Just a reminder for those with septic systems

[Zerk]

All those chemicals are bad, but it's tough not to wash run them in the drain. You could do two drains, illegal and have to have a place for it.

I dump ridx in. Probably a gimmick dunno. If I had lots of people maybe I would worry more.

Synthetic cloth, is something never thought of. Not sure how much comes of clothes when you wash.

 

[teejk]

All those chemicals are bad, but it's tough not to wash run them in the drain. You could do two drains, illegal and have to have a place for it.

I dump ridx in. Probably a gimmick dunno. If I had lots of people maybe I would worry more.

Synthetic cloth, is something never thought of. Not sure how much comes of clothes when you wash.

In my first house we dumped the washer into a laundry tub (standard practice at the time). We had little mesh bags to catch the lint more to keep the drain clear than to protect the septic (which until I read the above post I never really thought about) but I guess they benefitted both. Not nearly as much from the wash cycle compared to the dry cycle but still measurable (kinda hard to tell because a wet dog doesn't look nearly as big as a blow-dried one). We in the northern climates still rely on sweatshirts/flannel/denim so we still get a lot of lint. Modern plumbing would make the lint trap on the washer very difficult. Something I need to think about. As for "gray water"...to tell the truth I don't know what Wisconsin code says on that...it might be allowed. Now a new thing comes to mind...modern boilers/furnaces are mostly now of the "condensing" variety for efficiency. The liquid that comes out of them is highly caustic and I wonder if anybody knows how that affects the bacteria in the tank.

 

[John White]

I installed my own septic system about 7 years ago. That was the first thing I considered before buying the land. My tank is a dual chamber. It met the code requirements at the time. Now they require a filter in our area. It is just me and my wife and I want the system to last the rest of our life and be able to sell it at the end without problems. There is no provision for a filter. I have a D box. I took about 14" of 4" PVC pipe, put a sleeve on one end and a cap on the other, cut out the pipe like a trough or conoe , then took a hacksaw and sawed slits about every 1/4" about 3/4" way through it. You would be surprised how much lint I collect that would go right on to the leach field.

 

[teejk]

I installed my own septic system about 7 years ago. That was the first thing I considered before buying the land. My tank is a dual chamber. It met the code requirements at the time. Now they require a filter in our area. It is just me and my wife and I want the system to last the rest of our life and be able to sell it at the end without problems. There is no provision for a filter. I have a D box. I took about 14" of 4" PVC pipe, put a sleeve on one end and a cap on the other, cut out the pipe like a trough or conoe , then took a hacksaw and sawed slits about every 1/4" about 3/4" way through it. You would be surprised how much lint I collect that would go right on to the leach field.

If you look at what is now Wisconsin code for "new", it will be a 3 chamber tank. As noted previously the first chamber contains the "stuff". Chamber 2 gets the "spillover" from #1 at the top which is hopefully only liquid (solids remain at the bottom of chamber 1 hence our requirement that pumping be dependent on the solid level and that solid level is well below the level of the baffle feeding chamber 2). Chamber 2 mostly only holds liquid but I guess any floating material would pass the baffle from chamber 1 but that is met with a filter at the bottom to capture anything before it goes to chamber 3 that contains the pump that sends it to the field. That chamber 2-3 connection is solely at the bottom of each and operates much like a water level I guess. As for your solution, there was a company around here that was doing exactly the same thing as you but for well screens...trying to keep stuff out of jet pumps. Btw, we had a septic fail on our relatively new system a few years ago (excessive use of TP by people that didn't understand private septics and of the super strength variety that doesn't break down). Pulled the filter in chamber 2 in 0'F before I found the problem in chamber 1...the filter was packed with what I'm sure was Asian lady beetle eggs...10' below grade where it was nice and warm and I guess odor doesn't bother them.

 

[JRobyn]

Some in our area still do things the "old" way.... Not really clear, but I read it that he was rinsing out his hoses onto the ground, not emptying his entire pumper truck.

Man cited for sewage disposal

LINDSAY McREYNOLDS
PUBLICATION: Herald-Citizen (Cookeville, TN)

SECTION: News DATE: April 28, 2017


A Cookeville man has been summoned to Putnam General Sessions Court for illegally disposing of sewage.
An environmental specialist with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation investigated a complaint that Kenneth Gentry, 60, was disposing of sewage on Gainesboro Grade without a permit on Feb. 2.
"As a result of the complaint investigation, it was found that he does not have a pumpers license," the environmental specialist's report states. "I explained that he needed to get it ASAP and to discontinue cleaning out hoses onto the ground for public health concerns. He (Gentry) stated he was unaware he needed a pumpers license and would be in by the end of this week to get it."
TDEC sent Gentry a notice of violation on Feb. 17 and asked that he contact the Cookeville Division of Water Resources on South Willow to apply for a septic tank pumping contractor permit.
"Be advised that any further pumping operations will result in legal action being taken by this office," the notice of violation from TDEC states. The complaint filed this week with the Putnam County Circuit Court Clerk's Office states that in March, Gentry was again removing sewage waste without a pumper's license.
Gentry is expected to answer the complaint on May 22 in Putnam General Sessions Court.