Misa, the more you put down there, the more you'll have to have it pumped. I've always had a septic system and my kids know, if it doesnt come from you or on the roll, it doesnt go down the drain or the toilet. Its that simple.

There are garbage disposals on the market made for septic systems. Its a tank under the sink that needs to be emptied. I think its gross, I would rather swish my hand around in the sink to grab the food scraps that might be left over then have to mess with a tank with old rotting food in it.

The septic tank is for waste from the toilet and waste water. Putting food down the drain will slow doen the bacteria that are needed to destroy the solids in the tank. Putting GREASE of any kind down the drain is NOT DONE!
Having a stray Cheerio going down the drain will cause no problems.
When solids are drained into the tank they settle to the bottom as they decompose. But some foods will float on the top of the tank and find their way into the leach field and clog that up. And if that happens you are looking at THOUSANDS of dollars in repairs, let alone the complete tearing up of your yard.

If you have a disposal installed it will cost you much more in the long run in the fact you will need to pump the tank more often. A tank is usually pumped out every 3 to 4 years.

Put the garbage in the garbage. Not down the drain.

If the tank gets real full & you turn the disposal on, you can have "the you know what" flying all over your kitchen.

I would not have a disposal with a septic tank. I stay away from homes with septic tanks, because all the horror stories scare me...i e. tank contents seeping into the soil around the house. IF something goes wrong with it, the experience can be not pleasant.

The way the tank thing works (in my limited understanding) is that "stuff" is supposed to settle to the bottom to decompose, some really light stuff will create a floating layer on top, the middle layer should be "clear" and that's where the filter and entry to leach field is.
When you use a garbage disposal it grinds things up into small particles - these just sort of hang around in the clear water longer than the heavier stuff that settles or the really light stuff (hair maybe?) that floats. This can cause problems with your filter.
This question gets asked a lot and people have reported using a garbage disposal with no problems. Up to you whether you want to risk it. Maybe there are speciality filters you can use.

Okay, we've lived with septic systems for over 30 years. In our last home we had a garbage disposal and never had problems with it. Of course, I was very careful about what went down it. This home does not have a disposal and I miss having one. When we do the kitchen redo, I want one installed. A good thing to use in the kitchen sink if you do not have a disposal (or maybe if you do) is a drain screen, they come in different sizes. You can buy these at any hardware store or even KMarts. It works better than the strainer that comes with the sink.
Tampons are a big no-no for septics.
Kathy G in MI

Bunch,

"If the tank gets real full & you turn the disposal on, you can have "the you know what" flying all over your kitchen."

That's one of the silliest things I've heard...

christopher, There's always a layer of scum at the top of the tank; that's what the baffles are for.

Great advice from all above; also, in many NJ municipalities (such as ours) the use of garbage disposals is illegal unless the septic system was specifically designed for such disposal.

Since your septic guy said its a no-no, yours most likely is not designed as such...and in using one nevertheless, you not only risk shortening the life of the septic system...but perhaps violating town code as well.

Replacment of a septic system in NJ can cost up to 30K or more...if there is a problem with the perc...and an alternate system is required....and, with NJDEP cracking down big time on water quality management, that is only going to become more of an issue as time goes by...

IMO, better safe than sorry.

We have an aerobic septic system & a garbage disposal. No problems yet. We never put anything in there to grind, but we do turn it on for the tiny bits that make it down the drain. I figure that little stuff is going down anyway so we might as well chop it up some more....?

When we bought the house I'd always heard that you couldn't have a disposal & septic, but the homeowners said it was no problem, our inspector said no problem (as long as we didn't rely on it to get rid of large quantities of waste) and I talked to the septic service providers who put in the service & maintain it & they said no problem ( again....as long as we didn't rely on it .....) .

I'm no expert, but I did check around & was satisfied with the answers I got. Ours has to be checked 4 times a year by a licensed septic service because this type of system is essentially a small waste water treatment plant.

Today must be my day for responding to septic system questions...I responded to one on another forum. Anyway, I do have experience with wastewater treatment and disposal - environmental engineer for about 30 years now. The USEPA has a website dedicated to on-site wastewater treatment, since 1/4 of all US homes have an on-lot system. Here is an excerpt from one of their septic system user guides for homeowners:

"Eliminating the use of a garbage disposal can reduce the amount of grease and solids entering the septic tank and possibly clogging the drainfield. A garbage disposal grinds up kitchen scraps, suspends them in water, and sends the mixture to the septic tank. Once in the septic tank, some of the materials are broken down by bacterial action, but most of the grindings have to be pumped out of the tank. Using a garbage disposal frequently can significantly increase the accumulation of sludge and scum in your septic tank, resulting in the need for more frequent pumping."

As some have said, you can use a garbage grinder with a septic system - just use it wisely and perhaps you will have to pump out your septic tank more frequently than others. If you perform routine septic system maintenance, that might not even be an inconvenience, since that means you are doing more than the average homeowner with a septic system anyway. This last statement comes from experience, by the way.

Here's a link to the EPA pamphlet (in .pdf format): http://www.epa.gov/owm/septic/pubs/homeowner_guide_long.pdf

We had a disposal and septic tank for 20 years without any problems. Large leach field and everything approved by inspectors and built to Los Angeles County Code. We had the tank pumped every two years without a problem. That code is one of the strickest one in the states

We had a septic system, no disposal, for 13 years with zero problems (2 working adults in the house). Had it pumped at the 8-year mark. We were reasonably careful about what went down the drain, but, yeh, some grease occasionally went down, a few Cheerios, a green bean or two, etc. Don't sweat it.

Thanks again everyone for the helpful info, experience, advice and suggestions. I think I'll take "better to be safe than sorry" path and avoid the garbage disposal. Extra 10 seconds to clear out the sink won't kill me. I'd rather spend the $30,000 on the house ..than the septic system.

Does the house have the laundry / dishwasher draining into the septic? If if does, you may want to look into having it drain into a separate area (can't recall what they call it).... Once we did that, we hardly had to pump it out.

If you didn't pick out your spetic system yourself then you really have no way of knowing what kind of system you are dealing with.
As you can see from the post here ideas about septic systems vary greatly.
I think you are very wise to play it safe and avoid the disposal, most of what could go down the drain and the septic could easily be composted in a worm bin from which you could get the benefit of in your gardens.

The house is only 9years old and in that time..someone ran over the original "septic" area...so the current seller had to replace the tank. According to the septic inspector the new tank is a very good one and as long as we take care of it...we should be alright (fingers crossed). He did suggest I get an Effluent Filter to put in the tank. The guy was very thorough and answered all our questions...and went on to explain other "septic" related things. He spent about 3-4 hours at the house...I wonder if the report will be about 100 pages?

Confession: I hate garbage disposals and didn't have one installed in our new home. I don't like having that "goop" inches from the sink where I'm washing food. There is so much stuff that you can't put into a disposal anyway, it's been absolutely no problem to live without one. In six years, I think there have been three times I've needed to resort to the toilet to dispose of something too large and wet for the garbage. I have a pull-out garbage/recycling immediately left of my sink. Don't miss the disposal or it's iffy internal sludge.