Sunday, June 17, 2012

The Septic System - Keeping it working well

Most country folks aren't hooked up to the local sewage plant.  They have their own sewage plant at home called a septic system.  As long as you take care of your system and don't overload it with items I'll list later in the post, it can continue working just about indefinitely. 

My septic system has a septic tank, which is a cement  tank that has two attached sides, two pipes coming in (one from the house, the other from the trailer setup), and two perforated pipes heading out.  It also has a round cover that can be removed if the tank needs to be pumped out.  Why would it need to be pumped?  Too much stuff is in it and it can't  dissolve fast enough to run out the lines, or the lines are plugged up and therefore what's in the tank has no where to go.  Actually, it does have somewhere to go.  If the tank is full and it can't go out the pipes it will come up into your shower or tub or whatever your lowest open drain is (the toilet, sink, etc).

I haven't had the septic system pumped at my house in 10 years.  That long ago we had lots of people living here and they weren't paying attention to the "rules" of the septic system.  Here are the rules:

Rule #1 - No feminine hygiene products down the toilet.  I don't care what the package says, the answer is NO.  Put it in the trash can.  I don't want to see it there so you'd better wrap it up with the little newspaper pieces or bags that I've provided in the cabinet next to the toilet.

Rule #2 - No fat or grease down the kitchen sink.  This doesn't decompose well and we have to add enzymes to break it down.  I'd rather not have to add anything if at all possible.

Rule #3 - Scrape your dishes into the chicken bowl or compost bowl.  While we have a garbage disposal
attached to the sink we don't want to use it.  Why put things into the septic system that we know will take a long time to decompose? 

Rule #4 - Don't send lots of harsh chemicals down the drain.  Around here we use less than a cup of bleach in the laundry and as part of our sanitizing system.  Even when I wash the floors with Murphy's oil soap or Pinesol the water gets dumped out on the lawn.

Rule #5 - Use as little anti-bacteria soaps and cleaners as possible.  You have good bacteria in the tank eating the scum.  Why do you purposefully want to add bacteria killer?

Rule #6 - Not that you would smoke in my house but no cigarette butts down the toilet.

Rule #7 - How many sheets of toilet paper do you really need to use?

Rule #8 - If there are a lot of people at the house and you don't know for sure if they followed the rules, add a little bit of septic system enzyme.  I have some on hand, just in case.

When we had our friends from Oklahoma here last week we went through lots of toilet paper.  About 500 sheets each and every day!  That's a lot, even if only 3 of the 10 people were males and the other 7 were female.   I didn't have to worry about the system though.  Why not?  Because they are used to not flushing toilet paper or feminine products.  They use it and put it into the trash can that's right next to the toilet.  Sure you have to empty the trash every day but it sure was a life saver for the septic system.  If TSHTF and you no longer have trash service then it's easy to throw that bag of trash into your fire. 


11 comments:

  1. It is so sensible of you to take this approach. Many people use their septic tank as a virtual rubbish bin and then wonder why they have problems later. Well done you.

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  2. Good article. It's these little things like this that I feel really help a person to get prepped. Sure, the glamorous subjects are bunkers, bug out bags, firearms, food storage, water purification etc. But its articles like this that REALLY get people thinking. I feel that the PAW world is going to be 98% overwhelming boredom punctuated with 2% sheer terror.

    I used to have a septic tank, but then I went really PREP-TECH and now just have a lagoon. You need quite a bit of land to be allowed to do this, but it beats having to worry about some of this other stuff. I am trying to take every bit of worry out of everything that I can because I feel that there will be enough to worry about when it all goes down.

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    1. For effective working of septic tank, the above tips are really wonderful. An average container should undergo Septic tank cleaning or pumping for atlaese once in 2 or three years. I think this would also help in effective functioning of septic tank.

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  3. Washable feminine hygiene products are a great investment. I bought some years ago and took the disposables right out of the budget.

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  4. Nice article, but the rules could be simplified with a statement we use in teaching about septics: "Don't put anything in the toilet (or the system) you haven't eaten first". Except perhaps toilet paper, and only toilet paper if it is NOT quilted or scented, etc. Toilet paper is designed to break down in liquid.

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  5. This is great advice for anyone with a septic tank! Many people don't look after them properly then complains when they stop working or a horrible smell pops up!

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  6. These rules are pretty interesting and looks very awesome which should work for a better septic life.

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  7. Such a good breakdown of rules. It's important to know these things ahead of time so if you have to get down and dirty with your own septic tank repairs, you've got the basic knowledge needed to get it done and prevent more work tomorrow. Awesome!

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  8. It is also good to, about every other month, put a 1:2 ratio water baking soda down the toilet to make it a more reliable septic tank. Contractors in Orlando Florida also have a similar concoction.

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    1. I have a friend that is helping me with my septic here in Calgary. I am glad that I read this first.

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