At Home Dump Station
I am picking up a small loader/backhoe this evening that will be used to uncover my existing 4" sewer main that leads to my septic system. The intent is to cut the line and add a long radius combinat...
Forum Discussion
Interesting to see no replies about unnecessarily loading into your home septic tank. These are designed for the home and not for extra (necessarily).
A healthy system will "cook" on its own with almost no outside action (Rid-x, etc.) and if healthy, will require less pumping (1-10 years depending on you and what you put into it).
Start dumping larger amounts routinely (40 gallons at a flush/dump? Of course these are TCs so maybe much less than 40 gallons) and you are likely to unbalance the system, disrupting the micro-biology critters at work. Result? - more frequent "pumpings".
Pumpings can be costly. I'm not against dumping into the septic tank (ohhh don't dump between the tank and the leach field - now you're talking big bucks! $10,000 for a replacement field?).
I've dumped once or twice in mine. But I always try to empty into an RV dump SOMEWHERE on the way home. Then when you get home you have very minimal left (last one or two legs of a trip). And maybe mostly liquid and limited paper. Now it's not such a disruption. And you can just pull up to the "clean-out" that the pumper truck uses. Usually close enough for your hose.
It really is a matter of convenience though. You want an RV pad? I'd suggest you research your "existing" or "new" home system and verify it has the ability to deal with the increased load. Having your own RV dump is quite a benefit if your system is designed for it.
But if this thread just gave you ideas and now you're going to dump into it all the time when you get home, I advise caution.
Regarding the hazardous waste community rule mentioned above, I suspect that's because of the likelihood of so many RV users dumping anything and everything into their tank. Too much "out of sight, out of mind" mentality. Or as somebody else said, it may just be a convenient way for a locality to increase rates.
We try to think green on all of our activities, regardless of where we end up dumping black water, or household garbage for that matter.
A healthy system will "cook" on its own with almost no outside action (Rid-x, etc.) and if healthy, will require less pumping (1-10 years depending on you and what you put into it).
Start dumping larger amounts routinely (40 gallons at a flush/dump? Of course these are TCs so maybe much less than 40 gallons) and you are likely to unbalance the system, disrupting the micro-biology critters at work. Result? - more frequent "pumpings".
Pumpings can be costly. I'm not against dumping into the septic tank (ohhh don't dump between the tank and the leach field - now you're talking big bucks! $10,000 for a replacement field?).
I've dumped once or twice in mine. But I always try to empty into an RV dump SOMEWHERE on the way home. Then when you get home you have very minimal left (last one or two legs of a trip). And maybe mostly liquid and limited paper. Now it's not such a disruption. And you can just pull up to the "clean-out" that the pumper truck uses. Usually close enough for your hose.
It really is a matter of convenience though. You want an RV pad? I'd suggest you research your "existing" or "new" home system and verify it has the ability to deal with the increased load. Having your own RV dump is quite a benefit if your system is designed for it.
But if this thread just gave you ideas and now you're going to dump into it all the time when you get home, I advise caution.
Regarding the hazardous waste community rule mentioned above, I suspect that's because of the likelihood of so many RV users dumping anything and everything into their tank. Too much "out of sight, out of mind" mentality. Or as somebody else said, it may just be a convenient way for a locality to increase rates.
We try to think green on all of our activities, regardless of where we end up dumping black water, or household garbage for that matter.
