"ameijers" wrote in message
...
Closing on a house in a couple weeks, and it has the usual list of stuff
that needs to be seen to. Pretty high up on the list is replacing or
fixing
a basically dead (non-draining) dishwasher, and a rotted trap assembly
under
kitchen sink. I noticed sink has no disposal, which isn't uncommon in
septic-system houses of the vintage. But I was wondering, since I'll have
it
all apart anyway, and this would be a convenient opportunity to add a
disposal, what is current thinking on the subject? I don't use disposals
to
grind bones or leftovers or anything. Anything big enough to scrape goes
in
trash can. Is trivial food waste like post-scraping plate residue really a
problem for septic systems? Or does pre-cleaning the plates make a
disposal
a moot point?

snip....

YMMV, but we've been running a garbage disposer into a septic tank for
almost 40 years without any problems. We don't put anything in,
intentionally, other than food waste: all kinds, including leftovers and
even small chicken bones which help clean out stuff that hangs up on the
hammers. The tank has been pumped out every 2-3 years and there has never
been anything more than the usual fine sediment on the bottom.