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How Can I Conserve Water on a Septic Tank System

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If you are new to having a septic tank system, then the idea of having too high of a water flow into the tank may be new to you. You may have been told by your contractor that you need to limit the water flow in order to prevent the pipe to the septic tank from having issues, from having water backup into the home, and from having issues with tank overflow. If this is the case, then you may be looking at ways to limit water consumption and waste, but be at a loss on how to do it. Here are few methods you may not have thought of or been introduced to already.

Greywater System

One of the more in-depth, but also long-standing routes to take for water consumption on a septic tank system is to go with a greywater system. Essentially, this is a water recycling system for your home. It will take water from laundry, dishwashing, and bathing and recycle it through filters and back into your home to areas that use a high amount of water such as your toilet, outdoor hoses for gardening, and other areas of the home depending on your preferences. This can reduce the amount of water actually making it to the septic tank and help reduce your water bills as well.

Dishwasher and Toilet Valves

Two of the largest consumers of water in your home are the dishwasher and toilet. In one flush you can use several gallons of water alone. If you are running the dishwasher and flush the toilet or have several members of your home doing the same, that is a lot of water flowing into the septic tank system. You can reduce the amount of water used in both the dishwasher and toilet but installing energy efficient and water conservation valves. These valves use less water while still delivering the same amount of pressure that larger water consumption does.

Reduced Usage

One of the easiest ways to reduce the amount of water consumption is to instill a reduced usage chart. For example, if you are taking a lot of baths instead of showers during the week, switch to showers. If you have everyone taking showers daily, reduce it and put everyone in the house on a schedule. Reduce the amount of times you are washing dishes by reusing the same dish throughout the day. Reduce the amount of laundry you are doing as well. You may believe that you don't use that much water in showering or washing dishes until you start a usage chart. So, look at all these areas, no matter how redundant it may seem, and you may find that you do have high usage times and areas you normally would not have thought of.

With these three reduction efforts in place you can reduce the amount of water going through your septic tank and help reduce the chemicals and build up in the septic tank as well.


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