Do you have a Septic? Questions for ya!

[Mahnahmahnah]

I had a guy come today to pump our septic. We figured it was time, we have had this house going on 3 years. He said that a lot of the TP was not broken down, and asked what kind of TP I used, and I only buy 'septic safe' . He seemed surprised. Then he asked if I used antibacterial hand soap, and I don't know of any hand soap that is NOT antibacterial

He recommended some stuff to put down the toilets, some type of enzyme, Rid X or Wham.

What do some of you do for maintenance yourselves and have you ever had any problems? I do not want issues with it, as I know it can be very expensive to fix. Also how many times do you pump, is it supposed to be every few years? I'm hearing 5 years, and some people say 10 years. We never had a septic before so this is all new.

 

[java]

Is it a new house? Or is it an old system?

We are in new construction. We have been in 8 years and have pumped once already. It depends on the size of your tank. and your household size- we are a family of 6 and I do tons of wash. Those are both bad things for a septic. Hence the pumping.
I have heard that if you have an efficient system you shouldn't have to pump at all

I don't put anything down there to treat it. I would contact the Septic company that put in the tank to ask about that. I wouldn't be listening to the cleaning guy

Good luck it was a big change for us and so far so good.

 

[klmall]

We have lived in our house for more than 22 years and never been pumped! We have well and a septic tank with 3 people. I have never put anything special down the drain to treat the system but I have also been very careful with our garbage disposal. I hardly ever grind anything except before running the dishwasher. 95% of our garbage goes into the trash can. And luckily only run a few loads of laundry a week with low suds laundry detergent. Only 1 house in our entire neighborhood has ever been pumped during our entire time living here and they had six kids (and he designed and built that house himself!)

JMO - Sounds like that guy was drumming up neighborhood business....

 

[stm61]

How often you pump depends on the size of the tank and the number of people in the home. We have 3-7 kids (depending on what week of the month it is) and 2 adults. I do laundry at least every other day. Dh just pumped ours out for the 1st time since we bought the house 2 yrs ago. He said it really didn't need it yet, but he wasn't sure of the tank size so he went ahead with it. Anyway, he sometimes uses Rid X, not on a regular basis tho. Years ago you could only use white tp, so that's what I always buy now, out of habit. I never thought of antibacterial soap messing up the tank, but I guess that makes sense. I try not to buy it because I personally don't like it, but it can be hard to find the non-antibacterial kinds sometimes. We've always had septic/well systems and I can only think of 1 time where we had a problem, it was backing up into the bathtub. Dh pumped it out, still had the problem so he dug up the line from the house to the tank. Turned out we had tree roots that had grown thru the line and it was clogged at that point. He cut out the roots, replaced that section of pipe (I think it was the plastic pvc type), and we never had another problem with that system. It's usually not hard to deal with a septic system, just make sure noone flushed any feminine products, the wrappers or holders they come in, or paper towels. Oh, a neighbor found out it's not a good thing when your kid trys to flush the gravel from a fish bowl either lol.

 

[Mahnahmahnah]

When he explained to me how it worked today - ewwwww .
Then he told me to take a look at the lid, there was umm, moisture on it. The whole thing is just wierd for me to comprehend.

The leechfield (sp?) is brand new, before we moved in the mortgage company that owned the house had to re do it. The guy who did the new leechfield said the pervious owners where flushing Barbie doll parts down the toilets! The house was built in 88. I know the new leechfield was $20K. He told me not to do wash back to back, to do it 1/2 hour apart.

We have 4 bed - 3 bath house.

 

[Todd&Copper]

We have an actual septic tank and not a septic field and we have it pumped every 3 years for the 2 of us. It is a relatively small tank. I have never had anyone tell us we had too much non-broken down stuff in the tank, and I do not use Rid X. Fo my TP, I use Scott. I do have neighbors who do not actually flush their TP - they put it in a trash in their bathroom, apparently. The idea of that just completely grosses me out, though.

 

[sha_lyn]

Is it a new house? Or is it an old system?

We are in new construction. We have been in 8 years and have pumped once already. It depends on the size of your tank. and your household size- we are a family of 6 and I do tons of wash. Those are both bad things for a septic. Hence the pumping.
I have heard that if you have an efficient system you shouldn't have to pump at all

I don't put anything down there to treat it. I would contact the Septic company that put in the tank to ask about that. I wouldn't be listening to the cleaning guy

Good luck it was a big change for us and so far so good.

My mother has been in her house close to 30 yrs. Never had it pumped. The septic at my grandparents house (both deceased, my mom now owns it as a rental) hasn't ever been pumped as far as I know.

If the septic is working well, the waste breaks down and is released through the field lines

We had ours pumped whne we bought the house 11 yrs ago. It was about 1/2 full then and I don't know if/when it had been pumped since the house was built in the early 60s

 

[Mahnahmahnah]

We have an actual septic tank and not a septic field and we have it pumped every 3 years for the 2 of us. It is a relatively small tank. I have never had anyone tell us we had too much non-broken down stuff in the tank, and I do not use Rid X. Fo my TP, I use Scott. I do have neighbors who do not actually flush their TP - they put it in a trash in their bathroom, apparently. The idea of that just completely grosses me out, though.

I have a friend who has a lake house and they do this as well. I just can't do it. I'm using Marcal. We never flush anything down but TP. But we where under major construction before we moved in, all baths, kitchen gutted etc, I wonder if that could affect as well? All that stuff going down the drain.

I just want no problems. That amount of money for a new one scares me.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

We've lived in the house for 3+ years. There are four of us. I use RidX monthly, and recently started having problems. I keep getting overflow seeping out way at the bottom of the drainfield. It happens every time we wash clothes, run the dishwasher, or shower back to back. We had teh tank pumped just this week and it is still overflowing. Methinks this is not going to end well.

 

[Michelle67]

We have a septic system too. We've only had the house two years, but the previous owners told us it was pumped right before the sale (that is mandatory, I believe) for the first time, at eight years old. We use Scott tissue and never use anti-bacterial soap. I don't have much trouble finding soap that isn't anti-bacterial, but it is pretty difficult to find liquid dish soap that isn't.

 

[Michelle67]

I have a friend who has a lake house and they do this as well. I just can't do it. I'm using Marcal. We never flush anything down but TP. But we where under major construction before we moved in, all baths, kitchen gutted etc, I wonder if that could affect as well? All that stuff going down the drain.

I just want no problems. That amount of money for a new one scares me.

Drywall mud and sheetrock is REALLY bad for septic systems, I've been told. When I was in highschool I had a contruction job doing drywall, and my parents used to make me take my shoes and jeans off before I came in the house (good thing you couldn't see the front door from the road ) and then go out and hose all my clothes off in the yard before they went in the laundry.

 

[Mahnahmahnah]

We've lived in the house for 3+ years. There are four of us. I use RidX monthly, and recently started having problems. I keep getting overflow seeping out way at the bottom of the drainfield. It happens every time we wash clothes, run the dishwasher, or shower back to back. We had teh tank pumped just this week and it is still overflowing. Methinks this is not going to end well.

Oh Zip that stinks (literally ). I can tell you the guy was trying to blame it on my leechfield not working properly, until I told him it was practically brand new.

Drywall mud and sheetrock is REALLY bad for septic systems, I've been told. When I was in highschool I had a contruction job doing drywall, and my parents used to make me take my shoes and jeans off before I came in the house (good thing you couldn't see the front door from the road ) and then go out and hose all my clothes off in the yard before they went in the laundry.

That makes sense. We did do a lot of drywall here, too.

Can I just say I hate spackling?

 

[npmommie]

we have a septic too, we pump it every 2-3 years.
bleach is also bad for a septic, kills the little bugs that eat away the waste.
a friend was also told that powdered laundry det and dishwasher det was bad for a septic.
we use scott tp, and no antibacterials stuff here. or bleach.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Oh Zip that stinks (literally ). I can tell you the guy was trying to blame it on my leechfield not working properly, until I told him it was practically brand new.

I live in the parsonage of a church. I'm getting a little P.O'd with TPTB in the church who oversee the house. It's a shame, but people don't seem to appreciate the urgency of the situation because it's not the house they have to live in. The typical advice is "Use more RidX; it's be OK." I'm not loving the whiff of poo that the autumn breezes are blowing in these days.

 

[sha_lyn]

I live in the parsonage of a church. I'm getting a little P.O'd with TPTB in the church who oversee the house. It's a shame, but people don't seem to appreciate the urgency of the situation because it's not the house they have to live in. The typical advice is "Use more RidX; it's be OK." I'm not loving the whiff of poo that the autumn breezes are blowing in these days.

Sounds like the ground is just over saturated. Do you get a lot of rain or live near a body of water?

 

[kellyg403]

We did live in a home with septic. But, we had a larger family and did pump every 2 years. It was an older home with an older septic. You are correct that a leech field can cost a great deal.

We also never used the anti bacterial stuff and had to be careful of the tp we used. The older septics were made to break down the products of the time it was built. I do know that my parents lived in a house for 20 years with my mom,dad, and 3 sibs and they never pumped and never had a problem. I don't know what the correct answer is, but I do think taking care of septic is 1/2 the battle.

We were also told about not doing to many loads of wash, I never ran the dishwasher on the days I did a few loads of laundry etc. With showers, laundry, dishwasher and the toilet flushing 50 times a day plus rainy season outside, I think the septics just get water overload.

BTW, my parents never wanted my sibs to flush the toilet if all they did was #1, it grossed me out. Sometimes, the place smelled like pee. But, thats what they wanted to do thats what they did. I never went to the bathroom at their house.

Kelly

 

[puffkin]

My parents pumped ours every 3-4 years growing up. They just pumped their new house this year (3 years old). My dad did put down some enzyme product (can't remember the name) on occassion to assist in breaking things up.

There is a BIG difference between a septic system and a septic tank. Tanks HAVE to be pumped out every so often where as systems do not if they are working properly. I think many municipalities are making it mandatory around here that tanks have to be pumped at minimum every 5 years.

 

[Dalton5]

We have our tank pumped every 2 years. To me, it's $150.00 well spent. I don't want problems.

Our septic guy recommended Rid X, which we use. And he said it doesn't hurt to put meat in the garbage disposal, that it helps keep the bacteria levels up.

(Now I know I'm bored when talking about the poo tank catches my interest)

 

[agentpleakley]

Disclaimer:The following is all based upon hearsay and may totally be inaccurate -do not hold against me.

DH's father was a chemical engineer in the waste business. My DH has told me never ever ever to put RidX down the drain. He said it kills the naturally occurring bacteria that breaksdown the waste. Once you start using RidX, you have to use it from then on out. (My friend's husband, a plumber, also confirmed this. Hence, DH does not let me put anything down the drain a la RidX. He, however, has no problem with us putting TP down the toilet. He draws the line at the stuff that colors the water -- bad for me, I like blue toilet water.


I have ALWAYS lived in a house with a septic tank/system. I lived in 2 houses until I was 22. My parents NEVER ever had the septic tank pumped. I do, however, remember my mother opening up the septic lid once a year and throwing a dead animal down there to help the breakdown of the waste. (very old house, septic lid was exposed). Do not ask where she got the dead animal - I really never thought about it until I was typing this out. My mom would not let us put TP in the toilets. In the summer (we were also on a well), my mom had the "if it's yellow, let it mellow rule."

 

[Michelle67]

I do, however, remember my mother opening up the septic lid once a year and throwing a dead animal down there to help the breakdown of the waste. (very old house, septic lid was exposed). Do not ask where she got the dead animal - I really never thought about it until I was typing this out. My mom would not let us put TP in the toilets. In the summer (we were also on a well), my mom had the "if it's yellow, let it mellow rule."

HONEY! Stop the car! I need to pick up that squished possum. It's that time of year!



Sorry, AP, couldn't help myself.