disposal - dish washer on septic system

[keithtt]

I have a cabin that has a septic tank and field.

People are telling me I can't have a disposal or a dishwasher because it willl hurt the system.

I know that years ago the kitchen sink use to be drained through a grease trap separate from the tank and field but I also heard that that type of system was outdated...

Now that I have all the unqualified opinions I would like to know what the real deal is, does anyone have these things on this type of system???

[GaryS]

I currently have both on an aerobic septic system and have also had them on septic tank/field systems. My current system has not needed service in 9 years of use, and the previous system required the tank to be pumped every 4 or 5 years.

It's true that grease is the biggest problem, so I dispose of all cooking grease before I put anything in the dish washer or disposal. I seldom put meat into the disposal, since I have 3 dogs to take care of that problem.

When I had the septic tank pumped, there was always 2-3" of grease floating on the water, but when my field failed, after nearly 30 years, it was due to a crushed pipe, not grease in the field.