Powdered detergents clogging septic lines?

[supersuds]

Also, from what Rich (sudsmaster) and Launderess posted, it doesn't seem so unlikely that filter-clogging hard water deposits could develop. I suspect my friends do a lot of washing in cold water, though I haven't interrogated them about it. They've become quite the greenies in the past few years, and their towels always look dingy, as catty as it sounds to say that. So it's possible the washing soda isn't getting dissolved in the first place.

 

[stan]

Don't understand

If they have been buying Tide HE, why switch to cheap liquid, or the homemade soap mix ?
Why not try liquid All (free n clear) or some such... Most liquid detergents say that they are septic safe?

Use some hot water, for white loads, and clean the screen once in a while, with CLR or something ?
Might be a good idea to empty the hot water tank to get some of the hard water build up out of it too.

Don't know what the addition of STPP would do to a septic tank? Launderers, or Sudsmasterter would though!

 

[mark_wpduet]

Interesting

I wonder what it could be.........some people with septic tanks reports clogs using powdered detergent, while others don't.

I don't have a septic tank - I'm on city water.....but I always use powder. I couldn't imagine using liquid. I don't like it.

But speaking of plumbing, this has sort of reminded me of something that happens with my plumbing.......

Sometimes, if you flush the toilet, the bathtub or sink in that same bathroom will make a gurgling sound........so I run a bunch of water down the drains in both sink and bathtub, and it stops for a few weeks......then you hear the sound again, so I repeat.......the drains drain really fast. Nothing is clogged. I have never understood why the drains gurgle sometimes in the bathroom after the toilet has been flushed. I hope I haven't got a buildup in my pipes from using powered detergent.

 

[washer111]

Since STPP is Phosphate, I would merely expect (maybe) some algal growth in the septics, or a very green lawn around where the leech-drain "lives." And if you encourage plant growth like that, then I'd be wary of encouraging tree-roots (and the like) into the system... 

 

Of course, with tree-roots living in the leech-drain, you'd probably have a hard time flushing the toilet without it, well, overflowing!

 

[NYCWriter]

I think the point is ...

... that with the introduction of phosphate-free detergents, the powdered stuff isn't dissolving properly.

Washing in less-than-hot water appears also to be exacerbating the problem.

 

[mark_wpduet]

but laundry detergent

has been phosphate free for a LONG time.

Hasn't it?

 

[yogitunes]

Mark.....you may have a blocked air vent somewhere....even the roof.....

I was having these issues too, but only at certain times....I thought to climb on the roof and figured on running a garden hose down there with gushing water to clear anything out(maybe a bird or bee nest), only to find that during shipment of the house there were these plugs in the vents, for whatever reason, once removed, all these issues stopped....

I have 4 vents coming out of the roof, and each one had a plug in it.....who would have thought....something to check out!

 

[sudsmaster]

I don't recall ever hearing that STPP could break down zeolites... and I'm pretty sure I never claimed it!

Zeolites are basically aluminum silicate. They have lots of nooks and crannies on an atomic level that can capture and hold hard water mineral atoms. In this way they function to make hard water softer. I'm not aware that sodium tripolyphosphate can break down silicates, aluminum or otherwise.

After thinking about it a bit, I figure that any screen in a septic tank must be at the top, before the lines to the drain field. To keep "floaters" from clogging the drain field lines, I suppose. I'm just guessing, but putting the filter between the house and the tank would make far less sense.

 

[DigAPony]

bathtub or sink in that same bathroom will make a gurgling

As Yogitunes suggested, it sounds like a venting issue and/or partially blocked adjacent waste lines .

Every so often I drag the garden hose into the house, remove the strainer and blast out the shower drain. Even with new 2'' PVC piping I find lots of crud can, and does, accumulate in shower/tub drains over time for obvious reasons.

Especially if the venting, size, or pitch of the waste lines isn't ideal.

Whenever I'm on the roof with the hose cleaning the gutters I will blast some water down the vent pipes as well for good measure.

 

[dustin92]

We are on city sewer now, but at our old house, which was built in 2000, we used our share of powder (laundry and dishwasher) for 12 years, and never had a problem 9 years was with a top load washer, and about 3 with a front loader. Believe it or not, the septic tank was NEVER pumped/cleaned. Still working fine to this day.

 

[mark_wpduet]

My roof

Is WAY too steep or I would. I once got on my roof to clean the dryer vent and had a panic attack because the pitch is THAT STEEP, but until you're actually ON the roof, you don't realize how steep it is....after I got down safely, I said I would never do that again....

I didn't realize how vent pipes even work.....or that you could just squirt water down them

The garden hose is a good idea. I might try it...INSIDE..

It doesn't happen all of the time though.....weird.

At least I know now what it possibly could be.

 

[launderess]

YMMV

But the thing does occur in enough homeowners to be dismissed as an old wives tale.

Wonder if water pressure has anything to with powdered detergents clogging up plumbing and or septic tanks.

Know persons that live in an apartment complex on Staten Island and their laundry room is "liquids" only. Know this because was going to donate some of my powdered detergent stash and it was politely refused for that reason.

IIRC back in the days when soap was wash day queen, it caused all sorts of problems with plumbing.

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, I could see soap scum causing plumbing issues.

Also lime scale from powders that rely only on washing soda as a water softener in hard water areas.

But I still can't figure how powders would have any effect on a septic yank.

 

[launderess]

Everything one reads keeps coming back to undissloved solids

In laundry powders as possible culprits in mucked up septic systems.

The following makes reference to "clay" in laundry detergent powders which one can only assume are Zeolites.

http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/environmental-health/plumb/top-ten-tips.htm

 

[donprohel]

"Clay" in laundry detergents

A few years ago, if I remember correctly, in Italy a detergent (I cannot remember whether it was liquid or powder) was advertised as "2 in 1 with fabric conditioner" and the advertising stated that it contained "sweet clay" ("argilla dolce", don't ask me what on earth it might ever be) which was described as a fabric softener.

Maybe some other Italian member remembers that detergent

 

[mrboilwash]

Bentonite is sometimes used in 2in1 detergents, sweet clay might be a marketing term for it.
But I doubt that this was the culprit.

Why would someone switch from Tide to Xtra ?
I wonder if there might be just a smallish chance that the Tide HE box was only used for "display" purposes and maybe got frequently refilled with Sun powder or something similar BOL that relys only on washing soda as a water softener.
Tide should have a whole bunch of chemicals to deal with water hardness and even if it "could" cause problems in a septic tank I can`t imagine a clogged drain pipe because of the use of powered Tide.

Never heard of powders causing those problems on this side of the pond, but BOL detergents with only washing soda for water softening have dissapeared decades ago when phosphates became popular.[this post was last edited: 10/29/2013-14:25]

 

[launderess]

Tide Powder And For That Matter The Cheer One Has Used

Both seem to leave a chalky residue in the SS sink one drains washers into. Indeed the Cheer powder badly dulled/discolored the aluminum tub of my minty Hoover TT. Was not well pleased.

 

[mrboilwash]

Launderess, do you mean a residue that could not be removed by flushing the tub with water ?
Sounds like you`re not talking about zeolites.

 

[launderess]

Dulling/discoloration cannot be removed by flushing, wiping, polishing thus far.

Not sure what chemicals in P&G's powder detergents caused the dulling but the Zeolites probably did not. However am sure their over use in such products along with soda ash and god only knows what else, is the reason why wash water from said powders is rather "chalky" and leaves a powder reside on the SS wash sink. Can wipe away that mess or scrub the sink with Bon Ami, but does make one wonder what is left in the wash.

 

[mrboilwash]

I could imagine dulling/discoloration of aluminium when a product`s pH is way too high, but don`t know for sure.

I don`t like Zeolites as well, they are one of the reasons why I finally switched to liquids. Did not want to inhale that nasty dust anymore when cleaning the dryer`s lint screen. In particular compact (concentated) powders like Megaperls are still loaded (up to 30%) with the stuff.

However I have read somewhere (Henkel I think) that there have been concerns about clogging sewer lines before phosphate free detergents went on the market in late 1980`s. Apparently extensive tests have ruled that out.

I think it`s not the Zeolites to blame for clogged pipes but the super lowgrade powders sometimes still found in the States that only rely on one cheap precipitaing water softener.