faq

Although aerobic treatment plants, such as a Jet system, are typically sized by the gallons per day (GPD) of wastewater they treat, it is helpful to know how many gallons a tank holds when scheduling or paying for a pump out.  The basic Jet system holds 1,225 gallons divided into three separate compartments: a 500-gallon pretreatment compartment, a 600-gallon treatment compartment, and a 125-gallon settling compartment.  Larger jet systems may have an additional 1,000-gallon pretreatment tank before the Jet treatment plant.

Use the distributor locator on this website, or call 1-800-321-6960 and ask to speak with a customer service representative. 

To obtain factory certification to work on Jet systems, you will need to complete our distributor application process and then attend one of our factory training seminars held at our corporate headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio.  This seminar will cover all the aspects of Jet system installation and maintenance, from casting and setting a Jet tank to cleaning and service servicing the media and aerator.  If you are interested in becoming a Jet distributor, click here to fill out an application online today.

Jet aerator warranties begin when the warranty card is returned to Jet, or if no warranty card is received, it begins the month it was produced based on the date-coded serial number. 

The serial number is located on the foil data plate on the side of the aerator motor.  Call your local distributor if you cannot find a data plate on your aerator.  They should have a record of your installation date and aerator serial number on file.

The black plastic material in your Jet system is the BATA^® media pack.  Jet BATA^® media is essential to the treatment capabilities of your system.  Special precautions should be taken when servicing and pumping your Jet system to avoid damaging this media and the performance of your system.  Do not attempt to clean or remove the media packs. Damaged packs are expensive to repair or replace.

Jet research has shown that the increased solids from garbage disposal won’t negatively affect the performance of your Jet system.  The aerobic bacteria process will actively digest the extra solids introduced to the system, and only the highest quality effluent leaves the system.

NSF stands for the National Sanitation Foundation.  NSF is a non-profit organization that certifies a wide range of sanitary products.  For more information, please visit www.nsf.org.

Although we can’t recommend a specific brand to use, you should be safe with using a cleaner of organic nature.  Heavy plumbing cleaners and toilet bowl freshener hang tabs will kill off the good bacteria in your plant.

The first things you should check are the traps and venting of all the fixtures in the bathroom.  Sewer gas can enter through a loose seal or dry trap.  Run water through all fixtures in the room to ensure there is water in the traps.  If the toilet is loose or recently replaced, the wax ring may need to be adjusted or replaced to ensure a good seal.  Ensure the sink and tub drains are appropriately vented to prevent a siphon effect within the traps (mechanical vents can stick).  Also, a blocked vent in the roof of the house can cause pressure to build up, forcing the gas into the highest point of the home through otherwise good seals.

Yes, we carry faux stone covers in a variety of sizes and colors.  They come in Fieldstone Gray & Riverbed Brown.  Contact a local distributor for pricing.

If your aerator alarm is on in your control panel, try hitting the red reset button to see if the aerator starts running again.  Don’t use the reset button more than one or two times because multiple starts could damage your aerator.  If your alarm sounds again after hitting the reset button, call your Jet Service Provider immediately.

If you have an older Jet system that was installed with an aerator timer, we do not suggest altering the time settings.  If you feel you need to make an adjustment, contact your Jet service provider, and they will diagnose your system to see if timer adjustments are warranted.

We recommend that your tank is air cleaned every year and air cleaned and pumped every three years. However, just like a septic tank, the frequency of pump-outs depends on the amount you use your Jet system.  Make sure you contact your Jet service provider before scheduling a pump-out; your tank should be serviced before pumping to avoid damaging the BATA^® media.

If you are leaving for a week or two on vacation, we suggest that you leave your aerator running while you are away.  Although there is no waste to treat, our studies have shown that your tank will digest any available solids during an idle period, in effect cleaning your tank while you are away.

Yes.  Our studies have found that the energy used from cycling a motor through hourly start-up amperage spikes will use only slightly less energy than motors that operate continuously.  After we weigh in the wear and tear on the bearings and switches caused by the constant starting and stopping, plus the damage from condensation on the motor from the perpetual heating and cooling process, it is actually more economical to let the aerator run continuously.

If your aerator is running louder than usual, call your Jet service technician to schedule a routine maintenance visit.  This could be a sign of early wear on the aerator brackets, causing excessive vibration that will reduce the life of your aerator.  A service technician can fix or replace these brackets and clean debris that may have unbalanced the aerator, reducing the noise and ensuring a longer life cycle from your aerator.

Although the only requirement before pumping is that you schedule a service visit shortly before the pumping, we recommend using a certified Jet pumper company to pump out your Jet tank.  You should not use any pump company because your Jet system has the unique BATA^® Media that can be severely damaged during a pump-out if it is not properly cleaned before pumping.  A certified pump company will have the necessary tools to clean your media, avoid costly repairs, and ensure your Jet system’s optimum treatment performance.

Yes.  All factory original Jet aerators are sized to retrofit into any Jet system, regardless of when it was installed.  Make sure to use only Jet factory original components to ensure the optimum treatment performance from your system.

According to the National Sanitation Foundation, no. Off-brand replacement motors are not certified for use with your system.  There is no way to ensure the performance of your Jet system if you are using anything but factory original replacement components. If you want to avoid pollution and nuisance complaints from an underperforming system, make sure to contact your local Jet distributor for factory original replacement aerators and system components.  Also, your system won’t pass a point of sale or yearly inspection if it does not have factory original components.

No.  We do not recommend using any chlorine other than Jet-Chlor chlorine tablets in your Jet chlorinator.  Other brands of chlorine are designed to dissolve at different rates than Jet-Chlor and may not properly disinfect the wastewater effluent from your system.  Also, swimming pool chlorine is a different type of chlorine altogether and can become volatile in a confined area such as a chlorinator, causing potentially dangerous conditions on your property.

We do not recommend routing the backwash from your water softener into a Jet system or any other type of biological treatment system.  The concentrated sodium chloride and other chemical compounds that are introduced into a Jet system while the softener is backwashing will kill off many of the beneficial bacteria that live in your treatment system.  If it is at all possible, route the water softener backwash to an alternate drain line.  However, we recommend that you check with your local health department before installing or altering existing drain lines.

No. Using the same dispensing unit for both chlorine and dechlorination tablets can result in a dangerous chemical reaction. If your system requires both chlorine and dechlorination tablets, they must be housed in separate units. Typically, these units are separated by a chlorine contact chamber that allows for some hydraulic retention time for the chlorine to properly disinfect the effluent wastewater.

Jet BATA^® Media requires annual cleaning with a special tool called an air cleaning wand.  This process is designed to remove excess biofilm from the media by increasing and reversing the hydraulic flow through the media pack.  The soft biofilm is easily removed with the increased amount of agitation caused by the air wand.  The remaining solids and biofilm are then digested by the aerobic bacteria in the treatment compartment.

If the aerator stops working in a Jet system, the plant will begin to work like a conventional septic tank.  Conventional septic tanks are primarily designed to settle solids and don’t treat the wastewater like a Jet tank.  Your system has been designed to discharge treated effluent based on poor soil quality or limited space, so removing untreated solids and bacteria could potentially damage your system and affect public health and safety.

Jet aerators are exchanged for new aerators based on a prorated exchange rate depending on the age of the motor by your Jet Distributor.  The longer the motor has been in service, the more the exchange rate will be. The shorter the service time, the lower the cost.  All exchanged aerators that are not covered under warranty will benefit from a new warranty and restart their age in the exchange program.  If you need to locate the Jet Distributor closest to your location, try using our Distributor Locator.

The suggested service schedule for a Jet system is one routine maintenance call every six months.  Some states may require more frequent service calls to ensure the highest performance quality from aerobic systems in the state.  Servicing at a lower frequency than every six months is unacceptable, and damage to your plant and components may occur if routine service is not conducted. 

Some states allow homeowners to service their own onsite treatment systems.  If you are interested in servicing your own system, you will need to obtain the proper training and equipment necessary to conduct routine maintenance on your Jet plant.  We suggest that you contact your local Jet dealer to find out if servicing your own system is possible in your area.

The first thing to do is locate the inlet of the tank.  If you have an exposed outlet riser, as most plants do, the inlet location should be the opposite of the outlet riser from the aerator riser.  Next, measure towards the inlet from the center of the aerator riser approximately sixty inches.  This location should indicate the center of the pretreatment riser.