Best Toilet Paper for Septic Tanks

Continuing a recent introduction about septic systems. Is this question fact or fiction? “It’s not necessary to pump a septic system if you are careful with what goes down the drain.” FALSE!

To maintain a well-functioning septic system, it must be pumped every two to eight years depending on use and size of the tank. It is also necessary to keep the bacteria that live within the septic tank healthy and decomposing waste efficiently. To do this avoid products with the following warnings on the labels: “Harmful if swallowed”; “Avoid contact with skin”; “Do not get in open cuts or sores”; or, “If product comes in contact with eyes, call a physician immediately.” However, do not pump too frequently because it can reduce bacterial populations and is costly and unnecessary.

Under normal circumstances, there is no reason to put additives into the septic system that say they increase bacterial functioning. Also, ignore the myth about dumping yeast into a septic system to maintain it, as yeast is not active in a septic tank. There is no substitute for pumping.

Things that cause a system to fail:

• blocked or broken pipes or lines between the house and tank or tank and leach field

• pump failure on systems with pumps

• tank blocked with solids, collapsed or leaking

• flooded drain field or one with poorly draining soil

• drain field clogged with solids or roots

• extensive use of the garbage disposal

• use of salts and chemicals from water softeners and washing machines

• pouring kitchen grease into drains

Tips to keep a septic system working well:

• Don’t water the leach field

• Don’t flood the system with excess water

• Keep excess solids out of the system

• Avoid flushing toxic chemicals down the drain

• Avoid using the garbage disposal

• Regularly pump out the septic tank and have the physical components of the system inspected

• Don’t drive or park over the leach field.

Never dump kitty litter down the toilet because it clogs lines and systems. Don’t put women’s sanitary products or Kleenex down the toilet. Never flush cigarette butts or other inorganic materials that won’t break down in the tank down the toilet. Only toilet paper and your body wastes should be flushed.

Learn about how to use humanure recycling created from a composting best toilet paper for septic tank.

Composting toilets are a world away from the odoriferous outhouses of yesteryear. And low-flush conventional toilets offer an option for those unprepared to recycle human manure. To save money, extend the life of your septic system and help protect water quality, read on. Become a water-wiser waterier.

One person using a composting toilet can produce more than 80 pounds of compost and save more than 6,600 gallons of water per year. While composting toilets make environmental sense, they also can put dollars and cents back into your pocket by reducing your water bills and extending the life of your septic system.

Composting toilets stabilize and recycle human manure and toilet paper without using or polluting drinking water. Unlike flush toilets, which treat human manure as waste, a composting toilet lets you reclaim and recycle nutrients — using the same biological process as garden composting piles to break down excreta, or human manure. What’s left is nutrient-rich organic matter, or humus, which can be used as a soil amendment.

Once considered an option only for parks, homesteaders and seasonal cottages, composting toilet systems are turning up in suburban residences and’ commercial buildings, often in environmentally sensitive areas.

Commercial composting toilets first appeared in the United States in the 1970s, as mostly just a way to avoid installing a flush toilet and expensive septic system. But issues of shoddy construction and overoptimistic designs plagued both the manufactured and build-it-yourself models, and users struggled with odors, flies, incomplete processing and hard-to-empty systems. The legal foot came down in the early 1980s when a report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health gave these systems failing marks. Since then most designs have improved significantly, reflecting a healthier respect for the aeration and heat requirements of composting.

Many of today’s composting toilets can be used with vacuum toilets (such as the 1 pint micro lush Seal and, originally made for recreational vehicles and boats) and Japanese foam-flush toilets (see Page 92 in this issue for more information). In many states, using a composting toilet allows a property owner to install a smaller septic system. Many owners now opt for service contracts to maintain their composting toilet systems.

Care and Feeding of Humanure in Composting Toilets

Composting relies on aerobic (oxygen-loving) bacteria that work 10 to 20 times faster than the anaerobic (oxygen less) bacteria at work in septic tanks. The challenge of composting toilets is getting air to the composting process while minimizing human exposure to the contents. That calls for careful engineering of airflow, so air is taken in and then exhausted through the exhaust vent chimney, not through the bathroom.

Some management is also required: turning or batching the material, and adding coarse material (such as sawdust or dry leaves) to keep it porous, so the aerobic bacteria stay healthy and functional.

Keeping the material aerated also means it can’t be too wet, so only waterless or micro lush toilets are used with composting toilet systems. Waterless toilets are usually just toilet stools with 8- or 10-inch openings that connect through a straight pipe into the composter. For those who want a toilet trap between themselves and the composter, a micro lush toilet, such as the Seal and Traveler 1-pint flush toilet, can be used, provided extra liquid in the composter is evaporated, drained to a septic system or used in subsurface irrigation. Other micro lush toilets include foam-flush toilets, which use an aquarium-type air pump to bubble air through a soap-and-water mixture, creating lots of foam to move material out of the bowl.

Composting toilet systems are not a flush-and-forget technology. They require consciousness of what’s put into the toilet (No toxic chemicals, please!), some maintenance, well thought out siting and installation, and in many cases, electricity for operating fans and heaters.

The most common installation mistakes are siting them in cold places (unheated basements, for example), not draining away leachate (liquids) and installing systems that are too small for the usage they’ll get.

Humanure: Using the End Product

In composting toilet systems, most pathogens are destroyed through a combination of heat and retention time. But many states require the compost toilet end product either to be hauled off by a sewage hauler or buried under 6 inches of soil. To comply and still reap the nutrient benefits of human manure, most folks choose to bury the end product in the root zone of ornamental plants. Even without legal approval, some individuals choose to compost the end product further in an active, outdoor compost pile, or to use a pasteurizer, such as a solar oven, to destroy potential pathogens.