Providing septic system owners with the necessary information on proper system care and water usage constraints is one of the most important services you provide. Any time you’re working with the homeowner is an opportunity to educate them on system dos and don’ts. If you let the homeowner know how to avoid problems in the future, your business will benefit in the long run through a regular maintenance schedule and through their referrals. 

There are a number of materials available to provide the homeowner helpful tips on reducing water use and long-term system management. The Septic System Owner’s Guide available on the University of Minnesota website (www.septic.umn.edu) is a great resource. 

Homeowner suggestions 

Homeowners need to be made aware of how their water use habits and water use in general affect the onsite system. The single largest water usage device in the house is the toilet. It can account for anywhere from 25 to 40 percent of the daily flow. 

It’s important that the homeowner recognizes the toilet is not the place to dispose of cigarette butts, facial tissues, baby wipes, disposable diapers or anything other than human waste. Even though toilets today use less water per flush, all those flushes add up. In addition, putting those other items down the toilet will result in problems downstream in the system, causing piping or effluent screens to plug resulting in unwanted backups and expenses for removal. 

In many homes today, both spouses work outside the home, so there’s a tendency to leave the wash for the week until whichever day they have off to do all the laundry. Even with front-loading machines and water-efficient or low-flow appliances, saving all the wash for one day puts a tremendous strain on the system over a short period of time. Think of running five to six loads of laundry continuously out into the system. This will certainly exceed the peak daily flow for the system. It also upsets the tank, which keeps solids suspended longer and creates plugging problems or pushes solids into the drainfield. A good recommendation is to spread the laundry out over the week, washing only a load or two per day, so the system has time to adjust. 

In the kitchen, if you read the literature for most dishwashers you will see they claim to be septic system safe and better than washing by hand because of they use less water. These claims are true as long as the homeowner does not end up washing the dishes twice. This is a standard practice in many households where the dishes are rinsed clean before they are put into the dishwasher. Homeowner awareness can minimize this activity. 

Another recent situation has been raised related to dishwashers. Dishwasher detergent now comes in little packets where the detergent and cleaning agents are combined. The packets are great for users because they don’t have to add detergent and rinsing agents separately. However, the packets don’t always break down and can lead to indoor pipe plugging in the sewer line to the septic tank or at the effluent screen in the tank. If homeowners are using packets, highlight the need for increased tank maintenance to avoid problems. 

About the Author
Jim Anderson is connected with the University of Minnesota onsite wastewater treatment education program, is an emeritus professor in the university’s Department of Soil Water and Climate, and education coordinator for the National Association of Wastewater Technicians. Send him questions about septic system maintenance and operation by email to kim.peterson@colepublishing.com.