Our vacation home has a septic tank and I have never lived with one of these. I would like to use bleach for cleaning in bathroom and kitchen. But will it ruin function of septic tank? Is there some amount of bleach I can use?
This is in New Zealand. There is no city water, we collect rainwater in a big cistern, so our water use is not unlimited.

I is a good idea to never let any amount of bleach go into a septic system. The septic system has a flora culture in it that causes waste materials and other solids to be turned into liquid form and this is how the system functions continually and successfully over a long period. Bleach kills a lot of this beneficial flora and slows down the processes in your septic system. Eventually it could stop the action of the flora altogether then you have a dead system. Go on line and research organic cleaners. These will work fine in in your bathroom and kitchen and will not harm your septic system. Actually it is best to avoid bleach if at all possible for any kind of cleaning. What can harm your septic system actually does you harm as well. There are many kinds of ways to achieve adequate sanitation without using harsh chemicals that can cause harm to you and your environment.

Sorry to disagree but normal bleaching for laundry and cleaning will not damage the anaerobic bacteria balance in your septic tank. It gets a huge dose of replenishment every time your flush human solids down the toilet. I would not go around and pour gallons into the toilet but normal cleaning and washing is fine. Been doing this for 50 years with no problems. Lint from washing machines kill more drain fields than anything.

Rupert was mistaken, listen to Bob. Since you are a first time septic tank user Let me add a little to his answer. Since the septic tank is such an essential part of a sewage system, here are some points to remember about the "care and feeding" of that part of the onsite sewage treatment system.
A "starter" is not needed for bacterial action to begin in a septic tank. Many bacteria are present in the materials deposited into the tank and will thrive under the growth conditions present.
If you feel that an additive is needed, be aware that some may do great harm. Additives that advertise to "eliminate" tank cleaning may cause the sludge layer to fluff up and be washed out into the drainfield, plugging soil pores. Some additives, particularly degreasers, may contain carcinogens (cancer-causing) or suspected carcinogens that will flow into the ground water along with the water from the soil treatment unit.
Send all sewage into the septic tank. Don't run laundry wastes directly into the drainfield, since soap or detergent scum will plug the soil pores, causing failure.
Normal amounts of household detergents, bleaches, drain cleaners, and other household chemicals can be used and won't stop the bacterial action in the septic tank. But don't use excessive amounts of any household chemicals. Do not dump cleaning water for latex paint brushes and cans into the house sewer.
Don't deposit coffee grounds, cooking fats, wet-strength towels, disposable diapers, facial tissues, cigarette butts, and other non-decomposable materials into the house sewer. These materials won't decompose and will fill the septic tank and plug the system. To use a 5-gallon toilet flush to get rid of a cigarette butt is also very wasteful of water. Keep an ash tray in the bathroom, if necessary.
Avoid dumping grease down the drain. It may plug sewer pipes or build up in the septic tank and plug the inlet. Keep a separate container for waste grease and throw it out with the garbage.
If you must use a garbage disposal, you will likely need to remove septic tank solids every year or more often. Ground garbage will likely find its way out of the septic tank and plug up the drainfield. It is better to compost, incinerate, or deposit the materials in the garbage that will be hauled away. As one ad says, "You can pay me now, or pay me later."
Clean your septic tank every 1 to 3 years. How often depends on the size of the tank and how many solids go into it. A rule of thumb is once every 3 years for a 1,000 gallon tank serving a 3-bedroom home with 4 occupants (and with no garbage disposal).
Using too much soap or detergent can cause problems with the septic system. It is difficult to estimate how dirty a load of laundry is, and most people use far more cleaning power than is needed. If there are lots of suds in your laundry tub when the washer discharges, cut back on the amount of detergent for the next similar load. It's generally best not to use inexpensive detergents which may contain excessive amounts of filler or carrier. Some of these fillers are montmorillonite clay, which- is used to seal soils! The best solution may be to use a liquid laundry detergent, since they are less likely to have carriers or fillers that may harm the septic system.
Each septic system has a certain capacity. When this capacity is reached or exceeded, there will likely be problems because the system won't take as much sewage as you want to discharge into it. When the onsite sewage treatment system reaches its daily capacity, be conservative with your use of water. Each gallon of water that flows into the drain must go through the septic tank and into the soil absorption unit. Following are some ways to conserve water that should cause little hardship in anyone's standard of living:
Be sure that there are no leaking faucets or other plumbing fixtures. Routinely check the float valve on all toilets to be sure it isn't sticking and the water isn't running continuously. It doesn't take long for the water from a leaking toilet or a faucet to add up. A cup of water leaking out of a toilet every minute doesn't seem like much but that's 90 gallons a day! So be sure that there is no water flowing into the sewer when all water-using appliances are supposed to be off.
The most effective way to reduce the sewage flow from a house is to reduce the toilet wastes, which usually account for about 40 percent of the sewage flow. Many toilets use 5 to 6 gallons per flush. Some of the so-called low water use toilets are advertised to use only 3.5 gallons per flush. Usually the design of the bowl hasn't been changed, however, and often two flushes are needed to remove all solids. That's 7 gallons! Toilets are available which have been redesigned and will do a good job with one gallon or less per flush. Using a 1-gallon toilet rather than a 5 gallon toilet will reduce sewage flows from a home by about a third. This reduction may be more than enough to make the sewage system function again. While prices may vary, 1.6 gallon toilets can usually be purchased in the $200 range, far less than the cost of a new sewer system. Baths and showers can use lots of water. "Setting up camp" in the shower with a shower head flow of 5 gallons per minute will require 100 gallons in 20 minutes. Shower heads that limit the flow to 1.5 or 2 gallons per minute are available and should be used. Filling the tub not quite so full and limiting the length of showers will result in appreciable water savings.


-Is the water from the faucet cold enough to drink? How long do you let it run to cool down? Keep a container of drinking water in the refrigerator. Then it won't be necessary to run water from your faucets in order to get a cool drink.
There may be other ways to conserve water that you can think of in your home. The main idea is to consider water as a valuable resource and not to waste it.
Following a few simple rules like not using too much water and not depositing materials in the septic tank that bacteria can't decompose should help to make a septic system trouble-free for m, too! Any years. But don't forget the septic tank does need to be cleaned out when too many solids builtreatment system.
With a water meter you can determine how much water your automatic washer uses per cycle. Many washers now have settings to reduce the amount of water used for small loads. Front loading washers and suds savers use less water than top loading machines. If your sewage treatment system is reaching its maximum capacity, try to spread the washing out during the week to avoid overloading the sewage system on a single day. Septic tanks need tender, loving care too.

Wow! Thank you for all the responses. I will go easy on the bleach and ammonia. I have never found any other chemicals that quite do the job of these. I do use eco-cleaners for many things but in the end, bleach for disinfect-cleaning, and ammonia for grease-cutting cleaning, are not beatable.

Good logical detailed no nonsense info
Thanks for taking the time
FC

Hi foh and welcome to The Plumbing Page at ANHD.com. You're responding to a 5 year old dead threads. Please check the date before you post. Thanks for your input. It's much appreciated

Ok I'm just wondering, why does it matter that the post is 5 years old? It can still be useful and this is a good way to eliminate duplicate threads on the same topic. I will say this new post above (and yes, mine as well) did not add any useful information, but I still don't understand why it is so taboo to respond to old threads.

I too appreciate the response. I wasn't looking for septic info 5 years ago but was today! Thanks!

I'll answer that seeing as I'm responsible for cleaning up the page.
Look at all the space it ate up before it got to your question?
Instead of digging up old posts, (except for reference) we prefer that you start a new thread. Regards, Tom

Why start a new thread when the question has already been answered?

Thanks for the detailed post speedball1. Exactly what I was looking for. I bought my house in the mountains 2+ years ago and discovered that the laundry was draining to the redwood trees then discovered that the original drain pipe, going to the septic, was broken. I can now repair that and send the laundry water to the septic. The redwoods will be much happier I think... 8^)

Glad if the information helped. This information was is good 20 years ago as it is today. Good luck, Tom

Thank you for the information. It has helped me quickly and a lot. I appreciate it so much. I now don't need to panic any more! Thanks again.