Farm septic - sinks/bath/washer into septic??

The sewer pipes are running slow. Thought the septic tank might need pumping. Opened it and everything is good. Tank drain is open, but flow into the septic is very weak to no flow. Can't get a snake though from inside so I must have some roots or broken tiles outside. I see some of the original cast iron sewage pipes in the basement are getting pretty weak due to rust. The gray water pipe could be replaced as well. This is all original from about 1956. At that time the gray water was diverted around the septic and joined with the septic water down stream from the septic tank. If I redo some of these pipes in the basement it would be a great deal easier to mix the sewer lines with the waste water lines in the house and run everything through the septic. I understand this is the norm today - that gray water must be treated. Old septic systems tried to keep the waste water out because lye which was the primary detergent killed the septic bacteria. Is this the case??? Can I dump gray water into the sewer pipe anywhere or should they be combined at the exit point of the basement? Thanks for you ideas.

I put my septic system in in 1979. The only think that goes through septic tank is the tollet , sinks and showers in bathroom.The clothes washer, kitchen sinks, and sump pump go through a grease trap and then into leach field bypassing septic tank. Our first tank pump out of tank was at 30 years. If you have roots in in pipe get one of these guys that has the tools to cut out roots and them they chemicals hat will kill roots.

Back in '56 the plumbers used a pipe called "orange burg". This was put in the house that I now live in {Family home}back in '57. This type of pipe will collapse. It seems as to be made out of paper. Hope this helps.

here everything goes thru the septic tank, if it's pumped every 5 or 6 years you will be ok. i would not risk running your grey water into the leach field without some kind of tank to seperate the grease and other contaminates. your leach field or leach bed depends on clear water to work properly. any solids getting into it will soon plug it up. the key is pump your tank on a regular basis. 40 years in the business and i did learn that.

Cast iron pipes corrode shut over time, would not be surprised if that is where the problem is.

We run everything through the septic tanks, even water softener backwash, have never had a problem, been doing it that way for 45 years.

Orangeburg was basically tar paper wrapped into a tube and it WILL fail sooner or later...

Recently helped friend replace the sewer line from house to tank. It was full of tree roots.

Now he has a royal flush

A lot of folks just dig whats called a washer pit. Just your tub and washer on that line. You have to be careful about adding a sink only because it will and you will dump some solids down the drain and take a chance of something stopping it up over time.

You can run gray water through the septic tank, if you are careful.

A lot depends on how heavy it gets used. If a large family it will probably overwhelm it.

Adding a grease trap to the kitchen waste, and no disposal will help.

Laundry detergent is much less toxic than it used to be, limit your use of bleach.

I agree, any cast iron lines, and the line from the house to the tank that can be replaced with PVC will be a plus. Be a good time to add back to back clean out Y's in the line to the tank. A good way to seal the line where it goes into the tank is with expanding foam.

Andy, some good replies here as usual on YT .... I'd like to think they know of what they speak but have you asked a local septic system installer or heaven forbid a local inspector or someone who knows the building codes in your area?

You need to check local codes, here everything must run into septic.

Septic systems usually need to be up-to-date anytime a property is sold. It would be worth your time to see what your local codes are to avoid having to do the job twice.

Your county or state probably have the requirements posted online. Getting some quotes from local contractors would be the easiest way to start without investing a lot of time or money.

If it is built in the 50s, I would assume orangburg was used, has collapsed and will need replaced.

Most areas will not let you sell a property unless septic is up to code, and doubt running grey water outside tank will meet code.

In my town no one can have black water running out on the ground. grey water is also not to be running out on the ground, but with the lack of rain people use grey to water plants. It doesn't seam to be much of a problem with the city. My clothes wash water goes to my trees. I plumbed my dish washer water to another smaller pit, because my septic system is not working like it did 40 years ago. Stan

I agree to update the septic system as best you can- replace the Orangeburg, and put the grey water in with the black water. Houses now are plumbed to add the grey water wherever it is convenient, not all bunched up at the end, because having grey water running through the system will help keep the black water "chunks" moving along, if you get my drift. But DON'T get the county involved- there's a difference between "up to code" and "good enough to sell"- and you're going for the latter. Most jurisdictions don't make you get it up to code to sell- just require the septic be pumped, and for the pumper to look it over and check the box "system appears to be working properly". Having ASB pipe running into and out of the tank will help in that regard.

Dealing with solids in grey water is easy- just don't put any in! No garbage disposal (anyone who puts a garbage disposal in a house with septic system should be "took out and horse-whipped"), and just don't let any solids go down the drain- put them in the compost instead. Pour grease into the garbage, not down the drain. Wife and I are sticklers for this- and in nearly 50 years, not only have we never had a septic problem, we have never even had a clogged J-trap! BTW, run really hot water down the sink drain every once in awhile to keep the trap cleared out.

Also check your septic vents, may be plugged or collapsed as well.

Having been a biology teacher my whole career....I read some scientific article stating that gray water, that is , water used to wash clothing should not go into septic system. Because, let?s face it, when we wash a garnet there is a certain amount of the fibers in that cloth that is removed and sentdown the drain. Synthetic fibers will not rot and as a result they do not break down in the septic tank and lastly end up in the laterals and lateral field and clog it up! Cotton fibers do break down.
The less gray water you put down the drain the better off the system will be. Gray water can go on the ground, into a ditch, or into a dry well/ sump type reservoir.

(quoted from post at 02:54:32 11/06/18)
The less gray water you put down the drain the better off the system will be. Gray water can go on the ground, into a ditch, or into a dry well/ sump type reservoir.

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Not in my county, all waste water must go into the septic tank, gray or otherwise. There's already too many yahoos spewing their crud onto the ground contaminating the surface waters. Is getting bad enough they are proposing mandatory inspections because of said yahoos who don't maintain their systems or improperly handle gray water.

Synthetic fibers from clothing do not decompose. They plug up the pipe and leach field. Gray water should not go through septic system. It can be run into dry wells or run onto surface along with sump water and downspout water.

Where I live all gray water must go into the septic.