Do these products made to clean, and produce bacterial action,
actually work to keep the tanks working, and system clean.
I had to start using more water, and detergents do to a family member
added to our home. Do to incontinance, various bleaches and ammonia,
had to be used in order to control order on clothes.

The system is starting to get slugguish, will anything help?

It sounds like you're basically overloading it with water. If there are
options to get your washer and dishwasher OFF the septic system, that may be
your best bet. Unless you're right in the middle of a bunch of snooty
houses, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to relieve the septic
system from these items. (if you catch my drift). As for the additives,
forget them, you don't need that.

--
Steve Barker


"Andy & Carol" wrote in message
...
Do these products made to clean, and produce bacterial action,
actually work to keep the tanks working, and system clean.
I had to start using more water, and detergents do to a family member
added to our home. Do to incontinance, various bleaches and ammonia,
had to be used in order to control order on clothes.

The system is starting to get slugguish, will anything help?

"Andy & Carol" wrote in message
...
Do these products made to clean, and produce bacterial action,
actually work to keep the tanks working, and system clean.
I had to start using more water, and detergents do to a family member
added to our home. Do to incontinance, various bleaches and ammonia,
had to be used in order to control order on clothes.

The system is starting to get slugguish, will anything help?


Andy, the only option short of what Steve suggested is to take the soiled
clothes to a laundromat. Too much bleach and detergent *is* the likely
culprit, as you stated. Tough situation, besides the septic issue. Oh yea,
have you considered 'Depends' for the incontinent family member. That way
there is considerably less problem with clothing being soiled and odorous.
I'm speaking from family experience.
Best of luck to you all,
Chuck

On Feb 15, 8:06 pm, "Andy & Carol" wrote:
Do these products made to clean, and produce bacterial action,
actually work to keep the tanks working, and system clean.
I had to start using more water, and detergents do to a family member
added to our home. Do to incontinance, various bleaches and ammonia,
had to be used in order to control order on clothes.

The system is starting to get slugguish, will anything help?

IMHO, additives are good only if your system has sat idle for a period
of weeks, or if you have flushed a quantity of bleach into the
system. They are not needed on a regular basis nor will they help in
your situation.

Bob

"Andy & Carol" wrote in message
...
Do these products made to clean, and produce bacterial action,
actually work to keep the tanks working, and system clean.
I had to start using more water, and detergents do to a family member
added to our home. Do to incontinance, various bleaches and ammonia,
had to be used in order to control order on clothes.

The system is starting to get slugguish, will anything help?
Thanks, everbody for you help, I got my brother to take
over the washing duties for now, he is on a public system.
We are going to wash our the clothes in the laundrmat. until
i can get it going. I must have 2ft of snow in the yard, with an ice crust.
The tank is working, but it is slow.

I put Roebic septic cleaner in the tank last night, I will post
back to tell you if it helped!
Thanks again!
Andy

How can you tell if a septic tank is "sluggish" under 2 feet of snow? If
water is backing up it is possible the drainage or weeping tiles or pipes
are frozen up or clogged. When was the last time the tank was pumped out to
get rid of the sludge that slowly fills up the tank.


"Andy & Carol" wrote in message
...

"Andy & Carol" wrote in message
...
Do these products made to clean, and produce bacterial action,
actually work to keep the tanks working, and system clean.
I had to start using more water, and detergents do to a family member
added to our home. Do to incontinance, various bleaches and ammonia,
had to be used in order to control order on clothes.

The system is starting to get slugguish, will anything help?
Thanks, everbody for you help, I got my brother to take
over the washing duties for now, he is on a public system.
We are going to wash our the clothes in the laundrmat. until
i can get it going. I must have 2ft of snow in the yard, with an ice
crust.
The tank is working, but it is slow.

I put Roebic septic cleaner in the tank last night, I will post
back to tell you if it helped!
Thanks again!
Andy

Couldn't resist could you? Hope it didn't cost much.

--
Steve Barker




"Andy & Carol" wrote in message
...
Thanks, everbody for you help, I got my brother to take
over the washing duties for now, he is on a public system.
We are going to wash our the clothes in the laundrmat. until
i can get it going. I must have 2ft of snow in the yard, with an ice
crust.
The tank is working, but it is slow.

I put Roebic septic cleaner in the tank last night, I will post
back to tell you if it helped!
Thanks again!
Andy

How can you tell if a septic tank is "sluggish" under 2 feet of snow? If
water is backing up it is possible the drainage or weeping tiles or pipes
are frozen up or clogged. When was the last time the tank was pumped out
to get rid of the sludge that slowly fills up the tank.
-------------------
Bingo! When was the last time you pumped and inspected the tank? Depending
on diets, cleaning should be done every couple of years. Freezing can slow
down the leach lines, but failing to clean the tank can clog it!

While authorities will insist on the laundry water be drained through the
septic tank, it is one of the worst things you could do. Many years ago
before synthetics, cotton, wool and flax fibers and lint would break down in
the tank along with the normal waste products. However, polyester, nylon and
other synthetics do not break down. They sit inside the tank or flush out
into the drainage field and slowly over time build up a matte of synthetic
fibers throughout the drainage field causing it to eventually clog up and
need replacing. Since the regulations are much tighter now than when older
septic systems were installed, a similar system cannot be installed in the
same space if you have limited room. This now will require a much more
expensive system to be installed.

It is much better to protect and not abuse your present system than to
destroy it and have to pay to install a complete new style system.

"Andy & Carol" wrote in message
...
Do these products made to clean, and produce bacterial action,
actually work to keep the tanks working, and system clean.
I had to start using more water, and detergents do to a family member
added to our home. Do to incontinance, various bleaches and ammonia,
had to be used in order to control order on clothes.

The system is starting to get slugguish, will anything help?

It's not really the fibers or even the detergents that are the evil culprit.
It's really just the volume of water going in there. There's no reason to
have a washer on a septic system. Just plumb it out somewhere away from the
house. It's really no different than if you were doing it with a wash board
or a wringer washer out on the front porch, you just dump it on the ground.
Authorities won't bitch about things they don't know about.

--
Steve Barker


"EXT" wrote in message
anews.com...
While authorities will insist on the laundry water be drained through the
septic tank, it is one of the worst things you could do. Many years ago
before synthetics, cotton, wool and flax fibers and lint would break down
in the tank along with the normal waste products. However, polyester,
nylon and other synthetics do not break down. They sit inside the tank or
flush out into the drainage field and slowly over time build up a matte of
synthetic fibers throughout the drainage field causing it to eventually
clog up and need replacing. Since the regulations are much tighter now
than when older septic systems were installed, a similar system cannot be
installed in the same space if you have limited room. This now will
require a much more expensive system to be installed.

FWIW, I have had my washer draining into my front yard for the entire 29
years I have lived here, mainly because of the septic, but also to water
the yard. It is a very old Wards(Norge)washer with a huge tub that uses
a LOT of water. I have a friend (also on septic) who has a 55 gallon
barrel on it's side in the crawl space under his house with the washer
draining into the top of it, and a large diameter garden hose attatched
to a fitting on the bottom so he can move it around the yard. I also
have a customer/friend who is on city sewer, but drains her washer into
a plastic trash can, and waters the yard with it by siphoning it out
with a hose, just to not waste the water. Unless you have some really
nosey and troublemaking neighbors, you should be able to drain the
washer outside somewhere without any big problems. BTW, the soap and
bleach should not harm the grass or plants. Larry

On Feb 16, 8:35�pm, (lp13-30) wrote:
FWIW, I have had my washer draining into my front yard for the entire 29
years I have lived here, mainly because of the septic, but also to water
the yard. It is a very old Wards(Norge)washer with a huge tub that uses
a LOT of water. I have a friend (also on septic) who has a 55 gallon
barrel on it's side in the crawl space under his house with the washer
draining into the top of it, and a large diameter garden hose attatched
to a fitting on the bottom so he can move it around the yard. I also
have a customer/friend who is on city sewer, but drains her washer into
a plastic trash can, and waters the yard with it by siphoning it out
with a hose, just to not waste the water. Unless you have some really
nosey and troublemaking neighbors, you should be able to drain the
washer outside somewhere without any big problems. BTW, the soap and
bleach should not harm the grass or plants. *Larry

if the authorties find out around here its a BIG deal. I heard they
REQUIRED a person to install a whole new mound system then 3 years
later sewers arrived and 5 grand tap in fee plus new lines. the poor
fellow put 25 grand in sewage and ended up selling the property since
he couldnt afford the payments

"Andy & Carol" wrote:
Do these products made to clean, and produce bacterial action,
actually work to keep the tanks working, and system clean.
I had to start using more water, and detergents do to a family member
added to our home. Do to incontinance, various bleaches and ammonia,
had to be used in order to control order on clothes.

The system is starting to get slugguish, will anything help?


Before I started panicking about the septic I would start checking vents. A
"sluggish" system, assuming you mean slow draining, is usually cause by a
problem with inadequate system venting. Is the vent stack pipe getting
clogged or blocked, has he drain/vent system been worked on or added to
recently, etc. The only other possibility would be a blockage in your drain
system, possibly in the distribution box, tank, or worse - the drain field.
It would seem to me if that were the case you would be getting backups into
the lower drains on the system, not simply 'sluggish' drainage.

For more info get this book:

http://www.shelterpub.com/_shelter/ssom_book.html

http://www.amazon.com/Septic-System-.../dp/093607020X

No, I'm not related to sales of the book, just recommending a great resource
of information.

On Feb 16, 11:30 am, "EXT" wrote:
While authorities will insist on the laundry water be drained through the
septic tank, it is one of the worst things you could do. Many years ago
before synthetics, cotton, wool and flax fibers and lint would break down in
the tank along with the normal waste products. However, polyester, nylon and
other synthetics do not break down. They sit inside the tank or flush out
into the drainage field and slowly over time build up a matte of synthetic
fibers throughout the drainage field causing it to eventually clog up and
need replacing.

Agreed. When my sewer system starts acting up, I run a sewer snake in
there and pull out gobs of lint. Didn't have the problem when the
washers had internal lint catchers, but now they catch the lint and
backflush it on the drain cycle. I can imagine they cause lots of
problems in a septic tank/field.