No bleach in septic tank?

BrandNewDay

OK, our new home empties into a septic tank. I have a few questions...

My landlord told me about it and said, "So, no bleach down the toilet, OK?" I'm fine with that, but I want to know:

1. Why no bleach? Because it disrupts the natural decomposition process? In that case, does the same go for all disinfectants?

2. What *should* I use to clean my toilet?

3. Should I assume that the toilet is the only thing that drains into the septic tank?

4. I have always had the habit of emptying cooking pans into the toilet - like if I've made chili and there's meaty gunk in the pan, I'll fill it with warm soapy dishwater, swish a brush around, then dump it down the toilet because I don't want greasy meaty gunk in my sink and drain. Is this a bad idea?

Mrs_pbradley936

Bleach will kill all the microbes that break down the waste. Read the back of any toilet cleaner and it will tell you if you can use it. Also do not flush anything other than toilet paper i.e. tampons, babies nappies and so on. You might be OK with your chilli dregs.

All of the water will drain into the tank - you have no mains drainage which is why you have the tank. Well, the rainwater off the roof might drain into a water butt.

Every so often they need to be emptied (once every year or two).

mrs_baggins

On the subject of tampons- check what the box says. I had some from america from procter and gamble Tampax brand which stated on the box 100% bia degradeable and can be used in septic tanks.

Mrs_pbradley936

http://www.johnstonsmith.co.uk/fact4.html

This will give you a few points about them.

martindow

We had a septic tank for years and never had any problems with using small amounts of bleach. If you use too much it will kill the microbes at work in the septic tank. It is probably not good to use too much bleach anyway as it is wasteful and pollutes the drain water. A small amount is OK as when it is mixed with water flushing the toilet it is too dilute to do any harm. If you do over do it and the process stops you will know about it by the smell - a septic tank operating well should have no smell at all. I have never had this happen but apparently running water through to dilute it lets it recover fairly quickly (and makes you more careful in the future!). All of the waste water from your house (baths, sinks and toilets) most likely goes to the septic tank.

I was told that you shouldn't put coffee grounds down the sink into a septic tank as it floats and is likely to block the leach field (the pipes beyond the tank where the liquid soaks away). As has been said the tank should be poumped out every couple of years or so. If you ring the water board they will suggest suitable contractors in the area (not some rogue who pumps it out into a field just down the road). I paid about 75 pounds for this a couple of years ago. Is it your responsibility or the landlord's to pay for this?

BrandNewDay

I don't know who is responsible! I hope the landlord! He's a lovely man - much better than the agency we rented through in England.

My impression of chlorine bleach was that it wasn't that environmentally unfriendly if it were to be dumped into a regular system because the cholorine will evaporate as a gas before too long. (This is why you have to let tap water sit overnight before putting goldfish in it - most water is chlorinated a bit and that will kill fish. But letting it sit open allows the chlorine to evaporate.) I mean, you shouldn't dump it straight into a fish pond or anything, but it's not the end of the world if normal household use goes into the water waste. However, I guess a septic tank doesn't aerate as well.

I don't need to use a LOT of bleach, but I do like it for cleaning up grout and stuff around the tub, etc. I used to use it under the toilet rim, but I won't if that's bad for the septic tank.

As for chili dregs, I always figured if a toilet can handle, um, DIGESTED food, it can probably handle bits and bobs of raw food. I do avoid putting straight-up grease in there, though. In fact, I let grease cool and then either pour it into an empty milk jug that's going into the trash, or - in the case of my deep fryer - I pour it out into a distant corner of my garden, behind a shed, where I don't care if the grass is unhappy.

tawnyowls

martindow wrote:

We had a septic tank for years and never had any problems with using small amounts of bleach.

Me neither, and I come from an area where there is very little mains sewage, so everyone has their own septic tank. Never even heard of this problem before - my mum always used bleach, and so did everyone else I knew. Bleach is pretty unstable anyway - it doesn't actually take a lot of organic matter to neutralise it, and there will be plenty of that in a septic tank. It might kill a few thousand organisms near the exit of loo, but I would think as soon as it gets to the tank it'll just break down into its components = salt and oxygen. I think it's the oxygen that's of most concern, because the bacteria in a septic tank are mostly anaerobic, but again, the amounts you're likely to use are only likely to kill off the very top layer.

Empire_High

martindow wrote:

We had a septic tank for years and never had any problems with using small amounts of bleach. If you use too much it will kill the microbes at work in the septic tank. It is probably not good to use too much bleach anyway as it is wasteful and pollutes the drain water. A small amount is OK as when it is mixed with water flushing the toilet it is too dilute to do any harm. If you do over do it and the process stops you will know about it by the smell - a septic tank operating well should have no smell at all. I have never had this happen but apparently running water through to dilute it lets it recover fairly quickly (and makes you more careful in the future!). All of the waste water from your house (baths, sinks and toilets) most likely goes to the septic tank.

I was told that you shouldn't put coffee grounds down the sink into a septic tank as it floats and is likely to block the leach field (the pipes beyond the tank where the liquid soaks away). As has been said the tank should be pumped out every couple of years or so. If you ring the water board they will suggest suitable contractors in the area.

Yes coffee does block up the septic drainaway, when the coffee grounds have gone to the sides and the water has drain and the tank is not used for a short period of time the grounds dry up and become hard and do cause a small amount of blocking but that said it would take daily use of coffee ground to have a damaging effect,
I have just had a Bulgarian septic tank made for a fantastic price, I was searching Bulgaria to have a septic built/constructed and found a builder in Bulgaria making them on http://forum.bulgarianlife.eu my new septic is 4 x 4 x 4 meters and i had it made for a wonderful price of £1192 I saved £700 from one quote and £600 from another quote

shell2001

Mum lives in Spain and they have a septic tank. They buy sachets which you flush down the loo once a month (I think) and this tops up the good bacteria. You can use E-cover products they state that they are ok for septic tanks. Always take mum a couple of bottles of the loo cleaner!

HTH

Seakay

http://www.naturalcollection.com/natural-products/Toilet-Cleaner.asp

http://www.newconsumershop.org/shop/product_info.php?products_id=950

Couple of links to tell you about the Bio D toilet cleaner. The main ingredients seem to be soap and vinegar, so you might care to consider these DIY ideas, taken from http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/8088/clngrn.html

I found it by Googling homemade toilet cleaner


Bathroom Cleaners:

Toilet Bowl Cleaners:
1) Baking Soda and Vinegar: Sprinkle baking soda into the bowl, then squirt with vinegar and scour with a toilet brush. Cleans and deodorizes.
2) Borax and Lemon Juice. For removing a stubborn stain, like toilet bowl ring, mix enough borax and lemon juice into a paste cover the ring. Flush toilet to wet the sides, then rub on paste. Let sit for 2 hours and scrub thoroughly. For less stubborn toilet bowl rings, sprinkle baking soda around the rim and scrub with a toilet brush.
3)1 cup borax, 1/2 cup white vinegar. Flush to wet the sides of the bowl. Sprinkle the borax around the toilet bowl, then spray with vinegar. Leave for several hours or overnight before scrubbing with a toilet brush.
4) Denture tablets are an excellent substitute for toilet cleaner. Drop two tablets into the bowl and clean as you would with toilet cleaner.
5) Liquid castile soap and baking soda or Borax, scrub with a toilet brush.

Drain Cleaner:
For slow drains, use this drain cleaner once a week to keep drains fresh and clog-free.
1/2 cup baking soda
1 cup white vinegar
1 gallon boiling water
1/2 a used lemon
Pour baking soda down drain/disposal, followed by vinegar. Allow the mixture to foam for several minutes before flushing the drain with boiling water.

Tub And Tile Cleaners:
1) Baking Soda. Sprinkle baking soda like you would scouring powder. Rub with a damp sponge. Rinse thoroughly.
2) Vinegar and Baking Soda. To remove film buildup on bathtubs, apply vinegar full-strength to a sponge and wipe. Next, use baking soda as you would scouring powder. Rub with a damp sponge and rinse thoroughly with clean water.
3) Vinegar. Vinegar removes most dirt without scrubbing and doesn't leave a film. Use 1/4 cup (or more) vinegar to 1 gallon water.
4) Baking Soda. To clean grout, put 3 cups baking soda into a medium-sized bowl and add 1 cup warm water. Mix into a smooth paste and scrub into grout with a sponge or toothbrush. Rinse thoroughly and dispose of leftover paste when finished.
5) Rub the area to be cleaned with half a lemon dipped in borax. Rinse well, and dry with soft cloth.

Porcelain Cleaner:
Cream of Tartar. To clean porcelain surfaces, rub with cream of tartar sprinkled on a damp cloth.

Plumbing Fixtures:
1) To clean stainless steel, chrome, fiberglass, ceramic, porcelain or enamel fixtures, dissolve 2 tbsp baking soda in 1 qt of water. Wipe on fixtures then rinse.
2) Vinegar and Paper Towels. Hard lime deposits around faucets can be softened for easy removal by covering the deposits with vinegar-soaked paper towels. Leave the paper towels on for about one hour before cleaning. Leaves chrome clean and shiny.

Shower Heads:
1) Metal Shower Heads:
To remove deposits which may be clogging your metal shower head, combine 1/2 cup white vinegar and one quart water. Then completely submerge the shower head and boil 15 minutes.
2) Plastic Shower Heads:
Combine 1 pint white vinegar and 1 pint hot water. Completely submerge the shower head and soak for about one hour.

Rust Stain and Hard Water Deposit Remover:
Apply full-strength vinegar or lemon juice and let stand until spot disappears, rinse. Repeat if necessary.

Mildew Remover:
Dissolve half-cup vinegar with half-cup borax in warm water.

Lime Deposits:
White vinegar