Septic Tank

[fred1949]

I try & be care as to what I use around the house for cleaning the plumbing fixtures. As far as I know everything says septic safe but is that really true? If you have some suggestions about septic care from the point of what not to put in there please advise.
Thank you,
Fred

[LazyPup]

I don't consider myself an expert on septic tanks and systems however there are some observations I have made in the last 30 years that may offer some insight to your question.

I think the greatest difficulty in providing an answer is because we have not complete defined the quetion. What does it mean when we say a product is safe for septic systems?

While the design of a septic system is simplicity itself, there are a number of rather complex actions that must take place in order for it to properly function.

In the first step the waste enters the storage vessel where the solid matter separates out of the liquid, either by floating to the top or settling to the bottom of the tank, depending upon the specific gravity of the material.

The system then relies upon a helpful bacterial colony that breaks down the bio-degradable solids in a digesting action.

As the bio-degradable waste is consumed by the bacteria what remains is basically just water, which is then passed into the leachfield and absorbed into the soil or non-biodegradable waste which settles to the bottom of the tank and forms a thick sludge which must later be pumped out.

The first concern is what is the effect of a product on the bacteria colony? While there is certainly an exception to every rule, i would suspect that most large manufacturers who produce products that are ultimately intended to be discarded in our drains, such as soaps and cleaning supplies, would be very concerned about their exposure to liability and therefore be rather careful to formulate their products in such a manner that they will not be harmful to the bacteria colony.

On the other hand, most people tend to discard a lot of materials in the drainage systems that not only could potentially be harmful to septic tanks, but they are harmful to all drain, waste and vent systems in general. These items would include such things as automotive fluids(gas, oil, hydraulic fluids, anti-freeze solutions), Paint, Varnish, solvents, thinners etc etc. Quite often we introduce these products into our DWV system without even thinking about it, such as when we wash out brushes and paint rollers or wash our sheetrock mudding tools. This would also include lawn and garden supplies such as fertilizers & pesticides.

I doubt that there is one amongst us who has not entered a public restroom and found a cigarette butt floating in the toilet bowl or urinal. While many smokers discard there cigarette in the toilet very few realize that the concentrated nicotene in that butt is deadly poisonous and can wreak havoc with the bacterial colony in a septic tank.

(As a side note here, You can make a very effective USDA approved organic pesticide by soaking discarded cigarette butts in water until it forms a dark liquid that looks like tea. You then use that as a concentrate and dilute it 3 or 4 to one to control lawn and garden insects. You must be very careful when handling this material because it is a deadly poison, In fact if a child injests as little as one cigarette butt it can contain enough nicotene to be fatal. one of the prime uses of tobacco is to commercially produce insecticide)

Perhaps the greatest problem associated with septic tanks is non-biodegradable waste. Ask anyone who operates a septic tank pump truck and they will confirm that the greatest contributor to the non-digestible solids in the sludge is plastics in its many varying forms. Under no circumstances should condoms, feminine hygene products or plastic wrappers be discarded in the toilet.

In my household we have a firm rule, with the exception of toilet paper, nothing is to be discarded in the toilet unless you ate it first. Does this rule work? You be the judge, my septic tank was first installed in 1965 and it has not required pumping yet.

[fred1949]

Thanks again, you answered my questions.

Have a Merry Christmas.