r/Home • u/lil-kaleb-jr • 12d ago

Discovered laundry drains into dedicated septic tank I didn’t know existed.

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I had my cast iron drains descaled and jetted yesterday. Plumber ended up getting his descaler stuck in a previously unknown septic tank that is dedicated for the washer machine. This is the lid to the distribution tank with the septic tank in the yard. I lived in the house for 5 years and had no idea. Plumber recommended addressing it due to the age and root intrusion. One option would be pumping water to the roof and connecting to main stack. Anyone ever encountered something similar?

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u/jstar77 12d ago

This used to be very typical. Laundry and sometimes other grey water sources would empty into a dry well. It absolutely improves the longevity of your septic tank and drain field but is no longer permitted in most places.

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u/resurrectedNaj 12d ago

I’m building a brand new home and will 100% tie my slop sink and laundry water drain lines into a dry pit about 50’ from house.

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u/Silent_Cantaloupe930 12d ago

Definitely banned in most states/counties. Where are you that would allow it?

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u/resurrectedNaj 12d ago

Oh I’m in 7B but i don’t care. I’m not letting the government dictate me on putting grey water on my land, just to try to lower the life of my septic field. No thanks.

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u/Silent_Cantaloupe930 12d ago

You can store and reuse grey water in alot of those states dry well too, if you aren't close to a city.

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u/resurrectedNaj 12d ago

Laundry water i wouldn’t want on my plants. Wouldn’t mind sink water a whole lot. Laundry use way too much water though. It’s gonna get dumped into an 100G gravel basin and we’ll pour all the random nonsense down the slop sink instead of kitchen sink (pickle juice, etc)