septic tank water disposal

bill luke

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Nov 6, 2006
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hey all,i have an opportunity in a commercial building to wash rugs,but it's on a septic system.can the dirty water be pumped into the septic,i don't see any cleanouts available,either.I have done search here,and waste water dumping brings a lot of different answers.
 

T Monahan

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Tom Monahan
hey all,i have an opportunity in a commercial building to wash rugs,but it's on a septic system.can the dirty water be pumped into the septic,i don't see any cleanouts available,either.I have done search here,and waste water dumping brings a lot of different answers.

Many a rug plant is on a septic system around the world. Rug washing does not produce raw sewage and tissue waste. Because it is different, you probably should consider the volume of water and the size of your tanks and drain field that it is being discharged into.
 

bill luke

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thanks to.is there a formula to figure that out,small operation,but want to be sure before I make the plunge into buying the property
 

Brian H

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We are just signing a lease on a new property that has a septic tank and drain field. We didn't want any problems with overwhelming the system, so part of our lease agreement was for them to hook into a sanitary sewer system.

A few gallons of waste water here and there are not that big of an issue. We are planning on basing 4-6 Butlers there and they have the 210 gallon waste tanks. I didn't want issues with them dumping there.
 

Ron K

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I would seriously talk to a couple of Septic people/Geotechs/Soil engineers. Commercial Septic compared to a washing facility is totally different.
Go Slowly. How will you wash? How much water? Soil type. Existing drainfield? Perc Test? Secondary drain field? As said even just Truck mount dumping can tax a system.
 

The Great Oz

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I'd agree with seeings if connection to sewer is possible, as well as installing a larger than normal incoming water service, since for long-term growth it would be better not to have to work within limitations imposed by your location.

The folks at Dry-Concepts in Florida made a presentation of how they overcame water limitations at their location. Brilliant workarounds, but made me wonder why they didn't save the money and move to another location.
 

T Monahan

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I'd agree with seeings if connection to sewer is possible, as well as installing a larger than normal incoming water service, since for long-term growth it would be better not to have to work within limitations imposed by your location.

The folks at Dry-Concepts in Florida made a presentation of how they overcame water limitations at their location. Brilliant workarounds, but made me wonder why they didn't save the money and move to another location.

I'd like to hear more about what they did.
 

The Great Oz

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They had limited septic capability at their location. At great cost they built a water recycling plant. The cost may have crept up on them as the project went on, or maybe it was just a good business decision when weighed against the cost of moving.

Not having that information, I voted for moving.
 

Ron K

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What about dumping waste tanks at homes with septic tanks? No chemical pH balance concerns?
The volume water used in Rug washing "washes out" all the little critters that eat the solids in the tank.
 

bill luke

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Nov 6, 2006
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I can hook to the sewer,for now I will pump water from a pit into a tank and filter the water,than let it drain from the bottom into septic,slowly.do you guys with floor drains need oil seperators, that was a big concern of the sewer commission if I used a wash floor with grates.i am a very small operation hoping the commercial prescense will increase business
 

The Great Oz

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Tell them to treat you as a laundry facility.

Unless you're cleaning engines you don't have to worry about a tiny amount of oil mixed with detergent that you'll get from cleaning textiles. The waste water agency will be concerned about big slugs of oil or solvent, and big slugs of very high or low pH that will disrupt the operation of the waste breakdown process. Locally, the waste water department said that we could pour five gallons of solvent down the drain over the course of the day and cause no problem at all. If we poured in five gallons all at once they'd hunt us down and fine us.

They may require you to prefilter lint, as it can clog or otherwise damage pumps. They may also want you to install a catch basin to let the larger grit fall out so it doesn't build up in the lines. Neither will cost you very much.
 

Ron K

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The local sewer department actually were glad we were going to operate. They needed the water to make their system achieve maximum performance. With low flow everything these days, it made them have to ad water sometimes to the soup!
 

Papa John

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Back before California got all this rain I was going to filter, RO, UV my rug cleaning waste water to be used again-- I already bought the equipment-- so maybe Ill still hook it up? Lack of space for the water storage tanks might be an issue.:errf:
Maybe filtering only will be good enough for the 1st washing alleviating the need for storage?
 

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