Recently I was at the local hardware store buying some Rid-ex for our
cabin's septic system. (It is a fairly occassional use place, and we have
no laundry facitlites there, hence limited grey water outage.)

I met an aquaintance there who is mainly a septic system
contractor/excavator. He noted my pending purchase, and warned me that
Rid-ex and other septic system treatments were largely a waste of money, and
that they in fact conflicted with the natural bugs that grow in the septic
tank and break down wastes.

At the time, it sounded good and I decided not to buy the product. Now I
think a second opinion would be in order. Anybody have any solid (no pun
intended) info to support or refute the claim that septic system additives
do not enhance the performance of the system?

Tnx

On Jan 16, 1:24*pm, "Mamba" wrote:
Recently I was at the local hardware store buying some Rid-ex for our
cabin's septic system. *(It is a fairly occassional use place, and we have
no laundry facitlites there, hence limited grey water outage.)

I met an aquaintance there who is mainly a septic system
contractor/excavator. *He noted my pending purchase, and warned me that
Rid-ex and other septic system treatments were largely a waste of money, and
that they in fact conflicted with the natural bugs that grow in the septic
tank and break down wastes.

At the time, it sounded good and I decided not to buy the product. *Now I
think a second opinion would be in order. *Anybody have any solid (no pun
intended) info to support or refute the claim that septic system additives
do not enhance the performance of the system?

Tnx

Hi,

I have heard also that septic systems have natural bugs / bacteria
that
normally do the work. Flushing alot of chemicals down the toilet that
kills them
will sort of damage that natural effect.

My 2 cents is if your septic system is working O.K. it is safer not to
mess with it.
We live in a non-sewer area, and most guys just basically leave their
systems alone except to have them pumped out every two to three
years .....

Best, Mike.

On Jan 16, 1:07*pm, hobbes wrote:
On Jan 16, 1:24*pm, "Mamba" wrote:





Recently I was at the local hardware store buying some Rid-ex for our
cabin's septic system. *(It is a fairly occassional use place, and we have
no laundry facitlites there, hence limited grey water outage.)

I met an aquaintance there who is mainly a septic system
contractor/excavator. *He noted my pending purchase, and warned me that
Rid-ex and other septic system treatments were largely a waste of money, and
that they in fact conflicted with the natural bugs that grow in the septic
tank and break down wastes.

At the time, it sounded good and I decided not to buy the product. *Now I
think a second opinion would be in order. *Anybody have any solid (no pun
intended) info to support or refute the claim that septic system additives
do not enhance the performance of the system?

Tnx

Hi,

I have heard also that septic systems have natural bugs / bacteria
that
normally do the work. Flushing alot of chemicals down the toilet that
kills them
will sort of damage that natural effect.

My 2 cents is if your septic system is working O.K. it is safer not to
mess with it.
We live in a non-sewer area, and most guys just basically leave their
systems alone except to have them pumped out every two to three
years .....

Best, Mike.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

You'll get varied opinions on this subject, and here's mine.
It all has to do with what you put into the system and how much of
it. Natural body waste bacteria "can" keep a system operating
properly if you are careful of what else goes into it. For example,
keep chlorine based cleaners to a minimum. Don't put waste food
products, especially grease, into the system. (Not having a laundry
is a plus.) Keep feminine hygene products out of the system.
Don't run an undue amount of waste water into the system.(dilutes/
flushes bacteria).
If you haven't used the cabin in a few months, good bacteria may be
reduced and a dose of Rid-X may help kickstart the action again, but
other than that it probably isn't necessary. But I seriously doubt it
would cause any problems if you did use it.
I used my cabin, with a septic system, for 10 years and once every 3
months gave it a Rid-X treatment. Not knowing what was going on in
the septic tank after all time, I requested a clean-out. They found
about 2" of sludge on the bottom of the tank and nothing floating on
the surface. In otherwords a perfectly normal tank. So I can't
definitely say Rid-X made the difference, but I can say it did no
harm.

KC

I have heard many stories about these products. Yes, they apparently clean
out your septic tank by churning all the sediment up and allow it to be
dispersed into the drainage tiles also known as the leach field. That is why
there is little left to pump out. However, by dumping the sediment into the
leach field which is designed to only handle liquid, they can become plugged
or have their ability to disperse water reduced requiring an entirely new
leach field at several thousand dollars.

My parents had problems with a new septic tank, and was advised not to use
such products but to buy a couple of pounds of ground pork, leave it out the
fridge for several days then flush it down. I don't know if this really
works, but it can do no harm other than the smell while ageing it. Their
system worked perfectly after this treatment.

"KC" wrote in message
...
On Jan 16, 1:07 pm, hobbes wrote:
On Jan 16, 1:24 pm, "Mamba" wrote:





Recently I was at the local hardware store buying some Rid-ex for our
cabin's septic system. (It is a fairly occassional use place, and we
have
no laundry facitlites there, hence limited grey water outage.)

I met an aquaintance there who is mainly a septic system
contractor/excavator. He noted my pending purchase, and warned me that
Rid-ex and other septic system treatments were largely a waste of money,
and
that they in fact conflicted with the natural bugs that grow in the
septic
tank and break down wastes.

At the time, it sounded good and I decided not to buy the product. Now I
think a second opinion would be in order. Anybody have any solid (no pun
intended) info to support or refute the claim that septic system
additives
do not enhance the performance of the system?

Tnx

Hi,

I have heard also that septic systems have natural bugs / bacteria
that
normally do the work. Flushing alot of chemicals down the toilet that
kills them
will sort of damage that natural effect.

My 2 cents is if your septic system is working O.K. it is safer not to
mess with it.
We live in a non-sewer area, and most guys just basically leave their
systems alone except to have them pumped out every two to three
years .....

Best, Mike.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

You'll get varied opinions on this subject, and here's mine.
It all has to do with what you put into the system and how much of
it. Natural body waste bacteria "can" keep a system operating
properly if you are careful of what else goes into it. For example,
keep chlorine based cleaners to a minimum. Don't put waste food
products, especially grease, into the system. (Not having a laundry
is a plus.) Keep feminine hygene products out of the system.
Don't run an undue amount of waste water into the system.(dilutes/
flushes bacteria).
If you haven't used the cabin in a few months, good bacteria may be
reduced and a dose of Rid-X may help kickstart the action again, but
other than that it probably isn't necessary. But I seriously doubt it
would cause any problems if you did use it.
I used my cabin, with a septic system, for 10 years and once every 3
months gave it a Rid-X treatment. Not knowing what was going on in
the septic tank after all time, I requested a clean-out. They found
about 2" of sludge on the bottom of the tank and nothing floating on
the surface. In otherwords a perfectly normal tank. So I can't
definitely say Rid-X made the difference, but I can say it did no
harm.

KC

I have heard that just flushing a couple of yeast cakes down the toilet
will help.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

Don't need ten more for the wrong side. No additives are needed in a septic
tank. They are a scam.


steve


"Twayne" wrote in message
news:uAyjj.11340$na4.6395@trnddc05...

Would you like to see ten more for the other side? This whole thread is
so full of misinformation in both directions it's pathetic. So many wanna
be gurus; so many idiots; so many half thinkers. At least you did cite
something, even though it's pretty silly stuff, which no one else did.
The OP wasted his time here. Not unusual on this group lately. Everyone's
an expert by their own claims only.

On Jan 16, 10:24*am, "Mamba" wrote:
Recently I was at the local hardware store buying some Rid-ex for our
cabin's septic system. *(It is a fairly occassional use place, and we have
no laundry facitlites there, hence limited grey water outage.)

I met an aquaintance there who is mainly a septic system
contractor/excavator. *He noted my pending purchase, and warned me that
Rid-ex and other septic system treatments were largely a waste of money, and
that they in fact conflicted with the natural bugs that grow in the septic
tank and break down wastes.

At the time, it sounded good and I decided not to buy the product. *Now I
think a second opinion would be in order. *Anybody have any solid (no pun
intended) info to support or refute the claim that septic system additives
do not enhance the performance of the system?

Tnx

Ridex is one of the longest running scams in the business. What it
boils down to is:

If your system needs something to make it work, it has already
failed. Human waste itself contains all that is needed in the way of
bacteria to keep the system going.

If you somehow managed to kill all the bacteria in the tank, one good
dump would put back what is needed just as well as a batch of Ridex.

I have been on a tank for 30 years. Folks on one for longer than that
before they passed on. No Ridex or other additeives ever used.

Save your money and put it into getting the tank pumped occasionally
will do better than pouring junk down the drain.

Harry K

"Twayne" wrote:

http://www.inspect-ny.com/septic/septadds.htm

Would you like to see ten more for the other side? This whole thread is
so full of misinformation in both directions it's pathetic. So many
wanna be gurus; so many idiots; so many half thinkers. At least you did
cite something, even though it's pretty silly stuff, which no one else
did. The OP wasted his time here. Not unusual on this group lately.
Everyone's an expert by their own claims only.

Gee, what I read in the link above was data from organizations like the ones
below, not 10 silly retired plumbers or self appointed usenet experts. Having
difficulty reading?



* Penn State College of Agriculture - Cooperative Extension,Agricultural Fact
Sheet #SW-161 "Septic Tank Pumping," by Paul D. Robillard and Kelli S. Martin -
last line of second paragraph "Biological and chemical additives are not needed
to aid or accelerate decomposition."

* Agricultural Fact Sheet #SW-161 "Preventing Septic System Failures," by
PaulD. Robillard and Kelli S. Martin - page 2, Maintenance Failures, paragraph
two, "Chemical or biological additives are not a substitute for pumping."

* "Soil Science Facts, Septic Tank Systems," Michael T. Hoover, Dept. of
Soil Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, SS 86-4, "Are
Septic-Tank Cleaners Necessary?" "No. These products include biologically based
materials (bacteria, enzymes, and yeast), inorganic chemicals (acids and bases),
or organic chemicals (including solvents). They do not reduce the need for
regular pumping of the septic tank. Some of these products contain organic
chemicals and may even damage the drainfield or contaminate the groundwater and
nearby wells."

* Florida ASHI Seminar, Kissimmee FL, 10/10/93, "Septic Tank News & Views,"
cites Florida building code 10D-6.050 Maintenance, paragraph (4) "Organic
chemical solvents shall not be advertised, sold, or used in the state for the
purpose of degreasing or de clogging onsite sewage disposal systems. (4)(a) All
organic chemical solvents known to have been used as decloggers or degreasers of
onsite sewage disposal systems or those which have a likelihood of being used in
such a manner shall be labeled on the front of each product container with the
following language: 'Florida Statute 381.0065 (13) prohibits the advertisement,
sale or use of organic chemical solvents for the purpose of degreasing or de
clogging onsite sewage systems in the state.' ... " and (4)(b) continues,
"Persons who use organic chemical solvents for degreasing or declogging onsite
sewage disposal systems shall be subject to revocation of their septage disposal
service permits and shall be subject to other applicable penalties as described
in Chapter 381, or 489 Part III,F.S." These law changes were effective in
Florida march 17, 1992.

* "Septic Tank Maintenance," K. Mancl and J.A. Moore, Oregon State
University Extension Service, Extension Circular 1343/January 1990. "Biological
and chemical additives are not needed to aid or accelerate settling
ordecomposition."

On Jan 16, 5:55*pm, "Twayne" wrote:
Rick Blaine wrote:
"Mamba" wrote:

I met an aquaintance there who is mainly a septic system
contractor/excavator. *He noted my pending purchase, and warned me
that Rid-ex and other septic system treatments were largely a waste
of money, and that they in fact conflicted with the natural bugs
that grow in the septic tank and break down wastes.

At the time, it sounded good and I decided not to buy the product.
Now I think a second opinion would be in order. *Anybody have any
solid (no pun intended) info to support or refute the claim that
septic system additives do not enhance the performance of the system?

There is enough naturally occuring bacteria in human waste to make
any additive useless at best and potentially harmful. Google on
septic additive if you want prooff. Here's just one of many examples:

http://www.inspect-ny.com/septic/septadds.htm

Would you like to see ten more for the other side? *This whole thread is
so full of misinformation in both directions it's pathetic. *So many
wanna be gurus; so many idiots; so many half thinkers. *At least you did
cite something, even though it's pretty silly stuff, which no one else
did. *The OP wasted his time here. *Not unusual on this group lately.
Everyone's an expert by their own claims only.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'm sorry that you buy into scams.

Harry K

"Harry K" wrote in message
...
On Jan 16, 5:55 pm, "Twayne" wrote:
Rick Blaine wrote:
"Mamba" wrote:

I met an aquaintance there who is mainly a septic system
contractor/excavator. He noted my pending purchase, and warned me
that Rid-ex and other septic system treatments were largely a waste
of money, and that they in fact conflicted with the natural bugs
that grow in the septic tank and break down wastes.

At the time, it sounded good and I decided not to buy the product.
Now I think a second opinion would be in order. Anybody have any
solid (no pun intended) info to support or refute the claim that
septic system additives do not enhance the performance of the system?

There is enough naturally occuring bacteria in human waste to make
any additive useless at best and potentially harmful. Google on
septic additive if you want prooff. Here's just one of many examples:

http://www.inspect-ny.com/septic/septadds.htm

Would you like to see ten more for the other side? This whole thread is
so full of misinformation in both directions it's pathetic. So many
wanna be gurus; so many idiots; so many half thinkers. At least you did
cite something, even though it's pretty silly stuff, which no one else
did. The OP wasted his time here. Not unusual on this group lately.
Everyone's an expert by their own claims only.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'm sorry that you buy into scams.

Harry K

I'm certainly no expert but our place has been served by a septic tank for
over 60 years and the only thing that we ever do is pour a cup of yeast in
the toilet about 3 times a year. Other than that, we have never even had to
have it pumped out. I think that the older they are, the better they get due
to the bacteria that are resident there.