Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board - Getting my well shocked

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I appreciate the info... my next door neighbor has been here 20 plus years and uses a garburator. I was asking her about it... We do have a huge septic field and with the way the landscape is, it drains very easily. We were told adding water to the system will never be an issue. Our septic system was designed for a family of six and there are only two of us. I have the LG Tromme washer/dryer which really saves on water, and am frugal with water consumption. I put Super septic bacteria into the toilet once a month, and try to never use antibacterial soaps or cleaners either. I also changed the toilet to the new low volume units.

I don't think flushing a dead mouse is really doable... why the dead mouse?

Quote:

Originally Posted by hillegom (Post 416455)

Septic tank wastes are broken down by bacteria. Water going to the tank decreases the parts per million, bacteria to water. The more bacteria you have the faster the wastes are assimilated. For every gallon you send down the pipe to the tank, one gallon has to leave the tank for the field. The length of field you need is determined by the type of soil you have and your local regulations.
So
Do not send water to the septic tank from your aquariums.
Do not use a garburater, as this is just more work for the bacteria.
Once or twice a year, flush down a dead mouse.
Find some packets of bacteria and flush these down once a year, just before going on vacation. I bought mine at the local co-op.
Use only liquid soap.
If you can stand to do this, there was a motto "If its yellow, let it mellow, if its brown flush it down" lol
I only had a septic tank. When I bought that place, I had to find out all I could about it and asked around and gleaned this bit of info from an old guy, now deceased RIP
Everyone had two tanks. One for the sinks, showers/bath and laundry called a soap box, the second for the toilets, called a septic tank. See the analogy? Less water to the septic. You only had to clean out the soap box more often, because the soap comes out of solution when it gets cold.
These days, to "save" money, only one tank is needed, just clean it out more often!!!
Done by others, as you certainly do not want that job! When I moved out of there, I had to get the tank cleaned as well, for the new owners. 200$
Remember, less water means less cleaning out. Sorry for being so long winded

Well the mouse is small, is easy to catch, will flush, and adds extra bacteria. Worked for me. Like I said, an old guy told me, I am telling you, just passing it on.
So your neighbor has a garburater, for 20 yrs, how long between his tank being sucked out.
You of course, could do what your neighbor does. All I am saying, we had a family of 6, growing up, washable diapers etc. But excess water, we did not do that. I had to contend with 3 teenagers and a wife having showers once a day. Still, after 10 yrs, I still had room in that tank, mostly a lot of soap in the beginning. but at the end, everything looked good. So three pumpings in 30 yrs.
Think of this: If you throw all your vegetables into a compost bin, at the end of the year, how much black humus do you have? Well, all of that is at the bottom of your septic tank, which has to be pumped out!
"We were told adding water to the system will never be an issue" The water itself will never be an issue because you have good drainage. But remember, water in= water out. Flushing bacteria out with it. You want as mutch bacteria in the tank as you can keep

Part of the reason for not adding tank water to the septic tanks, especially saltwater, is because the salt can damage the bacteria living in the tanks (those that are not used to salty conditions), and at the field/open discharge, you can harm any plant life that sucks up the nutrients! Salt = bad on grass+trees. My dad asked the well and septic system guys about this, and both said no salt, I figure the reasons I just explained are why. We will be digging a 4-6ft deep hole just into the woods away from the house, filling it with gravel, and I will be draining SW through a hose into that pit.

Diana,

These are the guidelines I use for shocking our well:

http://www.water-research.net/shockwelldisinfection.htm

Plus we use a carbon cartridge in our whole house filter.

Also, follow up with Seashell (above) on getting that Waterwells for Life book.

Mitch

Quote:

Originally Posted by carnut (Post 416365)

We have a well also. We get a sulfer smell when we've used lots and lots of water. Before you pour bleach down the well, try this, If the smell is stronger out of the hot tap, this works for us. Turn off the main water supply. Pour a bottle of peroxide in a container you can siffen back into the water heater. Siffon an equal amount of fresh water back into the heater. makes sure peroxide makes it into the heater. Let stand for 1 hour min. The plumbing store told us about this, works great gets rid of smell. Smell is mostly heater core rod reating with water.

Hmm be very careful with peroxide. If you do this I would ensure that the system is not sealed, it must be vented. As peroxide decomposes it releases oxygen and depending on the strength of the peroxide ALOT of oxygen and if cannot vent it will explode with tremendous force.