S/O disposals and a septic tank

[Beebug123]

We have a garbage disposal made for septic. It has enzymes that are added to it when you use it and you buy the enzymes in cartridges.

[KungFuPanda]

Well, if you can't be bothered to get a thorough report, why even post?!? Sanitation will have their day!

I'm not afraid of Sanitation! I'm positive that I hit field trip rock bottom with the waste water place. I still have nightmares. Though, Parks and Rec DID teach me that those sanitation guys are players.

[Barb_]

We actually do have a disposal, which I guess is just for stray things that make it down? But I read we should avoid using it due to septic system. The sink has a strainer kind of like you linked, except it has a little handle, which is actually nice. I'm having trouble with the yuck factor of picking up that strainer full of yucky old wet food. I've obviously been made soft by a lifetime of disposal use 😳 . In our area, we do have a compost bin that gets picked up the same time as our garbage and recycling. We're used to using it for a lot of stuff, but not ever scraping plates into it. I'm trying to figure out a routine for that. It's so messy compared to what I'm used to! And getting the kids to learn to do it is even more difficult.

It's not going to wreck your septic to rinse down little flecks and gross stuff that get caught in your stainer. It really isn't. Wash the tablespoon of nastiness without guilt or remorse.

[Laura Corin]

We don't have a sink grindery thing (very rare in Britain) and we do have a septic tank.  We get the latter pumped every two years.  It's quite old (we don't actually know how old as it isn't registered).  The pump guys say it's old but good...  I very rarely use bleach and we don't flush anything except bodily waste and loo paper.

 

It's funny what you get used to: sink grindery things terrified me when we had one in the US - they very idea of having this industrial-accident-waiting-to-happen right there in the kitchen was astonishing.  But Husband, who grew up with one, never thought about the dangers.

[Carrie12345]

The "pro" of having the tank pumped every... whatever... is the chance to find out if everything's working okay before it isn't.  I've almost always lived with a septic, and have owned a septic for 12 years. We've only had ours pumped here 2 or 3 times, and those have been during especially wet weather periods, when the drain field can't take on as much liquid as usual.

Meanwhile, my mom had to have our family home's septic pumped regularly, and eventually MONTHLY, until she could finally get the entire system replaced, which was probably around 40 years old by then. (The town installed sewers immediately after that @@.)

[Scarlett]

We don't have a sink grindery thing (very rare in Britain) and we do have a septic tank. We get the latter pumped every two years. It's quite old (we don't actually know how old as it isn't registered). The pump guys say it's old but good... I very rarely use bleach and we don't flush anything except bodily waste and loo paper.

 

It's funny what you get used to: sink grindery things terrified me when we had one in the US - they very idea of having this industrial-accident-waiting-to-happen right there in the kitchen was astonishing. But Husband, who grew up with one, never thought about the dangers.

I am afraid of them too.

[xixstar]

I am afraid of them too.

I have not lived in a house with a garbage disposal for more than 20 years and yet, still, every single time I go to turn on the above-sink light (the switch is to the left of the sink) I pause with a feeling of panic worried that a spoon fell into the disposal. 

 

 

[happypamama]

I worried about the disposal switch and kids. So when we put in a disposal, we got the kind that has a magnetic cover that you put in and rotate. Without the cover on and magnets engaged, the disposal won't work, but with the cover on, things can't go down it. No switches, no way for little fingers to get into it. Spoons have gotten stuck between the cover and disposal once or twice, but it definitely couldn't get fingers in it.

 

We don't put large amounts of grease or fat in the disposal/septic either. We collect them (and thick liquids) in disposable containers to go in the trash. I really only use the disposal for the tiny bits of food that get rinsed off of plates after they're scraped.

[Wheres Toto]

Almost every single one of our tea spoons is all beat up at the top from the garbage disposal.  I usually reach in and check before turning it on but dh doesn't always do that and if there's a ton of water backed up into the sink, I won't always reach in.  

[Lawana]

Powdered laundry detergents will resolidify in the septic tank, creating this marvelous snowy white rock hard layer. Ask me how I know.

[Lucy the Valiant]

Homeowner's Guide to Septic Systems, published by the EPA. 

[Laura Corin]

Really? I read a whole septic tank guide, and I don't think they had this mentioned. I always use powdered because it's better with hard water. Now I'll have to look into that.

 

I've always used powder and I haven't been told of a problem.  I tend to underuse detergent though, and I have a front loader which requires very little anyway.

[nevergiveup]

I imagine your decision to pump or not would depend on numerous factors including what type of soil you have and how large your leach field is, how large your tank is, how many people are in your household and what you are putting down it.

Check with your extension service to see what they recommend for your area.

We have ours done every couple of years.

That said, you could open up the tank, stick a pole down it and measure the solids to see if you need to pump it.

 

I chose to let the septic guys do that.....

[Pawz4me]

Most septic systems will need pumping out at some point or other. Some sooner, others can go a lot longer. The best system on the best soil in the world will still build up a scum and sludge layer eventually. I've lived in homes with septic systems for most of my life and I'd say having the septic system pumped is one of the easier and least expensive parts of maintaining a home. Really, it's no big deal at all. It's a lot like changing the oil in your car--an inexpensive regular maintenance item that can make the car last a LOT longer than another car that isn't so well maintained.

 

I don't get worrying about bacteria in a system. Assuming you're using the toilets on at least a somewhat regular basis the system is constantly being replenished with bacteria. RidX and similar additives are harmless but unnecessary unless the system is going unused for very long periods of time.

 

We don't use our disposal much at all. It came with the house but I don't much care for them, whether septic or sewer. For liquidy trash like soup I use bread bags, used Ziploc bags, etc.

 

I don't avoid bleach. I use it in a couple of loads of towels per week and occasionally use it to scrub toilets. That relatively small amount of bleach usage doesn't worry me in the least.

Edited September 2, 2017 by Pawz4me

[Carol in Cal.]

Um.  So for people who pump 'as needed', what is the signal of 'need'?  Terrified minds want to know.