As you hear the grinding sounds of the garbage disposal, you couldn’t help but recount the things that you have done for your septic system lately. Admit it. You have been extra precautious when it comes to keeping your septic system in tune at all times. A great lesson was left for you when your lateral lines failed a year ago. It did just a few months after you had your garbage disposal installed. But that was a year ago already. Since the corrective measures and restorations were done, your garage disposal and your septic system already co-exist harmoniously. This brings about the question that constantly haunts homeowners like you…do garbage disposals really harm lateral lines?
The answer to this question can easily be answered by responsible or reformed septic system owners. Even with the proper care and consideration, garbage disposals can harm lateral lines if used in excess. This is true for many of those who have found the best maintenance practices for a septic system with a garbage disposal unit attached to it. There have been so many stories about failed systems just because they have a garbage disposal. Oftentimes, they have blamed the appliance and uninstalled it so that they could “rescue” their septic system. These homeowners have no idea that their septic system was bound to fail even if the garbage disposal wasn’t installed.
Septic systems are supposed to be pumped at regular intervals (typically every 2 to 4 years) so that it could be rid of the sludge that threatens to block the drain field, particularly the lateral lines. Proper use if the toilets and drains should be done so that no non-biodegradable materials could enter the system and damage it. There are homeowners who do not even think of their septic system from the moment they had it installed. They add even more strain to their failing septic system by installing an appliance like a garbage disposal unit.
Having a garbage disposal to help you get rid of your table scraps is very convenient especially in a very busy household. But this addition requires you to make sure that everything is fine down below. Technically, garbage disposals do not harm the lateral lines of your septic system if you do some extra measures and limit the amount of use. One is to keep on pumping out your septic tank regularly. Some say that you have to do this extra often but this would not be necessary if you do not dump non-biodegradable/very hard solid wastes and grease into your toilets, drains, and even into your garbage disposal. Even if these are grinded up, they still remain as they are and this would only clog up the lateral lines of your leach field.
Another way to keep your lateral lines safe is to put biological additives in to your septic system to help make the breakdown of the solid wastes much faster. The additional non-pathogenic bacteria will aggressively consume the solid wastes that enter into your tank…no questions asked. You could also have filters installed in to your septic tank to double check the effluent that disperse into the leach field and flow into the lateral lines. An extra tank of a much larger tank would also help in making sure that all the solid wastes would be accommodated and degraded properly. This would also decrease the possibility of septic tank overflow and lateral line failure.
Now that you have learned that the safety of the lateral lines depends on your care and maintenance and not on whether you have a garbage disposal or not, you could lay back and relax. It is just like having another pet in the house. You have to send more time and effort to make sure that it co-inhabits with your existing pet and your family. You better start spreading the secret to your friends before they all start uninstalling their garbage disposal units. This appliance was meant to help and not make your life miserable.
