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I tried Googling and information is all over the place. I even try Googling is ********* safe for septic systems. I see a lot of listings for companies trying to sell their own product which is not really helpful. Also lots of “it’s safe if used in moderation” but no definition of what “moderation” is. Labels are not specific about septic use either.
Is there an easy way to find this out?
Suggestions?
Puna: Our roosters crow first
Puna: Our roosters crow first
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A plumber told me anything liquid other than kitchen grease is fine unless you are running an unusual operation that requires dumping a gallon of bleach into your drain every day. Basically the usual homeowner's concentrations of consumer products are safe unless labeled otherwise. The things that bugger them up are usually the non-liquid things (condoms, female hygiene products,etc). He also recommended getting rid of the kitchen sink garbage disposal and to throw that stuff in the rubbish. Coffee grounds should never be dumped into the kitchen sink regardless of what system you have.
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female hygiene products
This would be the number 1 sewer problem anywhere.
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Terracore, that’s reassuring as we only do two loads of laundry a week. A gallon of bleach lasts us about a year. We don’t have a garbage disposal, either.
What my search revealed was a lot of manufacturers touting their own product and trying to scare you away from others. I’m not seeing a lot of unbiased things and those that looked like they might be were vague and general - not much useful info there.
Obie, i hear you! When I was a landlord, they were a big headache. As for us, my wife is “beyond that”. Age has some benefits I guess.
Puna: Our roosters crow first
Puna: Our roosters crow first
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Common household bleach is highly unstable and has a very short shelf life (it completely turns to salt water in about 24 months). It goes bad so quickly they have to adjust the manufacturing process depending on the season because warmer temperatures cause it to degrade more rapidly. You should consider buying the half gallon sizes even if they seem more expensive, at a year old your bleach in our climate isn't bleach anymore.
https://www.brainstuffshow.com/blogs/doe...ations.htm
https://www.thoughtco.com/chlorine-bleac...fe-3976002
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"Coffee grounds should never be dumped into the kitchen sink regardless of what system you have."
Why is that?? Have I being doing it wrong all these years...
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#1 cause of clogged kitchen pipes. Also naturally acidic and can weaken metal pipes (if you have them) through an electrolysis process. Even if you don't pour any grease into your drain, it comes off of scraps and what you clean off of plates etc and coffee grounds and grease attract to each other in the plumbing and form a weak cement that attracts more of the same until you get a clog.
At one office I worked at we had a hand-washing sink and due to it's proximity to the coffee maker it was mainly used to dispose of coffee grounds and old coffee. The trap was made out of some kind of metal and the coffee literally ate through it.
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Hoo boy, thanks, I didn't know that. I thought they were so fine it just flushed through.
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Coffee grounds are acidic but also high-N. I fling mine into a flowerbed outside the shack.
If you're concerned about septic microbes, boost them with one of the many septic maintainer additives. Depot sells one that comes in pre-packaged doses, drop in and flush.
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My wife has heard that coffee grounds will keep slugs and snails away.
Jon in Keaau/HPP
Jon in Keaau/HPP
