No chlorine bleach. It kills the little critters that need to be working in the system.

Btw, I never put any septic treatment stuff down the system either.

I have a septic system and i use bleach in my laundry. As long as you don't dump more in than recommended,it breaks down before it gets to the septic system. If it does kill the critters,the system recovers fairly quickly anyway. My tank is original to the house, almost 30 years old. Having never had one, I specifically asked the seller and my sis, who lives close by, and whose husband is a contractor/master plumber. Both said that bleach is fine in laundry. Depending on the size, I've heard not to do several loads in one day,as it may overwhelm the system,but I do 4 to 5 loads in one day,once a week with no trouble. I do like to have it pumped more often than is probably necessary though. Its part of my fall cleaning routine. Wash baseboards,pressure wash outside,have tank pumped out and checked.

We've never had ours pumped in 40 years that I know of. It's large. Like I said earlier, when opened several years ago the plumber said it was in perfect condition.

Good to hear you can use bleach lightly.

I too use septic and bleach has never bothered it. Ran 7 loads in a day with old full fill machines, second rinses and Permanent Press cycle for certain clothes and it used two extra tubs of water. People worrying about detergent and bleach damaging septic is way overrated IMO.

I sure miss the old PP cycles. Think clothes just looked better and certainly a lot less wrinkles, but again just my opinion.

My septic system is 13 years old. I usually use chlorine bleach for washing whites but I'm a single-person household so typically a load every couple weeks. Both powder and liquid detergents. I also use (powder) dishwasher detergent that has bleach. The county here requires a yearly service contract with a qualified company. They do an inspection 3 times per year, every 4 months. It's an aerobic system that uses chlorine tablets to treat the effluent water which is sprayed on the "back" back yard in the wee-morn hours (if the pump tank is full enough). The sludge tank has not yet needed pumping.

Hi, new to posting here, but I've lurked here in Laundry off and on for several years. My husband installs and repairs septic systems and has been doing it for the last 25 years. I have always used chlorine bleach on one to two loads a week, and use it sometimes in cleaning. He would say that the volume of water flooding the system is more of a problem, as it can fill the tank and cause solids to overflow into the field and clog the pipes. The use of a "water-hog" TL could potentially be more of a problem to septic tanks than bleach. But, emphasis on "potential"--only if your system already has problems, or your system isn't properly sized to your household. I used an 80s "water-hog" TL for the first 18 years of our marriage with septic and we had no problems. We did have the tank pumped twice as necessary. The next 11 years I went through 2 He machines, and now I just got another water-hog SQ! But where we live now the laundry water empties into a sort of grey-water bog garden on our property. My husband is very happy with that!

A few more things:

My husband says that the stuff that you pour down the drain is a waste of money.

Don't park or drive on the septic field, or let heavy machinery drive across it. A lawn tractor is fine.

Do not flush any sanitary products down, even if they say they are flushable. Not even wipes.