When it comes to protecting your septic system, septic safe toilet paper is your best choice. All septic safe toilet paper isn’t necessarily created equal, however. In order to choose the best personal hygiene paper for your home, it pays to understand how toilet paper affects your septic system and the various types of paper available.
What Toilet Paper Does to Your Septic System
No matter what type of toilet paper you use in your home, all personal hygiene paper has an effect on your septic system. Toilet paper that you flush makes its way to the septic system tank where it will stay until you have the system pumped. That means that the toilet paper accumulates in your septic system. Keep in mind that all solids stay in your tank and there is no mechanical device that breaks the contents down. Instead, the solids are broken down by the water and the bacteria in the septic tank water.
Toilet Paper Ply Matters
When it comes to septic safe toilet paper, the type of paper you choose matters to the health and well-being of the septic system. Keeping in mind that the water and bacteria break down the toilet paper over time, consider that the thicker the toilet paper, the less chance this will happen—especially not quickly. Thicker toilet paper is also much more likely to clog drainage pipes, causing backups.
Bulky, multi-ply septic safe toilet paper takes considerably longer to break down than thin, single-ply and it fills up your septic tank much more quickly. The more multi-ply toilet paper you use, the more often you’ll need to have your septic tank pumped. Use single-ply toilet paper in moderation, instead, and you won’t have to have your system pumped as often. There are even some products on the market labeled as rapid dissolve.
Other Toilet Paper Considerations
Besides filling up your septic tank faster, thick-ply toilet paper often also contains new wood fibers, rather than all recycled product, as other preferable toilet papers do. Given the availability of recycled toilet paper that is one-ply, it makes even more sense to choose this type of toilet paper for the home. Check the label to see if the toilet paper you are choosing is made of 100 percent recycled materials.
For questions about toilet paper choices and the health and wellbeing of your septic tank in general, contact The Pink Plumber today.
