I did'nt realise that septic tanks were so complex in operation. We just chuck most stuff down the drains into ours and have the thing emptied once a year. No problems or worries at all. How the heck can you keep kitchen and bathroom clean withiout lashings of bleach anyway? Mind you some family come over on occasion and I swear one or two Brothers should be re-named to Peter the pan cracker, so must be them keeping the bacteria going - good job :lol:
I suspect it's all down to size of tank, amount of good waste and amount of bleach, small, small, lots wouldn't be good, whereas large, lots and little shouldn't cause havoc.
Thank goodness we are now on mains!!
Cleans and removes limescale. But it's a spot less aggressive than chlorine bleach. I have a friend who dons rubber gloves daily and pours vast quantities of the stuff down the loo, to kill all those germs which she reckons must be waiting to leap up and give her... well, who knows what.
Where anything ends up soaking into the ground around the soakaways I like to use as few harsh chemicals as possible. There are more eco-friendly and gentle alternatives to most things.
Vinegar - or lemon juice - although it's what many eco-friendly loo cleaners contain, alongside a few other cleaning materials and some natural scents.
What you can do: day-to-day
Do less cleaning! Seriously, how clean do things need to be? There are concerns that overuse of anti-bacterial and anti-microbial agents may be counter-productive, leading to the evolution of resistant bacteria and microbes. There is also some evidence suggesting that contact with dirt helps to strengthen the human immune system and that too clean an environment may contribute to increases in childhood allergies and asthma.
Avoid chlorine bleaches and detergents containing phosphates as these are known to harm the environment.
Make the most of dishwashers and washing machines - run them at full load. Many also have half load or economy settings - check the instructions - and experiment with washing clothes at lower temperatures - you may find the results are just as good.
Recycle what packaging you can. Cardboard can be composted if you cannot find anywhere to recycle it. See the GreenChoices recycling section.