Hey cabin Fever1 a septic question concerning laundry.

[Beeman]

What if any effects would the waste water from doing laundry have on a septic system? How many loads of laundry water going into a septic system would be considered normal or acceptable if there is a negative effect? Also what could you do to minimize the effects like different detergents or bleaches to use?

[amelia]

He's over at my place fixing my toilet.

[Country Lady]

Cabin Fever, how does it make you feel to know that all of us think of you as the "Pro" of septic tanks?

[TexasArtist]

Beeman do you have to run your laundry line into your tank? Are you in town or something? I'm real careful about what I put into my washer and run the line out to the trees. I move the line every few days further out, over to the left or right and such but the trees are nice and green.

[CGUARDSMAN]

Originally Posted by TexasArtist

Beeman do you have to run your laundry line into your tank? Are you in town or something? I'm real careful about what I put into my washer and run the line out to the trees. I move the line every few days further out, over to the left or right and such but the trees are nice and green.

Don't know what the laws are there but in MO any septic system put in after 1997 all lines have to go into the septic.

[Cabin Fever]

Sewerman here! Assuming your septic system was built according to modern standards, doing laundry should not have any negative effects on the system. Modern systems are sized based on the number of bedrooms in the house. It is usually assumed that there is 1.5 occupants per bedroom. Now, if you have a three-bedroom house and have 10 people living there, you might have a problem by doing too many loads of laundry for the system to handle. This situation would likely result with effluent daylighting into the yard and causing soggy ground.

In regards to laundry, I usually suggest that people use liquid laundry detergents or concentrated powders. Typical powder laundry detertents use 90% fillers. The fillers are usually insoluble clay or silica compounds. The fillers can contribute to filling the septic tank faster than expected. Liquid detergents use water-soluble fillers.

If you have a lot of laundry to do, don't do it all at once. Spread the loads out over a number of days. Try not to do more than two loads of laundry per day.

[Cabin Fever]

I forgot one thing because:

LINT !!!

Make sure your washing machine drain pipe/hose has a lint trap
or
that your septic tank outlet baffle uses an effluent filter to trap lint.

Lint usually stays suspended throughout the septic tank and will end up out in your drain field. Most lints do not decompose, and over time excessive amounts can lead to clogging of the soil in the drain field.

[keljonma]

Cabin Fever -

When we bought our farm last year, we were told the following septic system care.

-Use washing machine filter.
-Avoid excessive water usage by doing 1 or 2 loads of laundry rather than 10 loads on one day.
-Avoid excessive use of bleach, softeners & powdered detergents.
-Get tank inspected/pumped regularly.
-Discharge only biodegradable wastes into system.
-Don't use garbage disposal.
-Don't dig in drainfield or build over it.


Please let me know if you can think of anything else we should do or not do. Thanks!

Regards,
keljonma

[Ken Scharabok]

I suspect the reason grey water makes a good fertilizer is most of the powdered laundry soaps have phosphate in them.

I have heard of people catching the first wash water in a 5-gallon bucket and then pouring it around plants. If you are in a water restriction you can also catch the rinse water and use it was the first water for the next load if water doesn't need to be hot. Or even use it to water plants.

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by keljonma

.....Please let me know if you can think of anything else we should do or not do. Thanks!.....

SOunds like you're doing an excellent job maintaining the integrity of your septic system. The only other thing that I can think of that you should be doing is an annual check of the depth of sludge and thickness of scum in your septic tank. The depth of sludge should be no closer than 12" from the bottom of your outlet baffle. The bottom of your floating scum layer should be no closer than 3" from the bottom of your outlet baffle.

[keljonma]

Thanks, CF! I have added that to our checklist.

regards,
keljonma

[thedonkeyman]

However, antibacterial soaps from washing and bleaches in laundry,(mouth wash)etc. plus all that grease from dish washing......no way do we want that plugging up our system. No powdered soaps.
My grandpa had a grey water system and so shall we. Keep track of all the used toilet paper you use and it will amase you...burn it. The French have the solution for toilets.. Moon light a seperate system...no big deal.
__________________________________________________ _______
"Neighbors can know what you tell them, and what they see,only to tell what they think is acceptable.
"thedonkeyman"

[perennial]

since we are all asking questions, is the home-made laundry detergent
with: 1c washing soda, 1c borax muleteam and 1 bar of ivory grated into
a powder and using 2-3 T per load o.k.? I also use about 1/4 cup white
vinegar for the rinse?

I was wondering about the antibacterial soap - i usually don't use it, but happened to get some for dishes/counter cleaning the other day.

What do you think of ridx every 3-4 months?

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by perennial

...What do you think of ridx every 3-4 months?

You are trying to get my goat aren't you!

[red hott farmer]

What is Washing soda?
is that baking soda? I think it would be different because you would have said Baking soadA dua..
please.. what are some examples of washing soda?

[Michael W. Smith]

Originally Posted by Country Lady

Cabin Fever, how does it make you feel to know that all of us think of you as the "Pro" of septic tanks?

The "Pro"? No, no, NO! He is the KING of poop systems!

[perennial]

washing soda is baking soda, but it's used for washing and cleaning NOT for baking purposes - it's a different grade or something.

cabine fever - i'm not trying to get your goat - i'm just a city girl who now lives rural and has a septic for the first time ever. We've been told to put yeast down the toilet once in a while, eggs, and ridx - some claim yeast does
the same as ridx but without chemicals. I've no idea as we've always had city sewer.


I'm so city girlish that the first time we lost power here i ran for the shower to get the last of the hot water (that's what you do in the city) - after i got suds a mile high on my head the water stopped (that's living with a well for ya) - my child had to dump a gallon of freezing cold water over my head to get the soap out.

As far as septic goes i have been told not to put fats (grease), food, bleach down it. For cleaners i use vinegar and water or baking soda and water.

Are you supposed to do anything to it? and, just curious how do you know so much about septics? I was shocked when they put it in that it was a cement box type of thing.

Anyway, sorry for the thread drift.

[kuriakos]

Originally Posted by perennial

cabine fever - i'm not trying to get your goat - i'm just a city girl who now lives rural and has a septic for the first time ever. We've been told to put yeast down the toilet once in a while, eggs, and ridx - some claim yeast does
the same as ridx but without chemicals. I've no idea as we've always had city sewer.

Cabin Fever is famous here for saying septic system additives are worthless. The bacteria it needs to work is naturally present in human waste, so there's plenty of it in the tank already.

[Ken Scharabok]

Actually I believe CF has said additives, such as RID-X, are more than worthless as they will likely cause you to have to replace your leach lines sometime in the future.

Briefly, the septic tank is a settling tank. As the bacterial in it work on the poop it will settle to the bottom as black gunk. Relatively clean water is 'flushed' into the drainfield each time you add more water. A product like RID-X is designed to keep solids in suspension to where they are then flush out into the drainfield and will eventually clog up the ability of the lines to function properly.

RID-X can save you from having to have a tank pumped as often, but it is at the expense of the drainfield. Periodic pumping is a whole lot cheaper than replacing a drainfield.

[Cabin Fever]

Sorry, Perennial for being so grumpy. Ken S. and kuriakos did a fine job responding for me....thanks guys!