The home that John and I are looking to purchase has a septic system. I know very little about these systems so I thought I'd look up some more information. I found this diagram that shows a little about how it works. I looked this up for a couple of different reasons.
The first reason is I want to know the "don'ts" of a septic system. Looks like I am not supposed to use bleach or drain cleaners. Ugh. No bleach? Guess I'll be looking for some alternatives. Not only do I use it for laundry purposes, I also am a big fan of cleaning with bleach.
Also, I shouldn't use a garbage disposal to dispose of waste food. (Good thing we'll have chickens!)
And, I shouldn't dump cooking oils & grease down the drain.
Okay... good information. Now I know what not to do.
Looks like I should have my tank checked every year by a pro. We will have to schedule that when we move in. We will have to have it pumped out every few years and that will be approx. $200-$300.
The other reason I wanted to look up information this morning was to see whether or not we can plant a tree on or near the leach field. I found this site that has some good information. It kind of scares me to plan on/near it but I really, really want a big tree to look at out my front window.
This is the big window in my front room. It just cries out for a tree out there... What do you think? Maybe I'll just plant a wildflower field... It is really too bad, because we really wanted to plant a hackberry tree. I guess that will have to happen somewhere else on the property.
Looks like the best time to plant flowers on a leach field is fall so I should plan on getting that done as soon as we move in.
3 comments:
http://www.clorox.com/products/clorox-regular-bleach/faq/
Just read this today and it gives me hope that I won't have to give up using my bleach. :)
From Dexknows.com:
What Amount of Bleach Is Safe?
The amount of bleach used in a normal load of laundry -- or the amount included in your toilet bowl cleaner -- is considered safe for septic tanks. Laundry in general should be spread over several days of the week so as not to overwhelm the tank with large quantities of wastewater all in one day. This would apply particularly if bleach is being used in multiple loads.
Buy and use this monthly: http://tinyurl.com/9u4y95r
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