"When written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters -- one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity." John F. Kennedy
Right now our country is in crisis mode. Daily life as we knew it came to a screeching halt almost 3 weeks ago. The unknown of everything can be scary. Because of a mandated quarantine not knowing the affects of excess usage and excess toilet paper can be a danger to your septic system. We are writing this article as an opportunity for you to learn a little about the warning signals that your septic system may be telling you. Being quarantined leads to using more toilet paper and your water usage increases with having to stay home. This can put a strain on your system.
The number of bedrooms determines the size of your septic tank serving a single family residence. The minimum size septic tank approved for use in the State of Georgia is a 1000 gallon tank which will serve a 3 or 4 bedroom house.
To help keep your septic system in optimal running condition there are a few things you can do! If you are going to do laundry make sure you space it out to 1 or 2 loads per day. Saving all of your laundry for one day of the week will actually put a strain on your system. If you have a high efficiency washer 15-30 gallons of water is used per cycle. An older style washer uses 30-45 gallons per cycle.
Another thing you can do is shorten how many times a week you shower. This may mean you take one shower a day instead of two. The average male takes a 9 minute shower while a woman takes a 9.5 minute shower. 17-20 gallons of water is used for a shower.
This is a standard shower head. These run about $5-7. If you have one of these you can use up to 25 gallons for a 10 minute shower. 1 shower a day is 25 gal. 7 showers a week =175 gal.
This is a low flow shower head. This particular one is $12.49 at Home Depot. About 20 gallons is used in a 10 minute shower. 7 showers a week =140 gal.
Now, if you take a bath you use anywhere between 35-50 gallons of water per bath. This amount depends on the size of your tub. So if you take 7 baths a week averaging 45 gallons of water you use 315 gallons of water in a week.
All of this water usage is just for one person a week! Now multiply that by the number of people in your home and you can begin to see the strain it can put on your septic system. If you don't have to flush toilet paper, don't. Instead put it in the trash can. Being quarantined at home increases the amount of toilet paper going down the toilet and increases the chance of problems.
By being proactive with your septic tank you can save yourself a lot of money and frustration. The GA Environmental Health Dept. recommends having your septic tank pumped every 3-5 years. I am attaching some additional articles that we have written and will go more in depth with what we have talked about today. We hope you find these articles informative! These will be at the top right. Thank you for taking the time to read this and prayers are a constant in these unknown days ahead. Please reach out to us if you need any assistance. 2brothersseptic@gmail.com