Is Bleach Harmful To Manassas Va Septic Systems?
Is bleach harmful to Manassas VA septic systems? It’s an excellent question, and one we get quite frequently from our customers. It’s easy to see where the concern comes from. After all, most people know that their septic tank relies on the presence of bacteria to do its work, and of course, bleach kills bacteria.
Combine that with the fact that many household cleaning products are bleach-based and it would seem to be a recipe for disaster, because you know that some of that bleach is going to go down the drain and wind up in your septic tank.
The good news is that the answer to the question ‘is bleach harmful to Manassas VA septic systems?’ is generally no, at least not if we’re talking about the amount that’s likely to enter your septic system via cleaning products.
Sure, if you went to the store and purchased a couple of gallons of bleach, brought them home and dumped them down the drain, you would devastate your tank bacteria. If you can resist the urge to do that though, you’ll be just fine, and so will your tank.
It’s not that the question ‘is bleach harmful to Manassas VA septic systems?’ is a bad one – there’s no such thing as a bad question! It’s just that while your attention is focused on bleach, you’re taking focus off of other issues, all of which are potentially much more harmful to your home septic system. We’ll talk about a few of those next.
Grease
Most people know and understand that pouring grease down the drain isn’t a great idea, but it’s something that happens with disturbing regularity anyway.
The biggest problem with grease down the drain is that it ends up in your tank. Some of it will escape and end up in your drain field. Once there, it will rise to the surface and harden, forming what we call a grease cap.
Your drain field can’t process waste if the soil doesn’t get oxygen. The grease cap prevents the soil in your drain field from getting the oxygen it needs.
You’ve probably read, seen, or heard about products that promise the moon where grease removal is concerned. They’ll dissolve it in your tank and make it so that it sails right through your drain field without causing any problems.
Don’t believe it. They’re just trying to get your money. These products not only don’t work, but many of them contain chemicals that are lethal to the bacteria in your tank. All they do is make an already bad problem even worse.
Chemical Drain Cleaners
While the answer to the question ‘is bleach harmful to Manassas VA septic systems?’ is generally no, it is a resounding yes if you ask the same question but replace the word bleach with chemical drain cleaners, because these things will mess your septic tank up! In fact, it only takes about a teaspoon of chemical drain cleaner to demolish your tank bacteria, where it would take up to two gallons of bleach. Avoid this stuff like the plague.
Water
Your home septic system is connected to your plumbing, and literally every time you flush a toilet or turn on a faucet, you’re adding water to the septic tank. How then, is it possible that water is bad for it?
This is a case of too much of a good thing can turn into a bad thing. It’s absolutely true that your septic system relies on water to function. The problem is really excessive water. If too much water hits your drain field all at once, it will overload it.
When you purchased your property, you probably had to get a perc-test, if one wasn’t already on file. Perc is short for percolation, and percolation is how the drain field of your septic system works. It percolates waste from your septic tank through the soil, processing and eliminating it.
When a huge amount of water hits your drain field all at once, the soil becomes supersaturated. Until it has time to handle the massive influx, there’s no percolation going on, or rather, the water’s coming in much faster than the soil can handle the load. It’s a problem.
Excess water can arrive in your drain field by a number of different roads, but there are two big culprits to keep tabs on.
The first thing to check is the downspouts connected to the gutters on your house. Be sure that these are angled well away from your drain field and water from them won’t give you any trouble.
Second, keep a watchful eye out for dripping faucets and toilets that run constantly. The moment you see either, break out your tools and fix the problem, or if that’s outside your skill set, call your friendly neighborhood plumber. You’d be shocked and amazed at how much water even a slowly dripping faucet can introduce to your system!
Again, it’s not that the question ‘is bleach harmful to Manassas VA septic systems?’ is a bad one, it’s just that it has the potential to divert your attention away from some of these other issues that actually pose a much greater risk.
In any case, if it’s been a while since your home septic system has had any TLC, we’ve got you covered. Give our office a call and schedule your appointment today. You’ll be very glad you did.