question, i use the Van Dykes tanning crystals in my tanner, get done with hide then dump them down the sink in basement.i have a septic system. is this harming my system at all. i'm running water to dilute when going down drain.can or should this be neutralized with something first. if so, with what.? thanks
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Its possible that you could be killing the bio-system that digests the waste in your septic tank. Neutralizing is probably a good idea. I too have a septic system that I periodically will add yeast to inorder to help keep the system operating.
into your septic system. Septics work on live bacteria which breaks dowm all the solid waste. Pickling solutions(1.0-2.5 ph), tanning solutions (3.5-4.5 PH) kill bacteria or slow the growth of them. I know you are adding this to 1000 gals of waste in most cases but it will eventually take its toll and retard the growth of natural bacteria in the septic creating problems. More importantly any amount of salt will eat the concrete which most tanks are made of and it is extremely costly to replace a tank. Even the small distribution box will cost $500.00 or so to replace.
This is information passed on to me by my local septic tank specialist. He even advised me not to backwash my water softener into my septic as he has seen where it has done some real damage over a short period of time to some systems.
i don't use salt on the hides ,just thaw ,flesh, tan, shave and tan again. not much of a chemist,just built this house and don't want to wreck my system.thanks.
Salt is put into the septic every time your softener regenerates.....ANTI bacterial soap is put into the septic every time you do dishes, wash your hands or take a shower. If what some are saying is true, then I my system does not know it isn't supposed to be working! All these years and it ain't stopped yet. By the way, it hasn't been pumped in many years (5-8), I'll have to look up when it was done. So......I'll continue to put my solutions down the drain!!!
"bacteria" that they are talking about are actually microflora, which are microscopic plants. They thrive in high acid areas such as your stomach, stomach acid is as acidic as it gets. These "bugs" or "bacteria" are fertilized with yeast, so a good homeowner will put a septic booster in his tank every once in a while. Small amounts of nitrogen are really good too, but too much will cause nitrate poisoning. You can also "reseed" these microflora or at least "thicken" them up every once in a while. Which is a different type of booster. Your tanning soltion may be toxic to them but not because of the ph level, after all they are living in uric acid.
But to answer your question: It is like asking if you should feed your dog cardboard to get rid of your shipping boxes? It prolly won't hurt the dog right away, but it surley can't be doing it any good. Recycle your cardboard into smoke :) LOL It don't need to be in your dog.
will never need to be pumped, let alone in 5-8 years. If you are pumping at all in anything under ten years then your system isn't doing nearly as well as it should. I ain't saying it is because you are putting your solution down the drain, maybe your leach lines are short or flat or something. But 5-8 years is not a long time.
Softener salt will kill any tree next to the septic field, been there, done that. Tans and pickles plus the softener salt will fill the tank up also. I dump in the driveway now. This kills the weeds and melts snow at the same time.
I let mine go for 10 years and probably could have gone a couple of years more before it was too full of solid waste and backing up into the house. The septic pumper said if I had girls instead of boys it would have filled much quicker because they use more paper. I know of another guy that had his pumped after 15 years of use but it was like pumping concrete and the guy charged him more for the time it took. I do know that it is a matter of design that you will have to have yours pumped every now and again. Once the solid waste fills to a certain point you will begin to experience problems of the worst sort not to mention you don't want solid waste filling your leach lines.
In most states you are required to pump your septic tank and expose the distribution box for inspection to sell your home. Wouldn't it be a bitch if after 10 years of dumping your solutions down your drains it ate your tank and that expense was incurred before you could sell? The choice is yours, do as you see fit.
i know that most people need to pump and it isn't their fault, but if you have a really good system it will keep up with itself. But notice i did say really good. And like you said it does depend how many people in the house- paper is an issue, but more than paper is how much hair that girls shed. Then there are things like tree roots in leach lines and stuff, and if your soil is a good percolator or not. It may not be real common especially in older houses or houses built by ignorant plumbers, but a good septic system keeps up.
a s***ty subject,LOL
If you dump low PH (acidic) soultions down into the spetic and your tank is made of concrete which many are, you can distroy the concrete.
THe acid can react with the concrete and neutralize the acid resulting in softning and sluffing of the concrete. I know from first hand experience.
Find anouther way to dispose of it.
The purpose of a septic tank is to remove, store, and decompose as much of the solid part of the wastewater as possible before the wastewater goes to the absorption field. As wastewater flows through the septic tank between the sludge and scum layers, solids separate and the wastewater become nearly clear. Fats oils and greases go to the top. As solids and oils accumulate the detention time in the tank decreases eventually allowing the suspended solids to flow out the outlet and into the lateral field, eventually creating a heavy bio-mat plugging the soil and ruining the lateral field setting you up for replacing the lateral field depending on where you live and soil type this can cost from $2500 to upwards of $10,000 or more. As far as not pumping your septic tank, its best to pump it around every 4 years or so, I have heard all of the stories about how I havent pumped my tank in 20 years, when it fails your looking at total lateral replacement plus pumping or even a new septic tank. DON'T add anything other than toilet waste and standard Greywater to your septic system, even additives are not recommended. In some states adding anything other than standard toilet and greywater is illegal. The septic system purpose is to treat wastewater by removing nitrogen, pathogens and other chemicals prior to coming into contact with surface or groundwater.
Please find another method of disposing your waste from your taxidermy shop, Most taxidermy waste can be disposed of in a public sewer system or taken to a Household Hazardous waste collection site.
I am a Taxidermist also so I understand the problems associated with disposal. Please neutralize all acids and don't put these products into your septic system.
Hey, Ive been getting my damn mail every day for years and I aint got hit by a car yet, and I aint gonna start looking both ways now just because YOU guys say so!
No, of course I dont think like that, but some of the statements in here sound like that. Go to your state health dept and ask them about putting salt into the ground and/or ground water. That should prove to be a very interesting conversation! Scott, who posted above, of course is right on the money. Good info, Scott!