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Show "35jv Southeastern Utah i by Dave Johnson District Sanitarian i All too often, many people feel that what gets flushed down the toilet is gone for good. For those people in the county having to use septic tank disposal systems, nothing noth-ing could be farther from the truth. For those in such a situation, I suggest they pay attention. Septic tank disposal systems sys-tems can be a problem because be-cause they can't handle many of , the wastes that can be treated at a conventional wastewater treatment plant. Many wastes generated in the home, from heavy cleaning solvents to certain wastes generated by hobbies can seriously damage the system. To help guard against premature prema-ture failure of septic tank systems, I'd like to make the following recommendations: Don't ever add any products pro-ducts that specifically say they should be used to "clean" septic tanks. Many contain sodium or potassium hydroxide hydrox-ide and can severely damage soil structure. Small amounts of bleach, lyes or caustics normally used in home cleaning don't have any harmful effects. The reason rea-son is that they become diluted quickly. Yeasts and enzyme products, pro-ducts, while not having any harmful effects on septic tank systems, have never really lived up to their claims of speeding up the biological processes that take place in a septic tank. However, they may be of use in new tanks by acting as a "seed" to start the E process. Contrary to popular belief, t household soaps and deter- I gents should be discharged to a septic tank system. The tank will help to settle out the dirt and heavy particles, thus prolonging the life of the drainfield. Items like newspapers, disposable dis-posable diapers, sticks, rags should not be flushed into a septic tank because they won't decompose and might . lead to clogging. Water softener brine normally norm-ally has no adverse effects on septic tank sytems unless the system has been built in a5 Structural clay soil. Large amounts of clean water running through the system can also lead to early failure of a drainfield. This is what often happens when the outside water hookup is not js-protected js-protected by heat tape during the winter on mobile homes. The water is left running through an open faucet to . prevent water freezing in the standpipe. Perhaps the best method to prolong the life of a septic tank and drainfield is to pump the tank at regular intervals. Pumping the tank after the j drainfield is clogged and sew-' j age is surfacing doesn't solve anything because the damage J has already been done. They i should be pumped anywhere j between two and five years depending on the number of 1 occupants in the home and types of water using appli- i ances. I |