Thread: Drum Filter Waste to Septic Tank or Compost?

Hi Everyone,

I'm trying to come up with solutions for a filter at my new home. I'm still hoping I may be able to re-use my gravity Proficlear drum (Frim came up with a good idea of having a feeding chamber before it to trick it into thinking it's being gravity fed ... which will no doubt be another topic very shortly!), but if I can do something like that I was wondering if anyone has any experience of feeding the waste from the drum directly into a Septic Tank?

We are going to have to replace some of the pipes to the Septic Tank, so there's a chance we could work the drum waste into that equation, but never having lived in a property with a Septic Tank before, I'm not sure how this would fare. In theory it should be fine in that it's more food for the bacteria in the Tank and the solids should settle as any others to be eventually pumped out, but I'm guessing I'd need to have an option to divert the waste if I was using any chemical treatments in the pond as wouldn't want anything wiping out the good bacteria in the Tank.

Currently, my drum waste feeds to a soakaway in my back garden, but I catch all the solids in a fine mesh bag so it doesn't silt up the soakaway and then I flush the sludge down the toilet... which is great as that goes into a main sewer and gets carried away nicely. But if I'm flushing it to a Septic Tank either via a toilet or directly from the drum would that be wise?

Another option is to use the drum sludge as part of a compost making trial. Has anyone got any experience of doing that? I've tried tipping sludge onto plant beds directly in the past and it created a nasty mess and smell, so stopped that PDQ!

I thought of phoning some septic tank companies for their advice, but unless they are pond owners, they may not have a clue what kind of sludgy waste comes out of a drum filter so will just say NO to err on the side of caution!

Any thoughts on how to handle drum sludge when a main drain is not an option would be gratefully received.

My drum waste empties into a plastic bucket with holes drilled around the rim. This catches most of the heavier material and the overflow runs straight into a drain connected to my house sewage system. This feeds the house septic tank. No issues at all, in the end Mrs F puts far worse down the drains than anything coming from the pond...

Originally Posted by AlanF

My drum waste empties into a plastic bucket with holes drilled around the rim. This catches most of the heavier material and the overflow runs straight into a drain connected to my house sewage system. This feeds the house septic tank. No issues at all, in the end Mrs F puts far worse down the drains than anything coming from the pond...

Yes... I'm on a steep learning curve to ensure the right stuff goes down the drains now! It's a very different world when you are responsible for dealing with anything that disappears with a flush! So, what do you do with the heavier material that doesn't go down your overflow into your septic tank?

Originally Posted by KevT

Hi
The Koi Whisperer on YouTube did this - he bought plastic crates and buried them - not sure how they are doing but you could watch his pond build
KevT

Interesting videos! This is pretty much what my current setup was like but whilst the waste water goes into the soakaway, the solids get 'de-watered' in the filter bag I have over the waste pipe and it's that 'goop' I currently flush down my toilet that is connected to the mains... but at my new house I'll be on a Septic Tank so it's my worry about how the solids from the drum will work with the Septic Tank. If it all gets sent down the pipe at the same time then the solids will be suspended in the water and will hopefully all travel fine to the Tank, but just wondered if anyone here allowed everything that their drum pulled out to go to a Septic Tank without any issues.

Originally Posted by Koiz

Yes... I'm on a steep learning curve to ensure the right stuff goes down the drains now! It's a very different world when you are responsible for dealing with anything that disappears with a flush! So, what do you do with the heavier material that doesn't go down your overflow into your septic tank?

I'm a farmer so I chuck it onto the field next to my house. You could just tip it directly into your sceptic tank- its all organic waste. I catch it partly because I am worried it would block the drain trap in the filter house due to lumps of blanketweed. I did want to put it onto Mrs F's veg plot as it is good fertilizer but she didn't like the smell...

Originally Posted by AlanF

I'm a farmer so I chuck it onto the field next to my house. You could just tip it directly into your sceptic tank- its all organic waste. I catch it partly because I am worried it would block the drain trap in the filter house due to lumps of blanketweed. I did want to put it onto Mrs F's veg plot as it is good fertilizer but she didn't like the smell...

Yes... it was the smell that put me off using it directly on my plants! I didn't want my soakaway getting clogged with the sludge which is why I caught it - plus the old blanketweed 'flare ups', but as you say it's all organic waste so I would hope it's fine to add to my septic tank, regardless of whether I can hook the filter waste up directly to flow to the tank or just carry on doing what I do now and tipping the dewatered sludge down the toilet and flushing it! I've just today found out that the septic tank is about 5,225L and as there will be only 3 of us living at the property I'm thinking there's plenty of room for some fish poop too

Would still like to hear from anyone who has used their pond sludge as part of a compost making exercise or found a way to use it as plant fertilizer without creating an unpleasant fug or insect magnet