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| Iowa's new septic regulations that require proof of a modern system or installation new on a title transfer don't allow any drain in the house except the sump pump and the water softer flush to go anywhere but through the septic tank. They demand a larger tank than in the past and a larger leach field.
Fewer or shorter showers (with a low flow shower head) surely will extend the life of the septic system and cut your costs whether you pump the water or buy the water. You also pay to heat half that water. Their palliatives are also plain water conservation.
Some would also demand you filter the line from the clothes washer to keep lint from going to the septic tank because polyester lint doesn't decompose, it just plugs the soil in the leach field. I asked the boss of the crew that did my new septic last June and he though that was not a beneficial idea. That pumping the tank every few years would take care of the accumulated plastic lint. A service he also provides along with an annual inspection and cleaning the output filter. He thought that avoiding bleach and antibacterial soap was a good idea to protect the bacteria in the septic. He didn't think much of Rid-X to add bacteria. I'll find out in a year or two whether one bottle of Rid-X got the new septic tank off to a fast start.
Its probable that the septic system works best with an optimum mix of toilet sewage and gray water, that too much gray water might flush stuff out of the tank before the bacteria have completely decomposed it. But for most of us I think the septic system has plenty of resilience so we can go on a clothes washing binge and not destroy its function. Part of that is why my new tank is 1250 gallons and the old one was less than 500 (from 1975).
Gerald J. | |
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iowa septic regulations?
