2 Mistakes To Avoid While Doing Laundry In Your New Home With A Septic System

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2 Mistakes To Avoid While Doing Laundry In Your New Home With A Septic System

8 October 2017
 Categories: , Blog


If you have recently moved into in a home that has a septic system, you may wonder if there is anything special you need to do while washing your clothes. If so, make sure you avoid the following mistakes while doing laundry in a house with a septic system.

Doing All of Your Laundry at Once

In the past, you may have always done your laundry on the same day, such as your day off. However, if your new home has a septic tank, continuing with this habit could pose a problem.

When you wash a load of laundry, the water going out to your septic tank temporarily floods and disrupts the contents. Then, after a few hours, the water is filtered out of the tank and the waste material settles. 

However, if you wash one load of laundry after another, the water from the previous load has not filtered out of the system completely before the next one sends a surge of liquid into the tank. This surge of water could cause the tank to overflow, especially if it has not been pumped out recently and is almost full.

To keep the tank from overflowing, change your laundry schedule so that you are not doing more than one or two loads a day. Doing so will keep the tank from taking on too much water at once without the ability to filter it out.

Using Liquid Fabric Softener

Within your septic tank, there is a balanced ecosystem that helps with the breakdown of waste materials. As part of this ecosystem, bacteria work to decompose the waste, naturally reducing the amount of material inside the tank.

However, if you use too many cleaners in your washing machine, such as liquid fabric softener, the chemicals could kill and reduce the number of beneficial bacteria inside your septic system. As a result, the bulk of the waste could build up, making the tank overflow into the surrounding ground, as well as back up into your main sewage line.

Instead of using liquid fabric softener, use dryer sheets instead. Your laundry will still come out soft and static-free without sending excess chemicals into your sewage system.

Avoiding the above mistakes while doing laundry can help keep your septic system working properly. If you have further questions about maintaining your system or notice a problem, contact a plumber, such as at B & B Drain Tech Inc,  who specializes in working on septic systems to seek further guidance.