Home

[patticakes]

We have had septic problems since day one considering we live where there's a very high water table and therefore drainage issues. We do all the "right" things as far as not flushing wipes, soft toilet tissue, etc. down as well as more frequent pumpings depending on the rain issue and still we have problems. I'm wondering if any of you who have had experience with this have found some solutions we might try. Also, we've had the whole thing checked out by the septic person as well as the county and they all say the septic is fine, it's the high water table issue. Any suggestions?

[patticakes]

Anyone know of any treatments that truly help to eat away sludge and dissolve paper, etc.?

[crosscreek]

We use a product called "Rid-X." I believe the manufacturer suggests using it every month, but I use it every 2-3 months. Just flush it down the toilet, at night, before you go to bed, when water usage is at a minimum. It is supposed to add beneficial bacteria to the septic system to eat away the paper and restore a good eco-balance to the system. I purchased mine at the grocery store, but I'm sure you can get it at Walmart, Lowes, or Home Depot. Does it work???, can't say for sure it's the Rid-X, but we've been here 9 years and have never had any septic problems.

[RedTop]

The one time our septic tank was pumped, the man who did the pumping told us not to use Rid-X. He actually recommended a product from Lowe's that came in a yellow plastic jug that resembled Prestone anti-freeze. It was thick and goopy. I do not remember the name, and we were only able to find it in stock one time. Lately we have been using ZEP commercial Septi-Paks once a month. They are pre-measured packets that you drop into the toilet bowl, and once they have dissolved, you flush them away. We also find them at Lowe's.

[fthunt]

On 12/29/2013 happy housewife said: do you use WEN? My neice had her entire septic clogged up with WEN - had to pay several hundred dollars to get the tank pumed out then had to pay someone to go through a procedure toclean the gunk off the sides of the tank so it could drain once again. The septic man told her that WEN is full of wax and that just floats on the water and adheres to the sides of the tank and totally clogs it up.

That's interesting - my hairdresser never heard of WEN but the septic guy has. Apparently he is well informed.

[Tabbycat]

Our ""honeydipper"" man told us to save our money and forget about Rid X. He told me to flush a package of regular bread baking yeast down the john 3 or 4 times a year to keep the good bacteria going. We get ours pumped every 10 years.

[RedTop]

I agree with Tabbycat about flushing yeast into the septic system. When I run out of ZEP Septi-Pak, I just use packets of yeast.

[depglass]

Our old house had septic problems in the spring because of the water table. The toilet wouldn't flush properly. So when we built our new house with a septic, we put in a power flush toilet. Maybe we never would have had a problem but I wasn't taking any chances.

[Nadjalu]

Hmmm, I have to think something else is going on besides the high water table. Our house, septic is on an extremely high water table, a creek runs right behind our house. And we haven't had an issue. Been here 7 years, had it pumped and the guy told us we shouldn't have to do it but every 4 years. Our septic field is huge. On inspection before we bought the home, we were told the drainage field is twice the size he thought it would be. So I would investigate something other than a high water table.