one more question..septic this time (system, moving, water)

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by ognend

Something that is a rarity in these days of "wham, bam, thank you ma'am" hit-and-take-your-money-and-run incompetent contractors.....

OD

I find Septic FAR more regulated, and efficiently designed and operational 'now-a-days'

I have a septic installers permit for my own homes, and have lived on septic systems for over 50 yrs. Trouble free.

Keep them clean and healthy.

add a 'debris' trap from septic tank OUT to drainfield (nylon stockings are DEATH to drainfields)

Level the distribution box (very EZ with "cam-caps" (eccentric drilled drainage caps))

alternate wash days / high volume useage (like visiting cousins from town that shower for 1 hrs...)

IF you ever have to add chemicals (hope not), replenish bacteria with Buttermilk.

Use LIQUID detergants in Washers.

OP... snake your SLOW lines.

[rural chick]

We have an aeration septic system.....we don't put toilet paper down it except in really "doo doo" cases. We have not had to have our system pumped out for 15 years.

I put 2 packages and 1 tablespoon of sugar in a bowl with 1/2 cup warm water and let it grow and then put it down the system about once a month.

We also had a slow draining hot tub a couple of times. When that happened I do put nair down it and then rinsed well and then about a day later I put 1/2 box of baking soda down the drain and then followed with white vinegar (about 2 cups) .... if it still doesn't run fast do the baking soda and vinegar again. It seems to dissolve the soap residue and the hard water plaque.

I try not to use a lot of chlorine bleach as this kills the bacteria in the septic.

[jkiss]

I bought the drano and it worked. Next time I will try the nair, baking soda and vinegar. The tub is back to running normal. YAY!!!!

[SD4020]

Also a good idea to use a drain-ex or other enzyme added to the system from time to time to assist the septic system do its thing.

[SunsetBeachFL]

We add yeast to the toilets about once a year. Have had to snake twice, not a big deal, we (well, DH) did it.

We also have cisterns, both filtered and grey water, grey for collecting dishwasher, washer and use that for watering plants during the dry season.

Love the idea about using Nair, makes a lot of sense. Will definitely try that next time we get a slow drain. And Charmin makes a septic-friendly toilet paper so that's all we use.

[Ellwood]

We were told to flush a packet of yeast down a toilet once a month by the guy that pumps out our septic system.

[rural chick]

Originally Posted by rural chick

We have an aeration septic system.....we don't put toilet paper down it except in really "doo doo" cases. We have not had to have our system pumped out for 15 years.

I put 2 packages and 1 tablespoon of sugar in a bowl with 1/2 cup warm water and let it grow and then put it down the system about once a month.

We also had a slow draining hot tub a couple of times. When that happened I do put nair down it and then rinsed well and then about a day later I put 1/2 box of baking soda down the drain and then followed with white vinegar (about 2 cups) .... if it still doesn't run fast do the baking soda and vinegar again. It seems to dissolve the soap residue and the hard water plaque.

I try not to use a lot of chlorine bleach as this kills the bacteria in the septic.

I should have said 2 packages OF YEAST with 1 tablespoon of sugar with 1/2 cup warm water..... I left out the yeast....LOL

[M3 Mitch]

Originally Posted by jkiss

No washing machine? How on earth would I wash my clothes. It is probably hair and grime built up. I was just afraid we couldn't put the same stuff in our tub drain because of the septic as we did when we were in town on city water.

It may or may not conform to local codes, but if you run the washing machine drain to a separate French drain, rather than to the septic, this can extend the life of the septic system quite a bit.

As noted, grease and oil are the enemy, minimize them going into the septic.

Sometimes, for a sink or tub drain, once you get any hair out, just putting a quart or 2 of hot, nearly boiling water (use sensible precautions, and don't do this in conjunction with any sort of acid or caustic chemical treatment. The first thing I would do as a precaution is safety glasses, a full face shield would not be out of line...) - anyway, pour the hot water down the drain, you may need to do 2 or 3 times, usually it gets the soap scum, etc. to move on down the line.

[harry chickpea]

The reliance on Rid-ex, yeast, yogurt, and other additives has repeatedly been proven to have no effect.

If the tank has an environment hostile to digestive bacteria, then dumping in more bacteria won't make it work any better. Imagine a big concrete box with a blazing fire in it. The box originally held a cat which ate mice. Throwing more cats into the fire isn't going to affect the mouse population, and the cats will simply go up in flames. Does that make the logical fallacy more clear?

There are two major classes of bacteria that digest waste - aerobic and anaerobic. Anaerobic bacteria are in the tank, some aerobic bacteria are in the drainfield lines. Yeast is a different organism that digests sugars. Yeast farts carbon dioxide and makes alcohol, anaerobic bacteria farts methane and some carbon dioxide and does NOT make any significant alcohol. Every time you take a dump, you are recharging the septic tank with millions and millions of bacteria, which are far more adapted to the digestion task than yeast, ridex, or any enzyme. If yeast worked, the alcohol it made would build up in the tank until it killed off not only the yeast, but all other bacteria as well.

[redwolf fan]

Where our farm was, the county agent repeatedly said in his newspaper column that additives to a septic system were a waste of money.

As Harry pointed out, a septic system is designed to take care of itself.

many/most additives do more harm than good!