Will it mess with the system if you flush their bodies?



Mike

Not if you cut them up small enough.

Good septic system won't need dug-up for decades.

In the fall when you shoot a deer, flush down some of its liver to keep your bacteria working.

And like someone else said, keeep you dish washer junk outta it.

I sprinkle some in the basement of my cabin outhouse, and it seems to help.

Lugnut is right on what he says. I spent 30 years inspecting and trouble shooting failing septic systems for the state.
Another point I will add on top of lugnut is not all soils are created equal as sand, silt and clay based soils all differ in the amount of water they will hold and how fast they can absorb or percolate the water through the soil profile. High clay content very slow high sand content very fast.
Take water usage as number 1 factor and soil texture as your number 2 factor and then what landscape or topography position your on a ridge , valley, side slope, toe slope , iee...
Also your climate in south Florida or desert Arizona all figure in. There is no predetermined time a septic tank or field bed will last.
As far as pumping tanks the faster you fill up the sludge layer as lugnut said the sooner you need to pump it out. If you have 3ft of sludge in a 1000 gallon tank you should consider pumping soon if it’s a foot you got a ways to go. Take a section of pvc and run it down to the bottom of the tank and measure the sludge layer.
Two old people may never have to pump one out WHILE a man with a flush happy wife and three daughters may need to pump one every few years but dog gone it check the tank before the solids flush into the field bed or leach lines.

I don't understand how a septic system would need replaced after 20 years unless it was installed wrong or abused. I almost bought a house (sellers jacked me around to much) that was 40 years old with original septic and the septic guy had to probe to find the buried cap. They lived there 22 year with kids and never knew where the tank was. I had it inspected by the septic pros and they said all was good. So again I have to wonder why people say they have a 20 year life ?

What is the reasoning behind this mandatory pumping ?

Regulators want to regulate and no offense but most people raised in the city sewer district uses toilet as a garbage disposal and all that crap they flush won’t break down in a septic. The faster you fill up the solids or sludge layer and flush solids deep into the field bed clogging it up that’s when most have trouble backing up and clogging everything and thus mandating the pump outs. It is trying to safe guard the systems from the current owners. As system abuse leads to faster failures. We have found tanks full of plastics and heavy grease and all matters of non organics that will not break down In The anaroebic environment inside a tank.
Best advice is nothing in the tank except water, urine and “dung”. Limited toilet paper and fix the darn leaking toilets many folks never realize their toilets leak and literally run thousands of gallons of water a year through the system. All systems need time to drain out and dry out and not stay saturated.

NEVER USE RID-X!!! That is an enzyme similar to yeast. What that will do is start to aggressively attack the solids. In doing so, it will stir the solids up and they will make it to the leach field and clog it. (for lack of a better analogy), it's like fermenting wine or beer. When you first start the process and the yeast isn't dead, you can see the solids going up and down in the liquid. Same with a septic tank but those solids will make it to the leach field since it will make it to and through the baffle. Your waste has plenty of the correct bacteria in it to digest waste in a septic tank. One gram of human waste has over 1 million bacteria in it. As long as you keep pooping, your septic tank will do fine. It will even recover from harsh chemicals such as toilet bowl cleaner. The most important thing to do with a septic system is to have the tank pumped every few years, (depending on the size of your tank and family) and keep the pipes free of tree roots if you have an old system with terracotta pipe.

How far away should trees be with modern plastic pipes ? I just planted some spruce and white pine about 50 to 75 yardfs from drain field ?

They should be plenty far away from your field. Typically a tree has roots as long as the tree is tall. Roots won't get into modern ABS/PVC pipe so it's not an issue. You don't really want trees close to the leach field though.

Some good info on here, some bad too. Thumbs up to lugnut. I won't go into the bad but I'll just add a couple things.
For quite a few years all the septic systems we have installed or repaired get a filter on the outlet. Kind of an insurance policy against solids getting in the drainfield. If you are pumping your tank I might suggest it would be a good addition. Not something you have to replace when plugged, just wash it out with the garden hose but it saves your field when you let pumping go too long.
Also we never put in pipe for a drainfield anymore except with a pump system. We use infiltrators. I cannot imagine them ever needing replaced even if a little solids got in.
Worst thing we see is cheap laundry soap (granulated). That causes more problems then anything else.
Finster covered tree roots pretty good but I will add I work on our small towns water system and tree roots cause us many headaches and broken lines. I cannot count how many water pipes they have broke for us. If possible any pipes in the ground should be away from trees, farther the better.

I wrote that I took a class on septic system installation, inspection and monitoring because I wanted to give the impression I had some education along with owning a septic system. It is abundantly apparent education in the field is not as important on Tman as experience. That being said, I’ve witnessed countless septic systems that were failing but located away from homes. It was usually the case of “out of sight meant out of mind” and people had no idea that their systems were failing cuz they couldn’t see or smell them. Several years ago, I reviewed a study of a sanitary district where septic systems were dyed. As I recall, close to 40% were failing because the dye was seeping out near the lakeshore. And most of these property owners didn’t have a clue their systems were failing.

Then there were the little subdivisions where houses were situated on small, city sized lots. Well in the front yard, septic system in the back. All went well until septic systems started failing. The setback (from neighboring wells) didn’t allow new septic systems to be installed. And when it came time to sell those houses, banks wouldn’t approve loans because of the failing systems. Today in Minnesota, housing lots not served by municipal sewage systems have a minimum size, which I believe is over an acre. I do recall some counties/townships requiring more. Most of this is so you have somewhere to put replacement septic systems when yours fails.

LOL you self proclaimed "turdnators" crack me up.( not all that posted ) First of all I have to take a class EVERY year on wastewater treatment for package plants and septic systems. So let me add what "LIFETIME" operators (not college kids) have proven over the years. A healthy septic will not even be noticed. RID-X works. It just adds more bacteria and enzymes that boost the natural bacteria that comes from human waste. The bacteria will feed on ANY food scraps or BOD's added to the tank from the house or building. BOD (biological oxygen demand basically feed the bac. A septic system because it is not normally aerated has a different breakdown than waste water plants. Anaerobic bacteria (not requiring free oxygen) processes the waste. The key is to keep a healthy balance of bac in the system. BLEACH KILLS !!! Drano kills!! Rid -x helps with replenishing after a shock hits the tank. Anything sweet helps the bac to grow but sometimes it will need a boost. An even better product can be bought on-line the is a small gelatin pack with over a billion bacteria that become active after it is flushed.
We used it for years in the school system I retired from. They also make one that eats grease !!!!
As for pumping if you have no flooding, toxic kill inside the tank ,or some knuckle head driving over and collapsing the pipes, pumping every 10-15 years is quite common.
The screen on the end of the pipe leaving the tank is a problem waiting to happen. Baffles are installed now to stop that.

Can you say snake oil?

Been selling real estate for 40+ years. Talked to many installers and pumpers. All say "Do not put RID-X into your septic" as it will eat up the tank and baffles. If you can not sleep at night with out putting something in one a month, put yeast.

TrapperKent

Tell'n ya'll, Chunk of deer liver once in awhile.

LOL really break down a septic tank? The old metal ones will fail because of the biological process going on inside of them and the ammonia from urine. Not to mention just plain ole rust after 20- 30 years. MOST tanks around here are concrete so that won't happen. Rid -X does contain beneficial enzymes .. PERIOD. Can you have a healthy septic with out it . Absolutely. Will it boost your efficiency ? You bet. It is designed to help break down todays products AS WELL as the human waste. Face it people use drain opener. Women bleach whites. Pour bleach down the smelly drain. It does what it is designed to do . Like I mentioned just google septic additives there are several and they work !!!


http://www.rid-x.com/why-rid-x/septic-system-maintenance-with-rid-x/