OT -- Septic Tank Treatments

For years I have heard from septic tank people that septic tank treatments (specifically Rid-X) were a waste of money. This week, my neighbor is having his septiic field replaced and the guy doing the work highly recommends using Rid-X once a month. What does the septic tank owning peanut gallery think about this either way?

We had such a system many yrs in Pennsy and the only thing that was done to it was a pump out once in a while after a lot of heavy rains... and the once in a while treatment of dumping in a carboy of acid...

The man that put our Septic Tank in said to use Yeast 4 packs about every 6 months. Its been working 20 years so far without any problems.

Paul

Rid-x _will_ help your septic system. The yeast in a system is what breaks down the crap so it can flow out into the fields. The detergents you use in washing clothes, dishes, etc kill the yeast. Products such as Rid-x simply help replace what was killed. Without this, the system _will_ clog. (I used to install and repair septic systems as my primary job many moons ago.)

I think the additives are a waste of time and money. Have mine pumped every 3 years and follow other good maintenance practices, such as no garbage disposal, no cooking oil or animal fats into the system, minimal disposal of bleach and other household cleaners. especially no liquid fabric softeners in the laundry. Fats and oils are leachfield killers.

Cost of pumping has gone from $120 to $200 over the past 18 years here.

Only reason I would use an additive is if I were restarting a system that hadn't been used for several months, as in a seasonal home. An additive might help re-establish the good bacteria that had died off for lack of nutrients.

I take a 1/2 pound of hamburger, let it sit untill it starts to stink, flush it down the toilet. it will reintroduce the bacteria needed to break down the solids in your tank.

I have neighbors that pump every year (!), every three years (because the pump owner says it should be so)... At a cost over about $550. To me that's a bit like the oil change places saying change the oil every 3000 miles, and for an extra charge we can add "slick 50".

I pump mine MAYBE every 15 years, and never if it doesn't need it. But... I open all three tank lids every few years, probe the raft on top, check the baffles (I don't have filters), check the pump chamber and try to determine the bottom sludge. 12 years since the last pumping... (pump failure from frayed wires). Mine is fine... but your mileage will vary.

If you want your system to last, you have to take care of it. Avoid bleach, fats, garbage disposals, "the wrong" dishwasher and washing detergents, washing out paint brushes and all the nasty chemicals so easy to pour down the sink or toilet that will kill bacteria. Of course, it's a lot easier if there are only two of you in the house. And.. there the unmentionables - female hygiene products - polyester does not digest, and is great at blocking filters, jambing pumps and worst case, blocking drain fields.

I'm no pro in this field, but I have been into a few dozen septic systems. Most were "abused" - treated more like a landfill. But one was a 40 year old gravity flow. It had never been pumped (the lid was paved over just after the house was built! , and was working fine.

I do not add Rid-x or any similar. I do add copper sulphate every year to keep tree roots in check (my field in in the forest). Will Rid-x help an abused system? I doubt it - you can kill that just as easy as you'll kill the bacteria supplied by your own body.

My system was installed in 1976, I bought the house in 1999 and it had been sitting empty for over a year. I found the lid, removed it and found it was 3/4 full of solids sticking a piece of conduit down in it and had 2" of cigarette butts floating on top. I didn't have time to deal with it so I dumped a box of Rid ex in it and put the top back on.
One year later I removed the lid again intending to get it pumped out. Guess what? NO solids and butts were all gone! Since then I have been adding about a box a year down the toilet.
I also read online that Peroxide was good for them because it adds oxygen and helps the process so I add a bottle of that occasionally, it's cheap enough.

Tonytn36 said:

Rid-x _will_ help your septic system. The yeast in a system is what breaks down the crap so it can flow out into the fields. The detergents you use in washing clothes, dishes, etc kill the yeast. Products such as Rid-x simply help replace what was killed. Without this, the system _will_ clog. (I used to install and repair septic systems as my primary job many moons ago.)

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Good advice here. When you consider how cheap Rid-X is, and that it doesn't have to be once a month, (once every 2 months is probably plenty) it isn't a REAL waste of money even if it does nothing.

Jeff

Sea Farmer said:

I think the additives are a waste of time and money. .

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I haven't priced a box of Rid-X in a decade, so MAYBE it is a bunch of money these days. If not, buying it at the local store that you would be AT anyway, and the time it takes to open it and pour it in the toilet and flush it, NOT a huge time/money waster!

Jeff

redlee said:

I take a 1/2 pound of hamburger, let it sit until it starts to stink, flush it down the toilet. it will reintroduce the bacteria needed to break down the solids in your tank.

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The human digestive system adds bacteria to the septic system better than your suggestion, plus, it makes your guest feel a little more comfortable about your BBQ.

Kidding aside...

There are things introduced into the septic system that will never break down and will either settle to the bottom of the tank as sludge or float to the top as scum. The middle layer will be broken down by bacteria and sent to the leach field. That is how a septic system works. Once a tank gets filled with sludge or scum it must be removed or the leach field will get clogged. For those that suggested to get the tank pumped every three years is good advice for the average household septic system. Adding bacteria to a septic system is not necessary. There's plenty already there and more is added on a daily basis (if your Doctor has his say .)

... as to the hamburger idea. The breakdown of hamburger as suggested will be from aerobic bacteria and a septic system needs anaerobic bacteria.

So long as you don't kill the aerobic and anaerobic flora and fauna in your septic system with bleach, poison or bad pH levels, I don't think the additives will do any good (or harm).

My father ran a sewage treatment plant for several years and he said occasionally poison or bleach would get in the works and they would have to "reseed" the material with living critters (i.e., poop that hadn't been poisoned) but after that, all was good.

I'd go real easy on putting any super-toxic stuff like Clorox, Oxy-Clean, anti-freeze, etc., down the drain and let it be.

Yep bleach is bad.

True story: living in a city, I don't have to worry about the septic tank issue, however
periodically on my way into work in the morning, there were county workers with the
cover off the sanitary sewer manhole down the street, taking samples.

I had to stop to ask, turns out the industrial laundry down the street was dumping
bleach down the drain there, which of course goes right to the treatment plant down
the street, and kills all the bacteria causing all kinds of grief. They were
sampling upstream and downstream of the laundry, as while I was there one of the
guys was mixing a reagant in with the sample, and it turned purple. "Ah haa, got em!"
he said.

Big fines were sure to ensue.

my laundry goes into a separate drywell. so I avoid those issues.

I have just went thru a septic tank clean out. About two weeks before thanksgiving I had a service come out to pump the tank, something I had not done in almost 20 years of being at this house. As soon as the gal, yes a gal, opened the lid she says this doesn't look good. There was a 3-4" layer of roots and crap growing right under the lid of the tank and it took some hacking with the shovel to be able to get thru it to pump the tank. Once the liquid and solids that could be pumped from the center hole were out you could see most of the bottom of the tank. The gal called their septic specialist who said he would be right out if need be but over the phone he said the tank would have to be replaced because you tear up the lid and such trying to get them off,etc, etc. I said no thanks I will see what I can do.

As soon as she left I pulled the backhoe around and went about removing the dirt from on top of and down about 1 foot around the whole tank. About the 3rd scoop over the inlet end of the tank I run into a PVC pipe ABOVE the tank which I figured was some piece of scrap left over from a re-plumbing or whatever. NOPE the original inlet pipe had been set in concrete for several feet from the tank and when it was hacked in two by I suspect the phone wire installation thru the years they did an UPHILL waste pipe repair and dumped it into the cleanout hole on the inlet side of the tank, some real dumb$#%@'s. So I go to town and get parts to make those repairs. Also roots had easily gotten thru under the tank lid which made me figure there was no seal and a quick nudge with the backhoe bucket confirmed it.

So several days later I set 4 large stud anchors in the lid and screwed eyelets onto them and went and called the pumper truck back. This time with the lid off, the tank was sucked down and I reached in with the backhoe and picked the mass of roots out and we proceeded to wash down the inside of the tank to where you could see the tar lining, sides and bottom.

With all that done and knowing the leach field while it is working is nearing 40 years old it can't be too much longer before something will have to be done. The people next door were not allowed to repair or extend their leach field as their ground is all clay, is low, and stays wet virtually year round. They went with one of the new digester systems and probably if the ground is tested is what I would have to go with. At least if I did that and abandoned the leach field it would give me the required EPA distances to put in Geo-Thermal wells.

As far as the original question, both of the services I had out I asked that question. Both said NOT putting harmful things into the system is really what keeps them healthy. After 20 years of not being cleaned out my tank had maybe 3" of waste "solids" built up on the bottom of the tank. I plan on removing 1 or 2 trees that are close to the tank which should eliminate the roots in the area and of course I sealed the tank lid both with the tar seal and covered over that with mortar. If it wasn't for my leach field I would probably not worry about my septic system for another 20 years.

tim

101 ways to use a dead cat

redlee said:

I take a 1/2 pound of hamburger, let it sit untill it starts to stink, flush it down the toilet. it will reintroduce the bacteria needed to break down the solids in your tank.

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As a young boy I heard that if the septic tank stops working one should put in a dead cat. Maybe hamburgers were too expensive then.