Toilet Paper in the Septic. Myth or Truth?

Jasper

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Jan 10, 2002
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what's the deal with not flushing toilet paper down the toilet in the dr? if i had the plumbing done with large enough pvc, then i am told that there should be no problem with paper getting clogged in the pvc. however i am told not to flush paper because the septic holding with fill up too fast with paper and become clogged and useless. what's the truth? fyi i have a cinder block septic holding in the ground, 14' deep, probably another 12' by 12'. chamber on the right is the holding area for the waste; chamber on the left is filled with charcoal. i can't recall if there was a 3rd chamber or not. don't believe so. how long should i expect this septico to last anyway?
 

POP Bad Boy

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Jun 27, 2004
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We have the same.............

...........type of system that you describe (without the charcoal) and we flush everything down the toilet. We have showers, baths, washing machine, toilets etc and have never had a problem in over 10 years that we've been here. Maybe twice a year I flush one can of Rid X down the toilet. We have never had the system pumped either.

...............by the way, what's the charcoal for?
 

Jasper

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Jan 10, 2002
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POP Bad Boy said:
...........type of system that you describe (without the charcoal) and we flush everything down the toilet. We have showers, baths, washing machine, toilets etc and have never had a problem in over 10 years that we've been here. Maybe twice a year I flush one can of Rid X down the toilet. We have never had the system pumped either.

...............by the way, what's the charcoal for?


charcoal is to filter/treat the waster water. what is Rid X?
 

POP Bad Boy

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Jun 27, 2004
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Rid - X

is like a small pebble type powder that is "bacteria" that you put into septic systems that does something to break down the solids faster. I have heard that you can also "flush" down some raw chicken every once in a while and obtain the same results.

Rid - X is a "septic system treatment", and i also remember now that they sell a "septic system treatment" in most of the hardware stores here that is a generic version.

And, by the way, it was VERY aggravating trying to get my dominican friends and employees to "flush the toilet paper" EVEN THOUGH AS THEY SAY "THAT'S NOT WHAT DOMINICAN'S DO"! But now they know that's WHAT THEY DO, if they want to use our facilities! (You might want to remove the basket from your bathroom!)
 

Mirador

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Apr 15, 2004
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As a patent translator I can assure you that most name brands of toilet paper comprise ingredients that break up the structure of the paper as soon as they're flushed.

Mirador
 

Rosemary

*** Sin Bin ***
Apr 13, 2004
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I have always found a packet of Yeast Powder flused down the toilet every couple weeks works well ! In all the years I have had a septic system I found the yeast worked great and it's very inexpensive !
 

Texas Bill

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Feb 11, 2003
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Just to reiterate---

what all the rest have posted....

Bacteria form in a Septic tank without any additional input of anything but human waste. However, since we use cleaners, clorax and the like, it will behoove everyone to add a package of Rid-X or some form of natural or synthethic bacteria to help out with Nature. These products are usually available in any Ferriteria. Even mouldy bread will work.

Modern toilet paper is manufactured with an ingrediant that causes it to start disolving once it hits the water. From that point on it is only a matter of a few minutes for the process to be completed.

Next time your Dominican friends give you any lip about flushing the paper down with the rest of the stuff, just take a couple of sheets of the paper and throw it in the stool. Maybe that will convince them to flush their stink down along with the cause.

It's just difficult to break a lifetime of habit and misinformation.

Bear in mind that disolvable toilet paper wasn't always available down here and it takes a generation or so for any 'new' ideas to catch on.

Or, better yet, go to Turkey, or other Arab countries where toilet paper isn't used at all. There, they eat with their right hand and do other things with their left.

Texas Bill
 

gerd

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Jan 10, 2002
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I?m glad this thread came up.
I?ve been feeling guilty for years, for not throwing the paper into the bin. Just couldn?t do it.
You guys took a lot of bad conscience off my shoulders.
:nervous:
 

MommC

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Mar 2, 2002
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Texas Bill is right about the bread! A slice a week will do!

The staler and mouldier the better........
I also flush vegetable scraps once in a while. We've had septics for generations in the "country" without ever having to have them pumped however the Dominican penchant for cloro does necessitate a helping hand once every so often or the cloro kills the natural bacteria that take care of the solids. Also I've noted that most Dominican septic systems (and I use the term lightly :) ) tend to be a the "miniscule" side so don't always cope well with the volume of waste generated! :ermm:
 

suarezn

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Feb 3, 2002
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I wondered about that too. I'm a Dominican who flushes everything here in the US, but do not do so in my house in The DR. I REALLY always thought, and STILL think that regular septic tanks in The DR are really not adequate to disolve everything. It's hard to break the habit...
 

bienvenido

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toilet paper in the septic

The truth of the story is that 30 years ago more than 60% of the DR population did not have a toilet in their home or sewage system, and in some case too small for paper to be flush down. I personally live in a Dominican getto of the city of La Vega, and the house I live in is about 20 years old ,and we flush toilet papers all the times and never had a problem. When I have visitors over I tell them that they can flush the toilet papers down the toilet " As a matter of fact, I do not tell them a darn thing. Practice this if you don?t speak Spanish: Tiren los papeles cagao en el inodoro y denle al inodoro. No pongan papeles cagao en el ba?o ". That is BS, when they say that is they way we do it here..bull. It?s a nasty habit and don?t be afraid to tell them to flush down los papeles cagao.
 

juanita

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Apr 22, 2004
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Scary Septic story!

I have a scary ?Septic? story! Back in 1986 my mother used to rent a little house on the beach of Juan Dolio. Well at one point we realized that the septic was full because when ever you would flush the toilet, the ?stuff? would come up the shower drain. So we called up the ?septic ghost buster? and he came with a friend, two plastic buckets, a shovel and some rope. They made a second hole right beside the house and transferred the stuff there, ONE BUCKET AT THE TIME! We personally had to sit at a friend?s place down the road because the smell was horrible, and these two guys were down in the hole digging the stuff out by hand!! Wwaackkk! :tired:
 

bienamor

Kansas redneck an proud of it
Apr 23, 2004
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dont know

If I even wave the paper near the piping, it gets plugged maybe using the cheap stuff?? but won't handle it at all.

this is in the zona colonial sd, I'm also on the third floor. any ideas other than the obvious
 

Spirit7

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Aug 26, 2004
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So that's why people use those nasty toilet paper baskets....

....for years, I have been telling any and all that will listen in the DR to flush the nasty used toilet paper down but everyone keeps a trash basket, many uncovered (!!?!!), full of soiled papers....another typical 'lost' attitude of my
fellow Dominicans....
 
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Peter & Alex

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May 3, 2003
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Disgusting.... (warning long post)

Septic tanks built in the DR generally bear no resemblance to any proper system build! They are purely botched up concrete block rendered holding tanks in most cases - hence the need to empty them with the 'sludge gulper' every now and then.
A proper tank has 3 compartments. The first collects the flushed stuff and the 'floaters' - but the delivery to the tank should be by a tee piece pipe which discharges below the surface of the contents to prevent stirring up of the floating crust.
The second compartment is separated from the first by a concrete wall which effectively blocks surface contents from the 1st bit from flowing into the 2nd. This is acheived by the wall not being built to the bottom of the tank. This allows the 'sinkers' and the fluids to pass from 1st to 2nd section where things further settle down.
3rd section is optional but is built on the same principle and clears the fluids further.
There should also be an outlet, again a tee piece pipe, to allow the excess fluids to overflow and percolate along either a perforated pipe or French Drain and filter out into the surrounding soil. Works well with a series of pipes laid below a convenient lawn and does the grass good! The fluid by this time is almost clear!
1st section forms a hard crust on top, which gets thicker the longer the tank is functioning, where the natural aerobic germs (those that need oxygen), do their stuff and break up the crud.
2nd section works more by anaerobic germs, (those that do not need oxygen), which work away eating up and breaking down the detritus which settles near the bottom of the tank.
3rd section is just really a holding area to allow more settling of the fluids before discharging them via overflow to your drains.
Modern toilet paper usually has a printed message which informs the user that the paper is suitable for septic tanks. But in general, most papers break up very quickly these days.
If your kitchen discharges into the same tank then you should really have a grease trap in that line as this stuff will kill off the good bacteria. Same thing with your kitchen cleaners etc.
If your washing machine discharges into the tank as well then the detergents will also kill off the useful bacteris making your septic system less efficient.
Septic tanks should be charged with water, yes, that's filled up, when first built and the same after any emptying! Otherwise the sewage just slops into the bottom of the tank and the poor little germs can't do their stuff - you want it to float!!
If built properly, a well constructed/designed septic tank will function without any worries for many years. You only need to empty it when the crust in the 1st section becomes excessively thick and starts to go under the separation wall into 2nd section and you start to get sewage backing up along the delivery pipe.
After 10 -15 years you may have to dig up the overflow drains and clean out the perforations or replace the filter media stones as this clogs up with grease and suspended particles which escape the germs process.
Now I've bored you with all this crap....... if your delivery pipe system is less than 100mm diameter and not laid to a fall of 1 in 4 (McGuires Rule) then you will have problems delivering your waste to the septic tank. (It won't flow uphill)!! AND it won't flow through a 50mm pipe laid almost flat - like most of the bars systems on Cabarete Beach, who also discharge overflow (?) directly into the bay!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, that was a shitty job, but someone's gotta do it!!
Stinky :tired: :cross-eye
 
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Keith R

"Believe it!"
Jan 1, 2002
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Folks, keep this thread on-topic, or it will be closed. That means nothing about motorcycles, racism, etc. Just septic tanks.

The Environment Forum Moderator :glasses:
 

TEHAMA

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Feb 3, 2004
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I dont know anything about the sewer systems in DR. However, I am reminded of my Marketing 101 class, some 20 years ago. One particular project in this class showed that 80% of the toliet paper manufactured is used by 20% of consumers.

Learn to wash your hands and stop using so much damn paper! :nervous:
TEHAMA
 

Pib

Goddess
Jan 1, 2002
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Great post Peter & Alex, I remember when my parents had the septic sysemt at home rebuilt, and it wasn't anywhere like you describe it. Is it possible that that is the reason why people don't flush paper, because their system doesn't work properly? I know my parents had innumerable problems before they re-did the septic system and it still doesn't work all that well.
 

Spirit7

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Aug 26, 2004
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Keith R said:
Folks, keep this thread on-topic, or it will be closed. That means nothing about motorcycles, racism, etc. Just septic tanks.

The Environment Forum Moderator :glasses:


TALK ABOUT NOT UNDERSTANDING A COMMENT....THIS FORUM POLICE IS NOT ONLY OVERLY STRICT BUT NOT VERY PERCEPTIVE....

I MADE A COMMENT ON HOW THIS PROBLEM IS SO DOMINICAN AS ANOTHER ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM LIKE DRIVING WITH TINTED WINDOWS AND AT NIGHT ENCOUNTERING DARK SKINNED PEOPLE WEARING DARK CLOTHES ON A MOTORCYCLE WITHOUT LIGHTS GOING 80 UP THE WRONG WAY ON A ONE WAY STREET....ITS NOT ABOUT MOTORCYCLES, RACISM OR ANYTHING ELSE....ITS PART OF THE DAILY LIFE HERE AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE DR....I RESENT THESE DO-GOODERS WITH THEIR MISPLACED OVERSENSITIVITY....I AM DOMINICAN AND HAVE THE PERFECT RIGHT TO CRITICIZE MY COUNTRY AND RESENT MR. KEITH R. FIRST MISUNDERSTANDING THE COMMENT AND USING HIS 'POWER' TO EDIT AT HIS PLEASURE....

NOT GOOD FOR THIS FORUM THIS KIND OF ATTITUDE....SHAME ON YOU!!