The wastewater in your house has to go somewhere when it goes down the drain. If you live in the city, it is likely that it goes into the sewer lines. If you aren't on the sewer lines, then you probably have a septic tank that the wastewater drains into. The septic tank is buried near your house, and then has a drain field where the water eventually filters out. In most cases, your septic tank and drain field will have no problems, but occasionally you might have problems with your tank, and those problems could be caused by the trees in your yard. 

Roots

The purpose of the roots that trees produce is to help provide the trees with nutrients. The roots are going to look for anything that will feed the tree, and that can include the wastewater in your septic tank and the drain field. Having roots growing into your drain field isn't going to be an issue, but when they start to grow into your pipes or your septic tank, that can cause a huge problem, as it can cause blockages in the septic tank or the lines. If you do think that you have tree roots in your lines, you need to call a septic repair company so that they can come to assess the problem and check it out for you. If you do have a root problem, the service techs can help.

Root Removal

One of the ways that the tech will be able to help you is to start the root removal process. Depending on where the root intrusion is and how severe it is, the service tech may have several options open to them. One of them is to pour granular copper sulfate down the drain or flush it down your toilet. The copper sulfate will kill the tree roots and dissolve them. When you flush the copper sulfate down the drain, it will generally settle down into the bottom of the septic tank and shouldn't spread out into the drain field. The service tech who comes to your house may suggest that you get the tank pumped out first, which will allow them to send a cutting tool into the pipes to cut the roots out before the copper sulfate is applied. 

If you have a septic tank, you want to make sure that it stays in good repair. As such, if you think there are tree roots in your lines, talk to a septic maintenance company to see if they can help you. Contact a septic service to learn more.