human beings ate and drank all they want to. When were full, we have to get rid of it. When the septic tank is full, it needs to be emptied. How miserable would we be if we didnt go to the bathroom?There are ways of helping your septic tank stay healthy, though. Steve Smith suggests that people flush a packet of bakers yeast down the toilet every three to four months. It makes (the sewage) slush so that it goes down to the bottom, he said. If you take care of your system, you wouldnt have emergencies in the first place. Septic tanks should be pumped out every three to five years, depending on the amount of usage, Steve Smith said. The more often you put it in, the more you should take it out, he said. For a large family, maybe pump it every three years. For a small family, pump it every five years. People also should be careful where they plant trees and shrubs because plant roots can damage the tank, Steve Smith said. Proper maintenance is the key, he said. Treat it, pump it, you wont have any problems with it.