Items not recommenced for Spetic?

[rjmlakota]

I was wondering if any one knew where I could find a list of items that should not be poured into a drain? I know stuff like milk is not good for a spectic system but what about stuff like coffee grounds or normal liquid stuff when washing dishes? Example: Egg Yoke, Gravy, Ketchup, the end of a bottle of beer, etc.... are all these stuff not good for a septic?

Thanks for any help

Ray

[Gary Slusser]

For the absolutely safest way to protect your septic system... in a sentence - nothing that has not gone through you, and use only approved for septic use paper.

Gary
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Company Name Removed Only
Doug Aleshire, Super Moderator 2

[Pilot Dane]

Septic systems are amazing systems. They can digest almost anything. Some things take much longer than others. Common sense can tell you a lot.

First, the septic system is primarily for human waste. Do not use is as a garbage can.

If you poop it, it is OK. Toiltet paper is OK. Tampons and condoms are a NO NO.

A tissue now and then is not a problem, but do not make it a habit. Avoid paper towles, mainly because they might clog the pipes in your house.

DO NOT POUR GREASE OR OIL DOWN THE DRAIN!!!! Allow your cooking grease and oil to cool and put it in the garbage.

Your washing machine and diswasher are pretty much OK. We do not use bleach regularly. Using a little bleach in your wash will not kill your system, but it is genereally not good for it. Some bleach in with your whites is OK, but do not go crazy and try to steralize all your clothes.

I do not put coffee grounds or food scraps down the drain.

Things that do not break down quickly or cannot be broken down will stay in your septic tank and need to be pumped out regularly. I've seen some people that can crap-up (excuse the pun) a septic tank in a year or two, but I've seen many families go 10+ years with no problem. It all depends on how you treat the system.

[rjmlakota]

Thanks for the feedback and information. Seeing this is the first septic system I have dealt with, it has shed some light on the topic.


Thanks again,

Ray

[Mike Swearingen]

Actually, milk is good for a septic system, especially if it's spoiled, and anything else that promotes bacterial growth, which is what makes a septic system work.
Anything that harms bacterial growth (bleach, paint, chemicals, etc.), and anything that isn't easily biodegradeable (oils, grease, and all solids other than toilet paper) are what are harmful to septic systems.
It is recommended that the septic tank be pumped out at least every five years as the only primary maintenance required. Since there are trees and bushes near or over my drainfield, I use a root-killer made for the purpose about three times a year also, to keep rootballs out of the lines.
Good luck!
Mike

[x475aws]

I'm discovering that the no-oil-in-septic-tank rule can be carried too far... My new septic tank, installed in August, was producing very strong odors out of the house vent stacks. It stank around my house even on a windy day, when you'd think the smell would be carried away. I was resigning myself to getting the vent stacks extended, though that wasn't certain to help. Carbon filters might help, but they don't last forever, and I don't go on the roof myself.

Then my obsessive web-surfing for septic tank topics :D came up with one post somewhere, that I can't even find again. The poster had a problem similar to mine, and he solved it by pouring lots of oil down the drain. I tried the same, except I poured the oil (canola) right into the tank, into each compartment separately. It's been a few days now, and the smell is far, far less than it was. Now we catch only an occasional whiff, rather than a constant oppressive odor. Maybe I'll add some more oil and see if it stops the whiffs.

I really don't see how this could hurt anything. The oil is floating on top, on the "scum layer" which the outlet tee blocks from getting into the drain field.

[Pilot Dane]

I would not be too proud of pouring oil down the sink drain thinking it fixed a smell coming from your house's plumbing vents. Judging by your thought process I guess I'd better warn... DO NOT pour your old motor oil in the sink... If you think a bottle of canola is good you just might be crazy enough to think 10w40 is even better, then you might move on to synthetics (Mobil 1), then there is transmission and brake fluid. Oooh, you could go to your town's fast food restaurants and clean out their grease traps for free and bring the scum home for your own use.

[x475aws]

Well, I guess I am proud -- I got rid of the smell (for a week so far), for an investment of $28, after the professionals and the wisdom of most of the Web (except for that one posting I can't find now) provided either no solution, or uncertain solutions, or expensive solutions. But I poured the oil DIRECTLY INTO THE TANK, not into the sink. So educate me, what harm exactly am I doing to my system or to the environment? The oil isn't going to migrate up into my DWV system, is it? And I don't think it'll enter the drain field, because the outlet tee keeps the floating scum layer from flowing out. And even if it did get out, it's food-grade oil, so it won't hurt the environment.

Taking grease from the local fast-food restaurants would've been cheaper and maybe just as good, except I'm afraid it would solidify in the cold, and not keep a continuous film over the surface of the tank contents.

I'm with you about motor oil etc. -- might kill off the bacteria in the tank, and would pollute the ground if it got out of the tank.

I would not be too proud of pouring oil down the sink drain thinking it fixed a smell coming from your house's plumbing vents. Judging by your thought process I guess I'd better warn... DO NOT pour your old motor oil in the sink... If you think a bottle of canola is good you just might be crazy enough to think 10w40 is even better, then you might move on to synthetics (Mobil 1), then there is transmission and brake fluid. Oooh, you could go to your town's fast food restaurants and clean out their grease traps for free and bring the scum home for your own use.

[Mike Swearingen]

Check this:
http://www.toiletology.com/help.shtml#SepticTank
Mike

[Pilot Dane]

Oil will not instantly kill your septic system/tank, and vegetable oils and animal fats do eventually get digested by the system. Digesting oils & fats are probably one of the most difficult things for your septic system to deal with.

Commercial restaurants whether on a septic system or city sewer very often (it's required by code in many areas) have a grease trap that catches the grease & oil before it can enter the waste system. The grease & oils tend to clog sewer pipes and increase the load on septic systems and waste treatment plants.

Your septic tank is probably about 1'000 gallons, so a quart of canola oil is really just a drop in the bucket and it probably dropped through the scum layer on top and is sitting on top of the liquid layer, so it is not forming a "cap" to seal in smells. When things break down in your tank they make gasses which bubble up to the surface right through the layer of oil.

If you are trying to get rid of a smell, try and get a good smell of a restaurants grease trap. It is a horrible smell, much worse than a septic tank, so you may actually be feeding your septic tank "spicy Mexican food with lots of beans".

There are charcoal filters that can be placed on top of your houses vent stacks to absorb the nasty smell. See if your local septic service company can get them for you. They just sit on top of your vent pipe so they are very easy to install.

[x475aws]

I know, and my family knows, that the odor is much less since I added the oil. It was obvious right away, and it's stayed consistently better over the past week, during various weather conditions. Of course, a mere "drop in the bucket" didn't do it. I started with 1 gallon of oil in each compartment (1333-gallon first compartment, 666-gallon second compartment). That helped noticeably but not enough, so now I have 3 gallons in the larger compartment, 2 gallons in the smaller. Maybe I'll add more later to even out the proportions, and hopefully kill the remaining occasional odor.

From what I've read, it seems that the real problems with food oil and septic systems are twofold: 1) Detergents emulsify the oil long enough to let it pass through the tank into the leach field, where it separates out and clogs the field; 2) Sheer quantity -- if, say, a quart of oil enters the tank each day, and isn't digested, then in 3 years there'll be over 270 gallons. In a residential-sized tank that'll displace enough water so the oil will find its way out through the outlet tee, and clog the field. Bad news.

But I'm not adding oil every day. I'll add maybe just another 4 gallons, and end up with 9 gallons in a 2000-gallon tank. If the tank does digest it, then I guess I lose, and it'll start smelling again. If it stays undigested until the next pumping, then I believe I'm in good shape.

[rjmlakota]

My neighbor's spetic tank has vents that come right out of the ground. On certain day's especially during the summer months, it let's out some nasty odors!!! :eek: :( I noticed you were saying the vents come out of the top of your house are these the same vent's that my neighbor has coming out of th ground? Are they used to remove odors from the tank? Will the charcoal filters work on my neighbor's vents too?

Thanks,

Ray

[x475aws]

Same odor, coming out of a different place...my septic tank doesn't have its own vent, so the odors come out of the house vent stacks. Charcoal filter ought to work the same. I have no experience with them myself -- they'd be a last resort for me, because I'd have to climb up to the roof to change the cartridges on my five vent stacks. odorhog.com is one brand that I've seen on the web.

My neighbor's spetic tank has vents that come right out of the ground. On certain day's especially during the summer months, it let's out some nasty odors!!! :eek: :( I noticed you were saying the vents come out of the top of your house are these the same vent's that my neighbor has coming out of th ground? Are they used to remove odors from the tank? Will the charcoal filters work on my neighbor's vents too?

Thanks,

Ray