to flush or not to flush?

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spudley
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to flush or not to flush?

Post by spudley »

we have a septic tank for our waste water. This means I cant use things like strong bleech down my loo.
I am also think that sometimes if its yellow let it mellow,if there is only me and Mr Spud in the house (saving water and the septic) but this can cause a scale build up and some cleaning cleaning problems.

Does anyone have any advise of a good loo cleaner that will not kill off the digesting bacteria in my septic
5 dogs, 15 chickens (6 ex batts) 1 cockerel, and very limited tech skills
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lancashire lass
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Post by lancashire lass »

Unilever and septic tanks

I also know of someone who only uses sodium bicarb and vinegar to clean their sink and toilet so that they don't harm the bacteria. Apparently you need to avoid using disinfectants which contain phenolic chemicals that are persistent.
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Post by 4 french hens »

Hi Spudley.

Harpic do one for septic tanks, read the label it will say "safe for septic tanks"

I think Toilet Duck also do one, They cetainly do here in france.

Mike
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misty
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Post by misty »

Must admit I started by being very careful what I cleaned with. Sorry but it got such a hassle I now use mainly bleach and have the tank emptied once or twice a year. We have had the tail pipes all redone so the fluid that drains out must be o.k. because nothing in the garden has died.
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Meanqueen
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Post by Meanqueen »

Hi Spudley. Sorry, can't help with the septic tank question, but this is what I do to reduce my water use, I'm on a meter, and I'm on the mains sewerage.

As well as a bathroom upstairs, I have a seperate loo in a covered over passageway, outside the back door. There I widdle in a bucket, an old plastic paint tub with a lid. Then it either goes on the compost heap if the weather is not too awful to walk up the garden, or I flush the whole lot down on the last widdle of the night before I go to bed. Bucket gets emptied every day. I realise you could not do this with a family, or if you don't have the separate loo, might be a bit wiffy in the bathroom.
)old(

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spudley
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Post by spudley »

thanks for the replies, that unilever link was quite good i would never have thought domestos was safe to use!.

Misty, does having your septic tank emptied so often allow a decent build up of bacteria? does it cost much. Mr Spud looks in every so often and it is still well below cleaning out level, but we were wondering how much it cost.

Mean queen, we do have a downstairs loo that only we use, its a bit of a storage room so when we have visitors we sent them to the new bathroom upstairs. This only gets flushed once a day by us-unless we have to you know what. However i think that Mr Spud would draw the line at using a bucket, but we do have a bucket with a lid on it (emergency camping loo) I might put this up by his shed and indicate that it would save a walk back to the house. Also i have heard that straw gets rid of any pong, so i could put a bit of that in for him.
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Post by 4 french hens »

Send Mr Spudley to the compost heap for his jimmy riddle. Mens is the best compost activator you can possibly put in.

Also look in hardware/ironmongers/diy stores for septic tank activators. They are basically a small bag of enzymes that digest all the food and human solids that go into the system, leaving only a residue of sand like substance at the bottom of thr tank.

Another way of activating the tank is to throw a rotting dead animal in, rabbit or any other roadkill is good for this.

A septic tank for an average house should not need emptying for at least 3-5 years.

Mike
Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before.
misty
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Post by misty »

Spudley have one of the new plastic one or the old brick ones? Now we've got the tail drains done we shouldn't have to have it cleaned out nearly so much. Does yours have drains? When it fills with liquid the liquid drains out through the drains. Because of our clay and how the ground was it was just a horrible mess! The drains do appear to be working. The cost of emptying has gone up and it now cost £40+ but still cheaper than sewage charges. My friend has an old type two chamber brick one. Solids stay in one chamber, fluid drains into the other and then out through the drains. As they is only two of them I think her Husband empties it out onto the field next door about once every 10 years! She also doesn't use any special cleaners.
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Post by Nellie »

I too use a bucket in-between flushes - bought an egg-yolk yellow coloured one though! Then it's not too obvious what it is, if a visitor uses the 'wrong' facilities. :oops:
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Post by hfbinnie »

There is also a large supermarket that does it's own brand eco products for cleaning which are very good and do not cost the earth.
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saint-spoon
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Re: to flush or not to flush?

Post by saint-spoon »

There was a thing at work where you could get some things that go into the cistern to reduce the amount of flushing water, they are heavy plastic containers that you fill with water and seal and put in the cistern to take up space.… widding in a bucket might be a thing of the past. Well done local water board )t'
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Re: to flush or not to flush?

Post by Freeranger »

Hi - we too have the scale/clean problems, and I found that mixing a hot, strong soap powder solution then pouring that into the pan after the last flush of the night was very helpful. You have to remember to tell everyone though, as OH had a very startling experience when his wee made bubbles the next morning.

If you have a veg patch then mixing man-pee about 1:3 with water from a rain butt makes for a very good food for tomatoes and, ironically, peas.
Mrs B

Re: to flush or not to flush?

Post by Mrs B »

I don't know about the septic tank issue but full fat cola works wonders on loo bowls. Leave it a few hour if you can nd give the loo a good scrub and flush before the cola
Freeranger
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Re: to flush or not to flush?

Post by Freeranger »

Someone recommended me to use denture cleaners (tablets) dropped in at night - it works well.
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