Plastic piece in outlet drain

[mfinkler]

This plastic gear looking thing is in my outlet pipe between my septic tank and pump tank. My septic is draining slow. Is this a foreign object or something that should be there?

 

[GReynolds929]

Most likely an outlet baffle filter to keep solids out of the drain field. They need periodic cleaning to clean out the biomat that builds up.

 

[Twowaxhack]

If your system backs up and you pull the filter before you pump it down, all that sludge will flow into the drainfield.

Stinks too