Laundry Tips for the Health of Your Septic System

Doing your household laundry adds a large amount of water to your septic system. Following a few tips will prevent problems.

Try to do no more than one or two loads of laundry each day. It is better to spread out a week's worth of washing rather than run multiple loads on a single day, especially if you have a standard washer that uses a large amount of water for each load.

Purchase a new top loading or front loading high efficiency washer to replace your old standard top loading washer. High efficiency washers use around 15 gallons of water for each load versus 30 to 40 gallons per use of a standard machine.

Don't use excessive amounts of soap or detergent. Many laundry detergents contain nonylphenol ethoxylate surfactants. Surfactants are the ingredients that make detergents effective in lifting soil particles off the surface of a fabric. These chemicals can be serious contaminants of ground water and surface water in the environment if not handled properly in a septic system.

The type of septic system will determine which type of laundry detergent is the safest to use. For a conventional, gravity-powered system, use a liquid form of laundry detergent. However, for an aerated septic system, the better choice is a powdered septic tank safe laundry detergent to avoid excessive foam in the aeration chamber. Detergents should be concentrated, low-sudsing, low (or no)-phosphate, and bio-degradable. Non-chlorine, non-ammonia, non-antibacterial, non-toxic and bio-degradable products are recommended.

Brands we recommend:

All Free and Clear Liquid Laundry Detergent Bi-O-Kleen Laundry Powder Cal Ben Seafoam Laundry Soap Charlie's Soap Laundry Detergent Country Save Laundry Products Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds Earth Friendly Laundry Products Ecover Liquid Laundry Wash Ecover Ultra Washing Powder Ecover Wool Wash Laundry Liquid Healthy Living Fresh Laundry Concentrate Mountain Green Ultra Laundry Liquid Mrs. Meyers Laundry Detergent Naturally Yours Laundry Detergent Oxy Prime Laundry Detergent Planet Ultra Liquid or Powdered Laundry Detergent Planet Delicate Laundry Wash Restore Laundry Detergent Seventh Generation Laundry Liquid Seventh Generation Laundry Powder Sodasan Soap Washing Powder Ultra Citra-Suds Natural Laundry Detergent