Anyone dumping black tank in to their septic

[Country]

Folks,
Now that we are rural, we have a septic system. Is anyone here dumping their black tank in to the septic system? Any thoughts or ideas on this?

[LJAZ]

I would do it if I could. Unfortunately for me I can't get the trailer to a position either close enough or higher than the tank.

It's easy to do though if you have the right access. Just find the cleanout for the line going to the tank, remove the cap, insert your sewer hose and you're good to go.

[profdant139]

If you need to pump uphill slightly into the septic, check out the FloJet macerator -- it is not fast, but it gets the job done.

If you dump into your septic tank, I'm sure you know not to put any toxic chemicals into your black tank. The critters that live in your septic are your friends.

I don't know whether the enzyme-type black tank treatments are septic-safe. I would guess that they are, since the enzymes are intended to mimic natural decomposition.

[LJAZ]

Another thought, you might want to try emptying your black tank filled with plain water to see if the septic tank and line will handle 25 gallons being dumped all at once. That way if it backs up you won't have an unpleasant mess to clean up.

[profdant139]

LJAZ, that's a great point, and it makes me re-think my recommendation of the FloJet. The FloJet uses a lot of water in addition to the contents of the black tank. So if septic capacity is limited, maybe FloJet is not the best option.

[JimboFunFinder]

Country, we live in a rural area and I have drained the black tank into the cleanout port on the side of our home. It is a long ways from there to the septic tank (perhaps 100 ft) and have had no issues.

[NorthPuffin]

I do it without worries, remembering ProfDan's caveat about chemicals.

A typical residential septic tank is usually about 4.5 feet wide x 8.0 feet long and has about a 3 inch drop from inlet to outlet. That means that, if you plugged the outlet, your tank has "headroom" for about 67 gallons of additional effluent.

That said, unlike a cesspool, a septic tank is not a static system. The outlet pipe is as big as the inlet pipe so, unless the leach field is plugged, the tank is usually close to equilibrium. What goes out matches what goes in. Don't forget, you can dump the 45 gallons from your washing machine, the 9-14 gallons from your 30-year old dishwasher, and the 30-ish gallons your teenage daughter ran in the bathtub into your septic tank at the same time.

I know nothing about modern mound systems, though, and can't comment on their effluent throughput capacity.

[ScooterBob64]

Yes indeed, I put in a new clean out when I did some work on the septic system two years ago. Like many of you I cant get my trailer above the clean out for a simple gravity drain. I purchased a Macerator and a good garden hose that is only used for that purpose that allows me to dump my tank into my septic system. This is really handy since we do a lot of boondocking and old USFS campgrounds without dump stations. I have had no issues dumping both black and grey tanks.

[profdant139]

The other big advantage of a home cleanout system (whether with a macerator pump or a gravity drain) is that you can actually use your toilet during the trip home, rather than dumping at the campground and then having to use unsanitary gas station restrooms on the long drive home.

We used to try to arrive home with an immaculate black tank. Not anymore!