I have a large packet of yeast which has an expired expiration date on it. Have heard that it's a good idea to occasionally add some yeast to the lagoon to help the bacteria balance. Don't have a clue how much to add, though. Too little might not help, and too much may hurt. Would appreciate to advice of those of you who know. Thanks. Scout

-- Scout (scout@kanokla.net), January 09, 2000

Answers

Hey Scout. The commercial stuff called 'RID' for septic systems, is a 'live' organism based product. Maybe you could follow those guidelines. Have fun!

-- Kathy (catfish@bestweb.net), January 09, 2000.

I do not think baking yeast is going to do much for your lagoon,its very tempreture sensitive,too hot or too cold and it dies.You can tell if its still o.k. to bake with by adding a Tbs. to a cup of warm water mixed with 1/2 tsp of sugar mixed in, if in a few min. it is foamy you yeast is still good. You can't always believe those dates. I think there mostly so you'll through something out and buy some more.. Doris in Idaho

-- Doris Richards (dorisquilts@webtv.net), January 10, 2000.

By "lagoon" I assume you mean a septic tank? The best thing to add to a septic tank is NOTHING except what comes out of your toilet.

A really good way to make your septic system last pretty much forever is to divert your washing machine, dishwasher, lavatories, showers, bathtubs, etc. to another area. The thing that makes a septic fail is too much water, and too much bleach type products.

If you are a vegetarian, you can also divert the kitchen sink, but you should divert it to a hillside, where the food particles will settle out while the water goes on down hill. Don't do this if you eat meat- you'll end up with a giant, gross area of grease covered with flies and yellow jackets!

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@echoweb.net), January 11, 2000.

I have been prompted to respond by a previous contributer who asks if you are referring to a septic tank and says add nothing that does not come out of the toilet.

-- Bob Jamieson (bob.jamieson@talk21.com), January 12, 2000.

I have been prompted to respond by a previous contributor who asks if you are referring to a septic tank and says add nothing that does not come out of the toilet. I could not agree more although I have to say that I may live in very different climate conditions to most contributors on this forum - the Shetland Islands,UK - where we do not have very cold winters. We have had a septic tank in operation for thirty six years without any attention. It is a simple concrete tank of two chambers - a sealed (anaerobic) chamber which empties into a vented (aerobic) settling tank, the outflow from which is clean and not unpleasant. The important thing is that NO waste water from bath, washing machine, sink etc. goes into the septic tank, and NO BLEACH is used in it. This is against current planning regulations in this area which requires ALL waste water to be put into the tank. The result is that all such tanks have to be emptied regularly by the water authority at cost to the householder or waterways are fouled by raw sewage. The only proviso I have is that I have no experience of very cold climate conditions where the natural breakdown (digestion) of sewage may be slowed down. I still maintain that the reason for so much sewage pollution of beaches and waterways is the cleaning and disinfecting of toilets with store bought bleaches and bacteriacides, rather than natural products like vinegar and biologically safe surfactants, as well as contamination of sewage with domestic and industrial wastes.

-- Bob Jamieson (bob.jamieson@talk21.com), January 12, 2000.

Not an answer, but more of a question...could someone explain how to go about diverting washer water from the septic to...elswhere? we have had a ton of sewer problems here and I suspect the washere is a major part of the problem. Our house (old) is a rental-owner is not interested in fixing things-that is pretty much up to us in our neck of the woods. We do have a dry spell each year-sw Missouri-and would love to be able to use the water for irrigation if possible. Now the tricky part. We have more sandy soil, which is great for gardening, but it gets boggy easily. And the way we are set up makes it tricky- we have a large family-do lots of wash-I figure I need some sort of tank to hold the water in and filter it before it goes out to wherever we send it. Any suggestions?

Eric

-- Eric (heartsongstormteam@yahoo.com), January 25, 2000.

Eric, if the ground around your house gets boggy, I assume it's fairly flat? I would suggest that you run the wash water out onto a lawn, or forested area. Check to see if it gets yucky, and how long it takes to get that way. If it does get yucky, just move the outflow every so often.. You can run the water through a piece of flexible pipe, or even rigid pvc pipe if you want. My folks used to run the washer water out to the gutter in a long garden hose, but I think that would put a bit of a strain on the washer's pump, probably.

If you keep moving the water outflow, the soil will have a chance to dry out and not get anaerobic and smelly.

Lawns love laundry water, by the way. My old place had a carpet of very thick, verdant grass where the wash water dumped, surrounded by dead brown grass everywhere else that was not watered.

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@echoweb.net), January 25, 2000.