Busier than usual, I should say.
First up; empty the trash can holding the birdseed, and clean it with bleach, and allow to dry.
I picked up a 50lb bag of chicken scratch with sunflower seeds, in hopes that that stuff is not infected with weevils/bugs.
When the can is dry, will dump chicken scratch in it.
I discovered that someone took my new bottle of bleach, and moved it to the laundry room. OK then, war it is. No one seems to care that too much bleach in the septic tank can and will kill off the bacteria that makes the septic tank work properly..nu uh..don’t listen to Dad…
They’ll be crying when the system backs up, and someone will have to cough up $400 for a tank vacuum.
I kept a bottle of sodium hypochlorite (pool shock) left from when we had the pool, and made a couple gallons of bleach.
Thus far, given all the sidetracks I’ve had this morning, I’ve accomplished nothing…however, my list is long.
One of the tasks is using the chainsaw…I am in the mood for destruction.
extexanwannabe 
Indeed, the washing machine is pretty much the septic tank’s worst enemy. The bleach and detergent kill off the tank’s enzymes. The lint from the clothes, mostly synthetic and very light, does not decompose in the tank, but floats its merry way down to the leach field and irreparably clogs that up over time. It doesn’t break down, so where it ends up is where it stays. After shelling out $7K to have a seven year old leach field replaced, I ran a grey water outfall line from the washer to the outside of the house. It’s nothing but soapy water anyway, so it dumps into the gravel of the corral access road and either evaporates or sinks into the soil. I have a “Filtrol” filter on the output of the washer to catch the lint, which was in place when the washer was dumping into the septic tank. I left it in place so that the grey water wouldn’t leave a bunch of lint in the gravel. …You might want to warn your wife and kid about dumping things like grease, cooking oil, and Drain-o into the system as well. Since our $7K loss we’ve gone full-on Nazi when it comes to what goes down the drain. All dishes get wiped into the trash can before they’re washed to get rid of solids, cooking greases, and oils. The tank enzymes have trouble with greases… and so does the house plumbing… As for the solids, the general rule is “No solids go down the drain unless they’ve been through you first!”
Put a “drum liner” trash bag in the can before filling it with the scratch. Then tie it shut between uses. I just use a length of parachute cord and tie it like I would a shoe. If there are no creepy crawlies in the scratch, it should keep just fine. If you keep multiple bags of feed, this will also quarantine each can, so if one gets infested the others won’t.
I too preach about fats and oils going into the drains. Maybe it was you that suggested the Drain Maintainer to add to the sink drains once in a while to keep the pipes free and clear.
I like the idea of having the washer drain run directly outside into the yard.
I have used this trash can with birdseed for many years. I never had a problem with weevils until late last year, after purchasing many bags of the stuff, that all got poured out. A drum liner would work, if the bag was not infected already.
X, you may have a water leak into that trash can. Alotta times it’s right where the lid handle is riveted to the lid. Those damned bugs LOVE moisture! If you see any rust or “white oxide” on the galvanizing, there’s water getting in. The leaks are easy to fix, but the bag bypasses the problem altogether.
It’s got a “water line” from the last time I washed it out. There was no moisture residue this time…when this batch empties, I’ll put the HD bag liner in.
@Tom Well said! Also think you for the idea of plumbing the washing machine away from the septic tank. As little as one ounce of drain cleaner is more damaging than a gallon of bleach in a septic tank. Sodium metabisulfite will neutralize bleach in a septic tank. Sodium metabisulfite is also used as a sterilizing agent for beer and wine making equipment. Dumping the spent yeast after racking beer or wine helps with good bacteria as the yeast eat the sugars and the good bacteria feed off of the alcohol. Never use Rid-x as its enzymes go a bit too far leaving too much material in suspension that will make it out into the drain field and eventually clog it up. A product like MICROBE-LIFT Septic Tank and Cesspool Treatment Enzymes is a product that will put the right microbes and enzymes in a septic system.
I keep the birdfeed in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. I usually buy a 25# birdseed bag and pour into a plastic bag lining the bucket. I have a CO2 tank and I stick a hose in the bottom of the bucket before I fill it with birdseed. Once full I give the seed a charge of CO2. That takes care of any eggs or bugs.
Funny; I use Microbe-Lift in a water feature in my back yard. It does a banner job breaking down all the crap that ends up in there, and keeps the algae at bay as well. I never thought of using it in the septic tank!
Have you heard of Gamma Lids for those buckets? Those things are GREAT! They snap into place on the top of the bucket and have a screw-on lid. The snap-on part has an O-ring seal to the bucket, and the screw-on lid has an O-ring seal to the snap-on part; REALLY easy to use! Much easier that those gawdawful snap-on lids!! We keep a deep larder of things like sugar and flour. My wife has arthritis in her hands. She has no issues opening those lids! She LOVES them!
Thanks for the heads up on the Microbe Lift…it’s available here at Tractor Supply.
We have been on our septic system since december 14 of 2008. Had the tank pumped once about a year after we moved in just for the hell of it. And once more last year just for the hell of it. When we moved in we had a garbage disposal in the sink and I told my wife absolutely do not use that and put the stuff down the drain. No fats oils greases either. Once monthly she puts Rid-x into the toilet and flushes it. Knock on wood, no troubles yet.
Questions: how many gallons is your septic tank?
How many people live in your house?
You’re right…disposals bad idea.
Yeah; our house has a disposal in it as well. We don’t use it either, per say. It seems that something always gets past the gestapo and ends up in there; really small stuff, actually. I turn it on once or twice a day just to clear it and emulsify whatever’s in there.
One of my son’s friends is a septic guy. He said to never let the tank go more than three or four years between pumpings. More often is better, but more expensive. I’ve heard bad things about Rid-X. I use Roebic products in mine. It only needs to be put in there twice a year, and it’s a pure liquid; no solids in it. The septic guy told me that treatments aren’t really necessary, but something obviously went sideways in our leach field, so I push back on that one.
For the record, X, our tank is 1500 gallons and we have four adults living in the house. The tanks are usually sized according to the number of bedrooms in the house. So… if your house has had bedrooms added, your tank may be too small… Also, if you have a hyper-wiper in the house, indoctrinate them on how quickly the system can get backed up when too much TP is used! This happened to us. In California the tank needs to be inspected, pumped, and the leach field tested when the house is sold. We were in the house five years before I had the tank pumped, and there was only a small “island” floating solids in it when it was pumped. The guy said the system was in great shape for not having been pumped in so long.
My oldest son, the hyper-wiper, moved back home about a month after the tank was pumped. A year later the system backed up into the house! The guy came to check it out and the tank was packed top to bottom with solids! It was literally PACKED! I had to hose water on it as he pumped to loosen it up enough to go up the hose! I asked what the hell it was. He said “Toilet paper.” So… It took my hyper-wiper son ONE YEAR to CLOG a septic tank that three other adults couldn’t clog in FIVE years! Keep tabs on how much TP your folks are using! It doesn’t take long for bad things to happen!
Ours is a 1200 gallon. I do use Rid X, and every now and then I do a tsquared79 and make a large batch of yeast starter, then add a bag of powder sugar to the tank followed by the starter. There are only two of us living here permanently. The kid lives in the bunkhouse, and it has its own septic tank.