Care of Septic Tank

[KestrelMerlin]

We have lived with city sewage for years, but now we have a new house with a new septic tank and leach field. Mostly, it is my wife and myself, but occasionally we may have as many as 15 guests staying for a few days.

The soil here tends to clay, so it might not pass a perc test, but our excavator has worked with similar situations for years, and he put a lot of broken shale under the leach bed. We are OK with the local authorities, since we are grandfathered in with a lot of about 25 acres.

How should I take care of the system? Should I use products like rid-x?

The tank is positioned so that I have an 18" diameter heavy plastic access cover at the surface. Remove 8 screws, and you can take off the cover and inspect or pump out the hole.

How often should I inspect it, and what should I look for when I open the lid?

Thanks in advance for any words of expertise and experience.

 

[Rustyiron]

Pumping your tank is good. I'm not sure if pumping is soil type dependant or not but every 2-3 years is pretty good insurance along with adding (I think even yeast for baking) the "good" bacteria that promotes decomposition. Lots of bleach and soaps do not help either and are a good reason to add these things. Sounds like you bought an existing home. Can you get the # of the "honey wagon" guy that they used, or ask when it was last pumped?

 

[Don87]

I just use yeast in mine(cake type), just crumble it in the toilet every 3 months and flush.. Do not use anything that is labeled 'antibacterial' as that will kill the bacteria that makes your system work. If at all possible, do not put 'grey water' (washer or sinks) into the septic system.

 

[ultrarunner]

A friend has been on septic for 30 years and zero problems.

They are very careful what goes down the drain... no harsh chemical and no toilet paper and no garbage disposal or dishwasher... a big help is a lint filter, even if from an old nylon stocking on the washing machine outlet.

I had rented my home with a septic and had problems when my tenant of 1 year moved... it was clogged with feminine hygiene products, washing machine lint and they used the garbage disposal and dishwasher all the time.

 

[RickB]

Our house is 21 years old with a 1000 gallon tank and 4 50' runs of leach field. Family of two or three depending on the time, and we have pumped the tank twice, most recently 2 years ago. neither time was the tank near to being full of solids. no treatments of any kind, but we don't have a dishwasher and make an effort NOT to dump chemicals down the drain.

 

[clemsonfor]

soaps, bleaches , antibacterial, cleaners and lots of waters are your enemy. Milk, buttermilk, yeast and ridx are all good.

 

[Grateful11]

My cousin does septic systems for a living. He suggest raw chicken skin and guts to get good bacteria brewing in a septic tank. My wife killed our bacteria once using Clorox to clean the toilet. Had to have it pumped and start all over. I used the chicken recipe and a box of Ridx to get it going, so far so good, knock on wood that was about 4 or 5 years ago. We also have extreme clay soil where the leech bed goes. We had new lines put in about 6 or 7 years ago and he put an extra wide trench and an additional 16 tons of washed stone.

 

[KestrelMerlin]

Wow - Fast Answers - Thanks

I'll start using yeast right away - cheaper than rid-x.

Unfortunately, we have gray water from the sinks, laundry and dishwasher going into it. We do NOT have a garbage disposal, so that helps.

How do I check on the status of the system? How deep should the solids be in the tank? I don't want to wait until the thing backs up.

 

[hosspuller]

Besides toilet paper ...If you didn't eat or drink it, "IT" should not go into the septic system. No other treatment needed. Ordinary Laundry & dishwasher use is okay, Go easy on the showers and water use. Don't have to restrict your family to Saturday only baths. Fix any dripping faucet or toilet tank quickly. Constant water flow will plug a drain field.

Pump the tank after 3 years to get an idea of your usage. Adjust based on that. The worst case is waiting too long. Either toilet back-up or drain field failure will result. Bad / expensive in any case.

 

[KestrelMerlin]

My wife killed our bacteria once using Clorox to clean the toilet.

How did you know that the bacteria died? Did you have a backup in the house?

And what did you do to the chicken skin and guts - Did you boil them and then pour down the broth?