Using CDs with a Well & Septic anyone?

[awallrising]

I'm planning on using mainly CDs but will have some disposables on hand. I think we have a pretty deep well & have never had a water shortage problem. I'm still concerned about our water usage & our well & how all the washing will affect our septic system.

We do have a Whirlpool front loader which is super water efficient so that makes me feel a little bit better.

I'd love to hear anyone who lives with CDs & without city water & sewer.

Thanks, Amy

[AlbertaJes]

We're on a well and septic. We wash diapers about every other day, sometimes every third day. We don't notice any difference, it's just one more load of laundry. I don't even bother keeping disposables around.

ETA: I don't know off-hand how deep our well is, but it's a slow producer, I think like 5 gallons per minute or something like that. I imagine you'd use more by taking a long shower.

[scrappingmom]

I have well and septic.. and ya know..lol i never thougth about it as being any different...hmmmm.

Well OBVIOUSLY i've not had a problem with it! hehe. You really arent adding THAT much more laundry per week so as long as you dont have problems already with wel and septic i wouldnt think you would just becasue of CDing.

Septic systems basicly work that anything solid settles and teh "gray water" sorta runs off and filters out so that (ultimately) 1-2 extra washes a week might mean eliminating a long shower..... if you wanted to keep things totally equal.. but in nearly no time you're going to have a extra little flusher running around and using more water anyway.. as teh family grows, so does the water use.... nasicly.. you shouldnt have anything to worry about.

Toss a chunk of pork liver down your toilet ever few months, works like those chemical septic cleaners.. but better... and with no chemicals!!!! The guy who told me that has been doing tanks for over 40 years now, uses this in his tank and he said he's never once had to clean out his septic tank.. so he doesnt pass the tip out to much..lol

[willoLevin]

I've heard it said that washing diapers in a fairly efficient machine uses a similar amount of water to the child's later use of the toilet (flushing.) No verifiable source for that, but I've heard it.

Some people get odor issues or trouble getting thorough cleaning with front-loaders. Personally, my diapers got CLEANER after I bought my LG front-loader, so I know it can be done!

I am considering buying a tiny, hand-cranked pressure washer (looks like a tiny rotating compost bin--put in warm water, soap & dirty cloth; seal; rotate to agitate and wash) to use as a pre-wash for poopy diapers this time. Early bf poop washes out like nothing, but transitional poop gets kind of icky and sticky, and my husband REALLY hates the fact that any kind of human waste goes into our clothes washer. This might save you running a double wash load (if you find your diapers require two washes to get really clean.) Here's where I found it:
http://www.lehmans.com/jump.jsp?item...erID=77&KICKER

--willo

[Jilian]

When I started with cloth we had city water then we moved and had well/septic. I had more issues with buildup and stink with the well/septic and had to work with my water for a while to find out why. It ended up being too soft (too many softeners) and I had to cut WAY back on the amount of laundry detergent I used and also stip the diapers occasionally. so keep any eye out on your water. Make sure the soap is bubbling good during the "swishy" cycle.

[wombatclay]

We lived with my parents for a little while and they have a well/septic. It's not a great well (hand dug in the late 1700s actually) but it's all the local water table will support (deeper wells hit a particularly nasty sulfur layer, and even those go dry in the summer).

Anyway, their well can only handle 1-2 loads of laundry per week during the dry season. Which is fine for a house with two adults but not so fine when that house temporarily holds four adults and a babe! We often wound up filling gallon bottles at a local park and using those for handwashing CD (and for flushing the toilets, rinsing hair, etc). The well water also has a lot of minerals which seemed to stain the CD a bit.

Anyway, CD on a well/septic is fine...as long as the well is a good producer and you're willing to work a little harder in the event of minerals/build up.