Rid-X

[Bumper]

My wife and I have a new home with a septic system. My Father-in-law insists that if I don't use rid-x once a month my septic system will fail. Its just my wife and I who live in the home.

So whats the group thoughts on Rid-X does it work and is it really needed for a properly functioning septic system??

Thanks!!!

[craigster59]

We are on septic and never use it. However, we have a rental with a tenant who insists on cleaning EVERYTHING with bleach so we use it there about once a month flushed down the toilet. As long as your bacteria is thriving, it should take care of the waste.

[stomachmonkey]

Can' hurt and years of use is cheaper than one pump out.

Don't use anti bacterial soaps.

Don't put coffee grinds down the drain.

Keep your bacteria healthy.

Cheap and easy to do.

[vash]

[QUOTE=stomachmonkey;4427382]
Don't use anti bacterial soaps.
QUOTE]


i think all soaps are antibacterial...they are alkaline, right?

[cgarr]

Can you imagine the people sitting around who developed this product! Lets make something that people buy, take home and flush down their toilet

[trekkor]

Made it 18 years on our system with no RID-X. Just had the first pump out a few months ago.

So, I'm not so sure.



KT

[stomachmonkey]

[QUOTE=vash;4427398]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Don't use anti bacterial soaps.
QUOTE]


i think all soaps are antibacterial...they are alkaline, right?

Soaps labeled as Anti Bacterial contain additional chemicals.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by trekkor

Made it 18 years on our system with no RID-X. Just had the first pump out a few months ago.

So, I'm not so sure.



KT

Lotsa factors.

Also depends on the plumbing.

My biggest problem at the old house was a lack of a grey water system.

Washing machine, dishwasher, tubs and wash sinks all fed into the same tank.

Poor draining soil, lotsa volume and lotsa detergents killed the system.

My neighbor ran all his grey water to a separate tank and used it to water his lawn and garden.

That's the ideal way to go if feasible.

[Matt Meyer]

Just my personal opinion: I know nothing of the laws in CT, but in Washington State I believe the use of RID-X is technically illegal. They sell it in the stores here though.

Check the Internet, especially the agencies having jurisdiction over septic systems for the best information. For example from the Connecticut Environmental Health Association web site http://www.cteha.org/septic.htm :


• DO NOT Use septic system additives offered for sale for the purpose of correcting a malfunctioning system or improving the performance of a septic system. This includes degreasing agents, caustic chemicals, solvents, and "bacterial digestion enhancers" such as enzymes or yeast. These products can be dangerous. Many chemical additives are non-biodegradable and pass through the system into the groundwater, where they can contaminate well water supplies.

[tabs]

Grew up on a Septic Tank...NEVER pumped in 30 years of use...and ya know what a big eater I am....

Mothers secret was a cake or 2 of YEAST down the toiliette about once a month...she never used the garbage disposal either...most of that went to the garden...for mulch.

Grey water down the drain as with everything else...

[Bumper]

Can some one please explain what "grey water" is??

[jeffgrant]

Originally Posted by Bumper

Can some one please explain what "grey water" is??

Water that is not suitable for drinking, but doesn't contain sewage.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Bumper

Can some one please explain what "grey water" is??

The water you use in the sink to brush your teeth, rinse your vegetables, etc. Most think gray water is additionally clothes washing water and shower water. To me, there are 2 stages of gray water. To most, it's anything NOT flushed thru the toilet.

A lot of hotels and other large commercial enterprises clean the water from sinks and use it to water the grounds or in heating systems.

[Normy]

I lived at my parents house in "Temperance" Michigan [everyone in the town was a drunk, I think!] from 19787 until 1985. My parents house had a septic tank, and they used Rid-X each month while the tank was in use; in 1990, they brought the sewers in and my parents 120 foot-tall oak trees all did a dance. The water from the drain field, due to mom's use of bleach in EVERY load of clothes were obviously hurting their roots. We lost several of the huge trees while I lived there; me and dad cut them up with the chain saw.

They never once had to service the septic tank. It was getting pretty close 12 years later. I had a septic tank at my house in Orlando, and in the 8 years I lived there, I put Rid-X in the tank each month and never had a single problem.

[trekkor]

At our place, all the waste water goes to the same place.

Recently the sump alarm was sounding.
They brought a 5,000 gallon tank truck and sucked it out.

Smelled awful.



KT

[fastfredracing]

15 years here, no Rid ex, and no problems.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by trekkor

At our place, all the waste water goes to the same place.

Recently the sump alarm was sounding.
They brought a 5,000 gallon tank truck and sucked it out.

Smelled awful.

KT

Try having it back up in the winter. It'll freeze and back up into your main septic line. Then that'll burst. But you won't know it's filling the 600 sq ft of crawl space under part of your house cause it's freezing and keeping the stench in. Then around spring as it gets warmer you may be under the false impression that some animal died under the house during the winter and is now thawing and starting to decompose. So when you go to investigate instead of a rotting raccoon you'll find 600 sg ft 3 inches deep in S**T. You'll actually scream "S**T!!!!!!!". Your wife will yell back, "What?". You'll say "S**T!!!!!" She'll say "What?" You'll clarify and scream "It's S**T!!!!!". You'll find that for $10k you can hire a former Marine Colonel who likes to spend his money in Tawain who will bring by a few illegals dressed in space suits to crawl around on their bellies for 3 days and scoop it all out by hand cause the access to the crawl-space is a 12x12 panel in a closet in your home office.

Ask me how I know.

[Pazuzu]

Have any of you with septic tanks ever opened them and checked things out yourselves?

Checking a tank is really quite simple, but doing it will give you a new appreciation for anything that might make it work better.

[Evans, Marv]

I remember as a little kid, we had to have our septic tank pumped out. Of course I was there when they opened it up. I asked my mother what all of the white things were that were floating around on top of what was in the tank. She told me she didn't know. When I got old enough to know and remembered that day, I realized all of those white things were condoms.

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by tabs

Grew up on a Septic Tank...NEVER pumped in 30 years of use...and ya know what a big eater I am....

Mothers secret was a cake or 2 of YEAST down the toiliette about once a month...she never used the garbage disposal either...most of that went to the garden...for mulch.

Grey water down the drain as with everything else...

yeast, used to be the present of choice if you had some beef with somebody that had a septic pit at his place...

just throw in the yeast, and **** would hit the fan real soon