brewing and septic systems

[sallad]

well, i'm about to buy my own brewery (read "buy a house in which i will brew excessively"). unfortunately, this house does not have public sewer available, so i have a septic system. now, septic systems rely on large amounts of - the brewer's enemy - bacteria to function properly.

right now, i just use a bunch of bleach to sanatize everything and dump it down the drain. i fear this would also be detrimental to my septic system, should i do such things in my new house. and i'm not about to give up brewing just because of the septic system!

anyone else have a septic system? are there any issues with brewing? i could dump the bleach water out back behind the garage, but i'd also like to be enviromentally friendly, so thats probably not a good idea either. what about "no rinse" sanatizers? will they harm a septic system, or all the other creatures living behind my garage?

[Brownbeard]

The yeast from the trub should be great for the septic system. All those yeasties eating away at that sewage.

[toneyc]

I pour my sanitizer or bleach solution out on the driveway. I figure the bleach will evaporate out and I didn't want it in my septic tank.

:)
Toney.

[BucksBrew]

I have a septic system and was using bleach before due to cost.

But it needs too much water to rinse off and it kills the bacteria you need in the tank.

I use nonscented soap to clean with and One Step for sanitizing. It is only $16.00 for a 5lb. bag, which I put in a tupperware container. One tablespoon per gallon and I usually mix only two gallons at a time in a large flat tupperware container which holds 75% of my racking cane. I let my stuff sit in the container, rotating until needed.

I dump the trub down the drain and I went out and bought Rid-X (?). This is a bacteria for the septic system to correct what the bleach damaged bacteria wise.

I feel totally comfortable now with this setup.

[Brownbeard]

Isn't Rid-X basically yeast? I remember using that when we had the septic tank, and I am sure it is just a yeast product. You should be able to replace that with trub.

[BucksBrew]

Rid-X is a bacteria, yeast, I don't know. I bought it to help me bridge the gap from bleach to One step over the course of a month or two of brewing to help correct what the bleach may have damaged.

[brewmonkey]

I would call the local wastewater treatment plant, even though you are not hooked up to them they should have a biologist on staff that could help you.

It is my understanding that the yeast we brew with is harmful to a septic system as it is not the same kind of yeast/enzymes found in products such as Rid X.

[hemogoblin]

We have septic. Don't pour any bleach down there! I too dump mine on the driveway. The chlorine in the bleach will expend itself easily, oxidizing dirt etc., before it gets into any waterways. Worst thing you could get dumping bleach on the ground is a lot of dead grass.

I chuck my trub and spent grain into my little stand of banana trees. Great compost.

I dunno about dumping yeast into your tank; I can't see it hurting anything by producing alcohol. As far as I know there shouldn't be a lot of, er, sugar down in there.

[Beerconnoisseur]

Septic systems use bacteria to break down products. As such, most of the byproducts you get from brewing shouldn't make their way into your septic system, if you can avoid it.

Ethyl alcohol is quite effective in killing bacteria (it's used in some hand sanitizers), and for the same reason, you don't want to dump chlorine/other sanitizers down the sink. Even hops are used as a preservative to guard against bacterial spoilage. I usually just pour any sanitizer out in the driveway/street, or use it to discourage weed growth, on occasion.

The only bad thing I've encountered when dumping grains, is the wet, sugary mix can attract roaches. I had one bottle explode in the kitchen, and was fending off wave attacks of the insects that would do the Red Chinese Army proud.
:eek:

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by Beerconnoisseur
..., and was fending off wave attacks of the insects that would do the Red Chinese Army proud.


Hehe - what a visual :p

[evilredlight]

very interesting thoughts on the issues of septic systems, I had never thought about the harm of bleach.

I use Ecolox (don't know what this is) for sanitising because I am told it is enviromentally friendly and does break down.

I also have a public sewer system, well basically we pipe it into the harbour, so I wanted to make sure I wasn't doing to much harm myself!

And I pour the trub + half carboy of water on my composter

[frspinale]

I have been under the impression that yeast in your septic tank was beneficial. Granted, in small amounts. I have a septic system and have been pouring my trub down the drain for as long as i can remember. I also have my system pumped and inspected every year ( tank and field.) To date there has never been a problem.

I should add that i never allow bleach to go into my tank but I do rinse with one-step sanitizers exclusively and have not seen any harm caused to date. I suppose I will look into this more. I am scheduled for a pumping and inspection next week, I will ask what their take is on this.

[BucksBrew]

Properly designed tanks have enough space for up to three years safe accumulation of sludge


Link:http://www.inspect-ny.com/septic/tankpump.htm

I only pump every 3 yrs. or so with my system. Once a year seems too often IMO.

FYI.

[frspinale]

Agreed, it does appear to be too often. I brew at least twice a month and because of the amount of trub and sanitizer that goes down the drain I prefer to pump it out yearly. It seems like a small price to pay for preventive maintainance.

[BucksBrew]

Originally posted by frspinale
Agreed, it does appear to be too often. I brew at least twice a month and because of the amount of trub and sanitizer that goes down the drain I prefer to pump it out yearly. It seems like a small price to pay for preventive maintainance.

Now you got me thinking!

[toneyc]

I asked my septic tank pump guy and he said once a month or so, mix up the following and pour it down the drain:

1c sugar
2c water
3 pkg yeast

I assume that he means the baker's yeast like Fleischmann's, but is there a whole lot of difference in what they do?

:)
Toney.

[brewmonkey]

Check Here (http://www.davesseptic.com/info.html)

[BrewDog]

A guy from work stopped home brewing a few yrs ago. He and his wife had a kid, and they moved into a house with a septic tank.

He wants to start brewing again, but is afraid of putting sanitizers in the septic tank, and doesn't want to dump them on the lawn either because he has a well.

I started wondering if Star-San can be denatured (?) by adding a bit of baking soda to it (after you are done using it).

Any thoughts?

[Fly Creek]

I have a septic system too. I generally drain sanitizer (I use B-Brite for the fermenter) out the back door onto the patio where it leeches into the gravel and crushed stone base. Depending on the weather, I send the trub and other sediments down the drain, no problems with the septic (yet?). Spent grains and hops go to the woods out back. The deer think it's candy.

I have heard the various arguments over whether yeast is good or bad for the system and cannot figure out what to believe. I guess the way to go is to just tear open the lawn every 5 or 6 years and get it pumped out.

[Trogger]

Dumping sanitizer on your lawn in small amounts that are required in homebrewing will not affect a well. It should be deep enough that the trees, grass, worms, etc, filter the water before it seeps down that far. Typically, ground water is very clean, unless you live near an industrial facility or dump. Also, ground water flows and anything like this that you dump in small amounts will just get caught in the flow and be diluted.
Now all that said, with all sincerest due respect to all who read this, don’t dump crap on your driveway, lawn, etc. It’s bad for the environment! This includes fertilizers and pesticides/herbicides, sidewalk salt and bleach too... Keep them to a minimum. (Geology degree, with classes in hydrogeology and minor emphasis in environmental studies.) Each single person doesn’t do much, but if you live near a city, you see the difference it makes because all the people. Where I live, in Madison, (only about 250,000 people) we have so many snobbish people who insist upon fertilizing their lawns to make them nice and green every year that we have eutrified (over supplied with nutrients) our beautiful lakes, that they are clogged with seaweed and the native fish are starting to struggle from, believe it or not, too much food and nutrients. We also have nasty algal blooms in July and August. (They commonly have to close down the beaches due to parasites!) Please don’t do it. OK, sorry, editorial over…
Read the site that was posted above by brewmonkey. Baking soda is bad for the septic tank. I think all the argument is relatively moot, here, if you simply get it pumped at intervals recommended by the manufacturer/installer/service tech. When we clean our toilets, sinks, etc, we are putting far worse chemicals down there than a little sanitizer to clean beer. As far as yeast, the web site above notes yeast is bad too, but I would think we again, go back to the pumping…do it when required. Maybe add Rid-X or whatever recommended by your service tech. With all your “stuff,” the septic tank is the “best” way to dispose of it, and get it cleaned on a regular basis. That environment is far more controlled.
Biodegrabables, such as the yeast and grains could be put in a compost heap or in the back woods, that is easily absorbed and used by the environment in small quantities and never makes it into ground water.

[Drink to much]

I know a guy that has lived at the same house for 13 years with a septic tank and his wife uses bleach every time she does laundry and has not had it pumped as long as he has lived there. I use bleach and Idophor and have a septic, I brew almost every week. I put the grain in the compost and everything else goes down the drain. I do not plan on pumping my tank until I move unless I get some salmon coming back up river to spawn.

[BluesHarp]

Trogger is correct...algae looove nitrogen, the chief ingredient in lawn fertilizer...especially the cheap ones.

[Trogger]

I re-read what I posted and wanted to apologize as it seems more of a rant than I intended it to be. The points are still what I wanted, but in message boards it comes off wrong.
Sorry for sounding like that all.

[BrewDog]

Trogger-

Don't worry about the 'rant'. While I am far from being a tree-hugger, I don't believe in dumping toxic waste, either. Common sense and moderation is good, IMO, and I think that's really where you are going with your post.

I understand that baking soda is bad for the septic system. I was only asking if a small amount (maybe a teaspoon or tablespoon) might be enough to neutralize the star san so that it won't kill the 'good' bacteria in the septic system.

[Trogger]

BrewDog,
Thanks.

For the baking soda, that would chemically make sense. The question is how much? You could check with a chemist, if you know one...