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Author Topic: Cleaning drains : Septic tank  (Read 7672 times)

Kimbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Anglezarke, Lancashire
Cleaning drains : Septic tank
« on: August 14, 2015, 10:30:16 am »
We have a small domestic sewage treatment plant ( not a true septic tank but we call it a ST) that works very well, but we have a 19 yr old daughter with very long  thick hair. Its not her fault but her hair has been a problem for our bathroom pipes for a long time. In our last house I used those plug-buster chemicals with boiling water to clean out the shower trap. But what can I do here that will be OK for the ST?
I should add that the tank has a soakaway down in one of our fields and it is de-sludged roughly every 18 months.
Is it time to retire yet?

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
  • Qui? Moi?
    • ABERDON GUNDOGS for work and show
    • Facebook
Re: Cleaning drains : Septic tank
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2015, 11:35:32 am »
A shower cap at home and wash her hair at college?  :roflanim:
Sorry, it's not really a laughing matter but I'm not technical enough to know the answer - my daughter is having the same problem in town with my granddaughter's beautiful long dark hair.  She has put in hair traps in their showers.
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

NicandChic

  • Joined Oct 2013
Re: Cleaning drains : Septic tank
« Reply #2 on: August 14, 2015, 01:16:11 pm »
If you've not already I'd try a trap, we use them in the kitchen to stop unwanted bits n bobs going into the tank http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00B8RZXV0/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1439554482&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SY200_QL40&keywords=plug+hole+hair+catcher&dpPl=1&dpID=31uLngmR03L&ref=plSrch

PK

  • Joined Mar 2015
  • West Suffolk
    • Notes from a Suffolk Smallholding
Re: Cleaning drains : Septic tank
« Reply #3 on: August 14, 2015, 02:53:52 pm »
I use these:-
[url][http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tala-Stainless-Steel-Strainer-Silver/dp/B004KLU6I6/ref=pd_bxgy_60_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1SCAH8AD8CW5WHJS0MFV/url]

With three daughters and a wife with long black hair it's my daily task to clear them out when I shower.

Caroline1

  • Joined Nov 2014
  • Cambridgeshire
Re: Cleaning drains : Septic tank
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2015, 03:12:44 pm »
My shower also has a built in trap which catches the hair, not a nice job to clean out, but it does the job.
________
Caroline

Kimbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Anglezarke, Lancashire
Re: Cleaning drains : Septic tank
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2015, 04:18:30 pm »
thanks I will get a trap.... but what about the gunk that coats the pipes. Body fat, conditioner etc. Sorry, I hope you aren't eating!
Is it time to retire yet?

Caroline1

  • Joined Nov 2014
  • Cambridgeshire
Re: Cleaning drains : Septic tank
« Reply #6 on: August 14, 2015, 04:36:43 pm »
The people we bought our house from said they used a pressure washer to clean out the pipes every 6 months and it did the job in the 20 years they lived there. My OH had the pleasure of doing that a couple of months ago.
________
Caroline

pgkevet

  • Joined Jul 2011
Re: Cleaning drains : Septic tank
« Reply #7 on: August 14, 2015, 06:36:05 pm »
The reality is that even your smaller tank has enough volume that any chemicals you chuck down will be neutralised by the rest of the stuff down there. Good old washing soda is probably the safest followed by some plunging..or I bought a cheapo air plunger that works well..pump it up and trigger a blast down the hole.
Another reality is that at 19yrs old I'd make her clean it out 'cos she has a lifetime of plugging up drains and it might make her more careful about where the hair goes. Also perhaps standing on a towel to shave bits might help keep the mess down.

The system i have here goes through reed ponds so we have to make sure nothing but waste, loo paper and eco friendly soaps goes down - even then hygeinic necessity has meant the rare use of bleach.

chrismahon

  • Joined Dec 2011
  • Gascony, France
Re: Cleaning drains : Septic tank
« Reply #8 on: August 15, 2015, 04:46:20 am »
In the years I spent sorting out peoples plumbing problems I always found the blockages in pipework were caused by failure of the installer to de-burr the pipes. Sawing them to length results in a burr on the inside edge that is perfect for catching hair. Perhaps you should take the pipe work out Kimbo and check it?

Kimbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Anglezarke, Lancashire
Re: Cleaning drains : Septic tank
« Reply #9 on: August 15, 2015, 06:30:45 pm »
thank you all.
Im going to try the traps with the washing soda option. And, if I can get my head round what it is, the thing you blast air with !
Id rather not use  the drain buster if I can avoid it. And don't think husband will thank me for adding " take out bathroom pipework" to his list of jobs!
Is it time to retire yet?

pgkevet

  • Joined Jul 2011
Re: Cleaning drains : Septic tank
« Reply #10 on: August 15, 2015, 07:12:21 pm »
this sort of thing ..although i bought a cheaper version on offer somewhere.
http://www.screwfix.com/p/professional-power-plunger/90321

Kimbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Anglezarke, Lancashire
Re: Cleaning drains : Septic tank
« Reply #11 on: August 15, 2015, 09:28:07 pm »
thank you very much.... just the job. Looks like it might be a bit of fun too ( Yes: I am that sad)
And Im one of Screwfix's best customers  ::)
Is it time to retire yet?

cloddopper

  • Joined Jun 2013
  • South Wales .Carmarthenshire. SA18
Re: Cleaning drains : Septic tank
« Reply #12 on: September 04, 2015, 11:37:59 am »
Kimbo,
Be  wary of using one of those pumps in  a blocked " pipe of the pan "  situation , you might get a shitty back blast like my big bro did .

 When my eldest girl with long hair ( now 43 ) & lived at home , we had a similar septic tank set up to yours .
 On advice from Tony the owner of the sludge gulping company that emptied  the tanks on request . I used to trickle two table spoons of caustic soda crystals down the  plug hole.  It didn't harm the action of the tank and it also helped to prevent long hairs being sucked into his sluge gulper tankers which sometimes caused him problems.
 
 The bathroom sink & bath had those pop up plunger type plugs which always seemed to catch hair on the sink's flanged drain mounting plate a couple of inches  down below the plug .

First table spoon of crystals was placed in the plug hole as the last bit of water was running out , the second was put down the wet plug hole then left it over night to dissolve hair and pipe crud  .
I ensured I was in the bathroom first thing before the others in the house to wash it down the drains with very hot water in the morning .

 I still do the same with our current bathroom as both Alison & our 13 yr old Munchkin have long hair , also adding in a " shallow shower " P"  trap that runs out under a concrete heated floor shower drain to the list .

When you put the hot water down the plug holes use a  kettle full for each hole and make the water in it not quite boiling , for caustic and really hot water are about the best hair and grease removers you can find.
Obviously do read the chemical hazard info on the container , wear rubber gloves a use eye protection etc. etc.
« Last Edit: September 04, 2015, 12:01:00 pm by cloddopper »
Strong belief , triggers the mind to find the way ... Dyslexia just makes it that bit more amusing & interesting

Cosmore

  • Joined Jun 2015
  • Dorset
Re: Cleaning drains : Septic tank
« Reply #13 on: September 04, 2015, 12:06:29 pm »
Although I'm follically challenged, my wife isn't and consequently hair in the pipes is an occasional problem. Also this is a very hard water area, the amount of calcification is terrible. I've found the effective answer is, when needed, an application of Hydrochloric Acid does the trick very quickly, it dissolves not only the hair and any organics and fats but also the limescale in the pipes. The dilute type used to descale steam pressure washers is fine for this purpose.

 

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