Greywater Storage Tank Idea - Will it work?

[crashz]

Interesting subject. We moved to NH two years ago, the septic system was pumped at the time of sale. I pumped the tanks again this January.

Our system is very old and constructed with (2) 500 gallon tanks and probably an old field. The main tank that take most of the flow, was very full of sludge and grease. In fact, the grease mat was about a foot thick!

I will be pumping yearly and have informed my wife that we need to be more careful about what goes down the drain. Its just the two of us, but we do entertain quite a bit.

You guys have me thinking that if we were to redirect the flow just from the clothes washer and maybe dishwasher, maybe I could go longer between pumping and that the bacteria load will be much better in our current system. Ironically, I believe that we do not develop enough bacteria to overcome the amount of detergent loaded grey water that we produce.

BTW- our pumper guy mentioned that things such as Rid-ex and water softeners can damage the septic tanks themselves. Was using Rid-Ex, but have not since we had the system pumped.

 

[Fallon]

Interesting subject. We moved to NH two years ago, the septic system was pumped at the time of sale. I pumped the tanks again this January.

Our system is very old and constructed with (2) 500 gallon tanks and probably an old field. The main tank that take most of the flow, was very full of sludge and grease. In fact, the grease mat was about a foot thick!

I will be pumping yearly and have informed my wife that we need to be more careful about what goes down the drain. Its just the two of us, but we do entertain quite a bit.

You guys have me thinking that if we were to redirect the flow just from the clothes washer and maybe dishwasher, maybe I could go longer between pumping and that the bacteria load will be much better in our current system. Ironically, I believe that we do not develop enough bacteria to overcome the amount of detergent loaded grey water that we produce.

BTW- our pumper guy mentioned that things such as Rid-ex and water softeners can damage the septic tanks themselves. Was using Rid-Ex, but have not since we had the system pumped.

Anything you flush into the tank except literal crap is just flushing away good money. I'm not sure those products would hurt a septic system, but they wont help.

Diverting grey water wont help pumping cycles. It may help the leach field, but not by much unless you are sending a lot of water through at once to displace solids. You pump out the sludge left over after the microbes digest all the solids. As grey water really doesnt have any solids in it, it just passes on through the tank to the leach fields. Minimizing the use of a garbage disposal & the amount of poop & stuff you flush is the biggest way to maximize pumping intervals.

Minimizing or eliminating chemicals (including salt from a water softener) that go down the drain will maximize overall septic system health. You dont want to kill off the microbes dining on the solids. If you do, solids get pushed into the leach field. When that happens you get to buy/install a new leach field or entire septic system.

 

[Hunter29]

Rid EX. bad bad bad.. water softener should discharge elsewhere, I discharge mine onto my gravel driveway, it keeps the weeds down..

 

[Hunter29]

It's also a good idea to use one of these, the amount that gets filtered out will amaze you.

https://www.septicsafe.com/washing-machine-filter/

 

[ultrarunner]

People around do divert washing machine because many like to use bleach which is problematic for septic.

One of my neighbors has 4 daughters and the washing machine was going all the time when they were teens...

A lot depends on your soil, capacity and use...

 

[Guidshir]

With my kids, I bet we run 5-6 loads a week, no bleach, or rarely anyway. The leach field lasted right at 30 years, but I don't know much the previous owners ran through it. They had one kid. Putting in a new leach field cost me about $2600. I have been thinking about the washer filter.

 

[EddieWalker]

At one point I was looking at having a built in swimming pool installed. I have the option of having city sewer run to my land and asked about the pool. The guy in charge there said that at no time could I ever empty the pool into the city sewer lines because the more water that is added to the system, the harder it is for the solids to break down.

From what I understand, this works with septic tanks too. The less water that goes into the tank, the better the bacteria is at breaking down the solids. In a perfect world, the septic tank for the toilet would be separate from every other drain line from a house, and you would not flush toilet paper down the toilet. Ideally, only what comes out of your body should go into the tank. Everything else just reduces the efficiency of the bacteria in the tank.

 

[ultrarunner]

The toilet paper point is very important... some really does not break down or very slowly.

A retired engineer up in Grass Valley CA was selling their home of 30 years moving to a retirement community.

As part of the sale a septic inspection was ordered.

The inspector said he had never seen anything like it... perfect in every way and 30 years old and never and only pumped once in all that time the pumper said he felt guilty as there was nothing to pump.

They NEVER flushed anything down the toilet including toilet paper... they had a special little round waste basket just for TP... it was lined with a small grocery kraft paper bag... each night the bag would go into the wood stove...

I doubt many would go to the extreme but it did pay off.

 

[EddieWalker]

Client of mine was a retired engineer and he designed every aspect of his house out at the lake. Roof trusses where all on 16 inch centers, everything was done to perfection. Two months after he sold the house, the new owners called me up about a toilet flooding. They hired me to make the repairs and they where upset about this happening. They had just moved out there from the Dallas area and where not familiar with septic systems. Every time they went number 2, they used wet wipes to clean up. In two months, the tank was completely plugged up and when they flushed, everything leaked out around the base of the toilet.

Septic guy said that it was fairly common, especially with new home owners. I never knew people used wet wipes.

 

[ultrarunner]

Wet Wipes or Baby Wipes or anything advertised as flushable such as dust pads are job security for plumbers...

I have had several tenants that were nothing but problems... wipes, famine hygiene products and condoms... these items never breakdown and wipes can simply adhere to the side of the pipe...

The water district even publishes a list of don't and wipes and grease are at the top of the list.