Manage solids, keep hazardous materials out, let system work

• Solids in the wastewater become scum or sludge. Therefore more solids in the wastewater result in more frequent pumping due to scum and sludge buildup.

Manage solids. How?

• Use your garbage disposal sparingly if at all. Heavy use of a garbage disposal generates more solids. Professionals estimate that a tank may need pumping twice as often as one in a household with light or no use of a garbage disposal.
  Compost materials instead.

Have a professional install an effluent filter on your septic tank. It filters effluent leaving the tank, capturing suspended solids. The effluent filter is cheaper and easier to clean than a clogged drainfield. Don't put grease and oil down the drain. It may clog the plumbing, and will increase scum formation. Dispose of cigarette butts, facial tissue, diapers, paper toweling, and feminine products with other solid waste in the trash. Install a lint filter on the washing machine. Consider that lint comes off your clothes in the washer just as it does in the dryer. Lint may become scum, sludge, or stay suspended in the septic tank and flow out with effluent to the drain field.  Use liquid detergents when possible. Powdered materials have fillers that become sludge. Use toilet tissue that breaks down rapidly. Test your toilet paper by shaking in a covered jar with water. Paper should show signs of breakdown after less than 1-minute of shaking.

effluent filter lint filter

• Septic systems are not designed to treat products like pesticides (insecticides, herbicides, fungicides), medication, paints, paint thinners, solvents, and excess cleaning products. These materials may cause system failure by slowing down or killing beneficial soil bacteria, and/or traveling to and polluting groundwater.

How?

• Don't overuse or dispose of excess materials such as pesticides (insecticides, herbicides, fungicides), medication, paints, paint thinners, solvents, and cleaning products down the drain.

• A system can handle normal amounts of household cleaning products, including antibacterial soaps. Excessive use may be harmful to the system. Dispose of excess amounts at a household hazardous waste collection.

• Avoid using automatic toilet cleaning dispensers containing bleach. These introduce a constant antibacterial agent that can inhibit initial treatment in the tank.

• Beneficial bacteria, necessary for initial treatment, are naturally introduced into the septic tank from toilet use and other wastewater generation.

• Pumping does not eliminate beneficial bacteria from the tank. After pumping, more bacteria are reintroduced with the first flush.

How?

• Don't use septic starters, additives or feeders. Some do nothing and are therefore a waste of money. Others may actually damage your system.