Jim Kneiszel

I knew a recent column I wrote about the best toilet paper choice for septic tanks would hit close to home with pumpers — and potentially maybe even rub a few of you the wrong way. Pun intended. After all, the issue is particularly personal when you’re on the working end of a suction hose all day, wrestling through jampacked septic tanks. Here are a few responses to the column, as promised:

Al Kenney of Waste Connections in Brookings, Oregon, wrote:

I read your article on paper comparisons. I have great respect for Sara (Heger, Ph.D., engineer, researcher and instructor of the Onsite Sewage Treatment Program at the Water Resources Center at the University of Minnesota), as well as the (National Association of Wastewater Technicians) team. (Heger and Kim Seipp, NAWT education coordinator, were interviewed.) We run a Septic & Drain Cleaning Roto-Rooter franchise. The one thing we have found with toilet paper is that the (brands) with lanolin in them are very problematic. We tell our customers all the time to steer clear of those. There are two simple tests I suggest to people. 1) Rub the paper between your thumb and forefinger. If it feels slick, it probably has lanolin in it. And 2) Wad it into a ball and toss it in your toilet bowl. If it doesn’t start to open up like a blooming flower, try another brand. I don’t think it is really crucial whether it is single- or two-ply. It just needs to be dry paper, and used responsibly.

Richard Snyder of Snyder’s Environmental Services, Columbus, Indiana, wrote:

Thank you for the latest article on toilet paper. After 30 years in the pumping business, I have not really done my own survey but we see a lot more paper blockages in the tanks. (These days, people) purchase 72-pack super rolls, no wonder there is excess usage. When I was a kid, I remember four-pack toilet paper packages!

My greater concern is the explosive use of “flushable” wipes. We are told that if we see wipes in a septic tank not to dispose that tank at our local treatment plant because it would clog equipment. We then must haul 60 miles and charge the customer three times the price. I do agree that higher pumping cost and education of the customer are the key to stopping this problem. I see this problem as only getting worse with our younger generations coming on. 

I would like to know how other pumpers in the country are dealing with this. It might make another great article for your magazine.

WIPE OUT THE WIPES

I agree, Richard. Over the past several years, so-called flushable wipes have become a major issue for both the decentralized wastewater industry and municipal treatment plants. Misleading marketing of these products — and a lack of interest on the part of the woven products industry to make a degradable wipe — have cost our pumping customers and taxpayers billions of dollars in excessive and unnecessary costs.

Additionally, septic technicians working for every pumping company have spent countless hours emptying tanks filled with giant, stringy wads of this awful product. You horse the wipe balls out of the tank or suck them into the vacuum truck, and then what? The treatment plant doesn’t want to take the mess. Can you blame them? Wipes have become just another reason for your usual disposal location to turn you away and make you drive farther to dump a load.

Your costs and frustrations are rising due to the growth in popularity of wipes, but your customers don’t want to hear you request they stop using them. In fact, I’ve heard recently from a few pumpers whose customers would rather pay to pump more frequently or even pay more per pumpout than give up the convenience of using wipes.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

There has to be ways to attack the wipes problem as well as overuse of toilet paper. Let’s create a list of ideas to share with customers and the public to get these problems under control once and for all. Here are a few tips to start. Send me your ideas and I’ll compile them in another column.

Throw the wipes out with the trash. After my first experience calling the plumber for a clog after wipes were used in our home for a medical condition, I wised up and started disposing of wipes in a separate trash receptacle. Removing the trash wasn’t a great experience, but it beat having another $200 drain cleaning bill. If you encounter a wipes problem in a customer’s tank, suggest they also separate the wipes from the waste stream. They can collect the wipes in a plastic bag that can be tied or sealed whenever a wipe is added. Toss the wipes in the trash after collecting several dirty wipes. Another idea might be to use a Diaper Genie with a carbon filter to fight odors.

Ration the toilet paper. Parents have to start training kids to use less paper. At the risk of being too graphic in my descriptions, you don’t need a wad the size of a softball for each swipe. Those perforations in the toilet paper are there for a reason. If you were supposed to use the whole roll each time you go to the bathroom, they wouldn’t make it so easy to tear off small lengths. Maybe the manufacturers should print a warning every half-dozen squares to rip it and wipe. Of course, that wouldn’t be in the best interest of Charmin or Quilted Northern; these companies want customers to burn through paper so they have to buy more.

Super-flush the toilet once a week. As for preventing toilet paper clogs, I’ve heard from a few pumpers who echo NAWT’s Seipp when she advised homeowners pour a 5-gallon bucket of water down the toilet to keep paper moving through the pipes and into the septic tank. She also recommended scheduling pumping appointments more frequently if you can’t get everyone in the household to improve wasteful toilet paper habits. More frequent maintenance may also help with use of wipes, but the only real solution is keeping them out of the plumbing and the septic tank.

EDUCATION IS OUR JOB

You might think your job is driving a truck, or excavating a tank, or running the vacuum pump. All those tasks are the job of a pumper. But you and I are also responsible for educating the public on proper use and maintenance of septic systems. That includes sharing the cold hard facts of wipes and wiping. 

The best way to land customers for life is caring about the life of your customers. Explain that your goal is for them to enjoy the trouble-free use of their septic systems for many years to come. You want them to avoid emergency calls and the expense of repairs and replacements. They will thank you for working in their best interests.