# I poured my lye solution down the drain...



## Nao (Jun 8, 2017)

So basically I screwed up a batch of lye solution and thought I might as well flush it down the drain since I can't use it. It was a 2:1-3:1 water/lye ratio with about 200g lye. I diluted the solution with 3-4 parts water before I poured it down the drain and then run water after it for a minute or two. 

I don't now what our pipes are made of or how old they are but they aren't particularly new. I'm also not sure if the waste water from our house goes to a separate... I don't quite know what it is, you know those old concrete wells in the ground kind of things, but with waste water?  With a concrete lid you just lay on top of it? 
Or if it goes to this giant round swimming pool looking thing where all the waste from the cattle in the stables go. I couldn't find the right words for those things but I hope you know what I mean.

So my question is, do you think anything will happen? Should I flush more water or just leave it alone?  Something else I can do?


----------



## BrewerGeorge (Jun 8, 2017)

The lye I use most often is labeled "Drain cleaner" so that's a common  usage.  The septic tank, though, is a bit more problematic.  It's not idea for the bacteria that work in there, but 200 grams shouldn't be the end of the world.  I wouldn't worry about it.


----------



## dixiedragon (Jun 8, 2017)

You're thinking of a septic tank.

It's fine. If you are concerned, you can go to the hardware store and get some bacteria boosting stuff for the septic tank. Basically, septic tank yogurt. 

BTW, our plumber said sour milk is very good for your septic tank.


----------



## cmzaha (Jun 8, 2017)

My mom was told, by the fella that maintains her septic system, to flush a table of yeast down the toilets every 3 months to keep the live bacteria going.


----------



## Rusti (Jun 8, 2017)

This is all so interesting. Where I live at the moment, with the 'rents, the 'gray water' from the washer, dishwasher and sink at one end of the house drains down back behind the house in the woods and doesn't go through the septic tank. The water the septic tank receives comes only from the bathrooms and as far as I know, we've never, in my 36 years, flushed anything extra down the toilet or sinks to boost the septic tank. Maybe it's never needed it because it never gets the crap that can sometimes get poured down the kitchen sink?


----------



## Steve85569 (Jun 8, 2017)

If ya don't kill the good bugs that digest the solids going into the septic tank you don't need to feed the tank new bugs.
What with all the anti bacterial stuff that's been on the market for too many years we do feed ours every couple of months but we do run all the house water ( gray and otherwise) to the tank and drain field.
Lye in small amounts will not kill enough of the good bacteria to make a difference in a septic system. It's amazing what those bugs can tolerate. Part of the system is nearly oxygen free and there are families of bacteria that really do their best job there.

The OP just cleaned their pipes and may have helped the drain field a tiny bit too.


----------



## DeeAnna (Jun 8, 2017)

I've seen both ways of thinking, but from what I've been told and what I learned from being a wastewater treatment engineer, the microbes from your digestive tract are all that's needed for a typical home septic system. I can see if a septic system has not been used much for awhile, it might benefit from an additive to jump start the system, but for a septic system in normal use, just use it and it should be fine.


----------



## dixiedragon (Jun 8, 2017)

Your septic system is a lot like our own internal digestion...it can chug along for a while in less than ideal conditions, but when things start to get off kilter, it can be hard to correct. And since correcting a septic tank may mean digging it up...a little preventative maintenance isn't a bad idea.

In general, though, Nao, you do need to find out how your particular system works - what goes into the septic tank and what doesn't, where your field lines are, etc. Sometimes that stuff can be weird if people added onto the house and didn't do things the right way.

A septic tank has 2 halves - one half is connected to the toilets and is made so that toilet paper can't float out of a tank and into the lines. The TP stays in the tank until it breaks down. The other half is where the stuff from the kitchen goes - stuff that won't have TP. Why don't they make the whole thing the same way? No idea. Maybe Deanna knows!

At my parents lake house, a second bathroom was added later, and goes into the wrong half of the tank. So we have to use only 1 ply TP in that bathroom, just to be safe. Also, a laundry room was added later and doesn't go into the septic tank, it goes into field lines, which is actually a code violation. But this is a rural area and nobody really cares. So if we do a lot of laundry the yard in that area will get a bit bubbly. 

So it's good to know how your wastewater system works and where stuff is, so  you can keep an eye on it and also know where to start if things go wrong. You don't want a situation where sewage is backing up your kitchen sink and you have no idea where your septic tank is.

My sister and I were looking at a house with a realtor this weekend and he mentioned a case where a couple had bought a house. The records said it was on the city sewer system, they were paying sewer fees ... but their system had never actually been connected to the sewer. so their septic tank chugged along with no maintenance for the 7+ years this couple owned the house...until things started to go wrong and they had no idea what it was, where the septic tank was, etc.


----------



## DeeAnna (Jun 8, 2017)

A septic tank often two compartments, but in the septic system design I'm familiar with, the wastewater is not split between the two. ALL of the wastewater goes into the first compartment and then flows into the second compartment. Something like this:







This first compartment is where the solid materials in the wastewater either settle or float, leaving a layer of cleaner water in the middle. The water from this compartment flows into the second compartment. The second compartment is a "wide spot in the road" where dissolved organic material in the wastewater continues to break down. 

The water then flows into the drain field -- a series of leaky pipes buried in the ground -- where the water slowly soaks into the surrounding earth. Something like this:






Some drain fields are laid on the surface of the existing ground and a mound of earth is put over the top. Other drain fields are laid into trenches cut into the existing ground. Which method is used depends on the soil type, the distance to groundwater, and plumbing codes for the state and local area.

If your plumbing is routed incorrectly so some raw wastewater goes directly into this second compartment, then solids are more likely to flow into the drain field pipes and eventually plug these pipes. The result is an expensive and messy repair. This can also happen if the first compartment is not pumped out regularly so solids can build up in this first compartment, overflow into the second, and then into the drain field.

Source for images: http://www.turf2max.com/Sep2Max/septic-tank-design.html


----------



## Nao (Jun 8, 2017)

Oh god that's just so good to hear. What a relief. 

You know when you're going around one minute thinking  that's no big deal, everything's going to be fine. And the next you're almost having a panic attack since you're not sure if you just blow the house up?

But this is just great, thank you all for making me able to sleep tonight.


----------



## dixiedragon (Jun 8, 2017)

Lye water - no big deal. But it's not a good idea to pour a lot of fat down the drain. A hard fat - like bacon grease - can solidify in your pipes and cause a clog. The bacteria in your septic tank don't do a super great job of breaking down/digesting fat, so if you pour a lot down the drain, it can also interfere with that.

Recycle your bacon grease into soap.


----------



## toxikon (Jun 8, 2017)

dixiedragon said:


> Lye water - no big deal. But it's not a good idea to pour a lot of fat down the drain. A hard fat - like bacon grease - can solidify in your pipes and cause a clog. The bacteria in your septic tank don't do a super great job of breaking down/digesting fat, so if you pour a lot down the drain, it can also interfere with that.
> 
> Recycle your bacon grease into soap.



I have a large mason jar with a layer of cheese cloth draped over the top (under the twisty rim so it's held in place) that I keep in the fridge. Whenever I make bacon I pull it out, pour the bacon grease right in. It's about half-full of creamy, clean bacon grease at this point! I think I'll need to make a bacon soap soon. :mrgreen:


----------



## Nao (Jun 8, 2017)

dixiedragon said:


> Lye water - no big deal. But it's not a good idea to pour a lot of fat down the drain. A hard fat - like bacon grease - can solidify in your pipes and cause a clog. The bacteria in your septic tank don't do a super great job of breaking down/digesting fat, so if you pour a lot down the drain, it can also interfere with that.
> 
> Recycle your bacon grease into soap.



Right, my mum's nagging me about that too. But bacon grease looks so innocent, surely it wouldn't hurt a fly. Or the pipes:mrgreen:

I would love to make a bacon soap too, I bought some cade eo a while ago and geez it really smells like a smokehouse~



toxikon said:


> I have a large mason jar with a layer of cheese cloth draped over the top (under the twisty rim so it's held in place) that I keep in the fridge. Whenever I make bacon I pull it out, pour the bacon grease right in. It's about half-full of creamy, clean bacon grease at this point! I think I'll need to make a bacon soap soon. :mrgreen:


----------

