Those of us who have septic systems know that if the system fails that it can be very costly. I wrote a blog some time ago on how to restore the drain field by blowing large volumes of air into the drain system from the down stream end. Many of you have read this blog and I hope that you found it useful and understand why it works. I now have another item that will help your system and that is how you deal with your wash water.
One of the largest volumes of water that ends up in your septic system is from washing cloths. This waste water is very bad for the biology of your septic system. Not only does it contain detergent, but chlorine and other toxic cleaning agents. Getting these out of your septic system is one of the best things that you can do to increase the effectiveness and life of your system. The septic system is alive and as such you need to keep out things that will kill the things in the system that eat or process the waste so that the drain field only has to deal with clear water. Here is what I recommend.
If you have a basement, the job is a lot easier, if not it will take a little more work. What you do is to find where the wash water comes down from your washer to the drain pipe in the basement. It will normally come down with a vertical pipe and then into an elbow to a horizontal pipe. Now you have located the area where you have to modify the piping. Go to your hardware store and get two plastic valves and an a tee fitting the same size as the pipe coming down from your washer. Next, you will need a 50 gallon plastic barrel with the top cut out and a submersible sump pump. You can get these items from the same hardware store. You will also need a section of pipe the same size as the valves and a can of pipe glue. That is about all it takes.
Cut out the elbow from the pipe coming down from the washer and replace it with the tee. Put one of the valves below the tee and one between the tee and the horizontal pipe. Put the barrel under the bottom value and put a length of pipe from the bottom of the lower value down into the barrel, leaving about 6" gap to the bottom. Now all you have to do is to close the value going from the tee to the horizontal drain pipe and open the valve going into the barrel and all the wash water will go into the barrel. With me so far?
Next, put a garden hose onto the outlet from the sump pump and drop the pump into the barrel. Take the end of the hose out of your basement and into where ever you want the washer water to go. That is about all there is to it. The float on the sump pump will turn the pump on when ever the water in the barrels is higher than the pump and automatically go off when the water is pumped out. Because the water is being pumped, it means you can run the hose as far as you want and to where ever you want.
I run mine to a dry well that is a section of perforated drain pipe that is buried in the ground and covered with pea gravel and then dirt. Mine has worked just fine for over 4 years without any problem. Some people put the hose into the storm drain if one is close. Others put the hose into the drain system that is around the outside of the footing on their basement. Most of you can find a place for the water. Don't put it on top of the ground or it will kill your grass. If your system gives you a problem, all you have to do is to turn off the valve going into the barrel and turn on the one going down your old horizontal drain. Have fun.
