I'm new to Septic tanks and have recently moved to a house in a hard water area that has 5 toilets, all of which are badly stained. I presume I can't use brick acid, Harpic toilet "pills", or similar so how do I de-scale the loo? With a wooden scraper?
(A water softener is going to be in my future to solve the problem, but this won't be for at least 6 months and I need to de-scale them now)
You can use all of the above.
Fundamentally once everything is clean adjust PH with some brick acid or some caustic sodafa, whichever.
Or simply run plenty of water through.
The bugs will return.
You can use brick acid - just get it approximately neutral again by adding sodium carbonate or bicarbonate before flushing it away.
What you mustn't do is use chlorine bleach - that will kill the bugs. If all else fails drop a dead hen in the septic tank to restart it.
A rainwater sump might be a better option for toilet flushing.
With reference to your "can't use brick acid, Harpic toilet "pills"" presumably this is because you can't allow the resulting liquid to go past the S bend into the tank.
What's been suggested on here before, although I've never tried it myself, is to block the bend with an inflated balloon pushing it as far round the bend as you can. But not so far that you won't be able to puncture it easily afterwords.
And then apply a concentrated solution of your remedy of choice to the remaining water. Depending on how long you can leave this solution in place will probably govern how easy it is to remove the stain in each case. So that it may need more than one application.
Using a sacrificial soup ladle or similar, (or maybe not sacrfifcial if funds are very tight, I suppose) its a fairly simple matter to bail out almost all of the water in the bottom of an S bend (and thus the toilet) into a bucket afterwards if this is thought necessary.
michael adams
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A wet and dry vacuum cleaner is even easier. If using brick acid, neutralise with washing soda or ammonia first.
First buy your wet and dry vaccuum cleaner.
And in any case this was an observation about baling out toilets in general.
As from my admittedly limited experience of bailing out toilets I'm much happier consigning the results to a bucket which can be flushed away immediately, rather than the inside of a vaccuum cleaner.
michael adams
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We lived with a septic tank for 20 years and never worried about what was flushed down it. It was never of any concern other than having it emptied every other year.
Mike
Er no.
The point was to prevent chemicals used to soften the scale from being flushed into the septic tank. These are also the sort of chemicals which I wouldn't necessarily want to sit inside a wet and dry vaccum cleaner. Not without having to check various labels spec sheets and disclaimers. A bucket costing 90 p can be emptied outside over the soil.
michael adams
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Typically a wet and dry vac is a plastic bucket with a sucking thing on top. So it'll be fine. The cheap Titan one we got from Screwfix (or is it Toolsatan?) does very well for that sort of job.
Er no. Using chemicals makes it easier to remove the limescale.
It still requires manual intervention, i.e. scraping.
Only not as vigorously.
It only dissolves it in the adverts.
You put it in. Come back two hours later, or overnight.
Flush the bog and its gone. In your dreams.
The OP thought otherwise, and rather than seek to question the basic assumptions on which his question was based, I provided a solution which met his requirements.
I hardly feel that sticking a balloon down each of the 5 bogs he needs to initially clean will present any great hardship. Do you ?
michael adams
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Screwfix, cheers. Although I don't really have a use for one, at ?39.99 they're almost giving the things away as a back up for the dry vac., if nothing else.
michael adams
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Possibly the OP has been swayed by all the information avalailable on the net advising him against disturbing the delicate balance existing in his septic tank by introducing too much acid, and the possibly highly unpleasant consequences should this balance be disturbed.
For the sensitive nose of a townie at least. People with muckspreaders operating within 200 yards of their houses as part of their daily lives, may feel differently I suppose.
Not when using his newly acquired ?39.99 wet and dry vac from Screwfix it isn't. Its almost a pleasure.
Right so just to be clear. Having blocked the S bend with a balloon or similar in all 5 cases, the amount of brick acid solution necessary to clean all 5 bowls, which will necessarily have to be filled to near the brim to dissolve the limescale on the backs of the bowls, will do no harm if released into the septic tank. Those microbes will just lap it all up.
Fair enough, I'll take your word for it. Having no intention myself of ever owning a septic tank.
michael adams
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You twice referred to acid which would dissolve limescale if left overnight. The usual recommendation for this is dilute hydrochloric acid which is usually referred to as brick acid, if for no other reason than, it's easier to spell.
Your first reference
"Anyhoo given that a decent septic tank worth having probably has a capacity of 2-2.5k litres+, all this fretting over a couple of occasional litres of dilute acid"
"Your second reference in response to my statement that in adverts for household limescale removers "It only dissolves it in the adverts."
michael adams
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If you remember, I originally suggested that the application of chemicals only softened the limescale and it would still be necessary to remove some of it manually.
You objected to this and said no. It was possible to dissolve it all.
Now please explain how you intend to dissolve the limescale on the back of the bowl all the way down from the rim, such that no scraping of any kind will be necessary, without filling the bowl to the rim.
michael adams
So what acid were you actually referring, to which is capable of dissolving limescale overnight ?
If you remember it was you who insisted that this acid of your choice actually dissolved the limescale, rather than softened it, so that no scraping or other manual intervention was necessary.
That's assuming that you or the other members of your household do actually need to use this particular lavatory bowl at least once a day, of course.
michael adams
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Can you still get ammonia?
That's the usual pattern of staining in a lavatory bowl. The water flows down the back of the bowl from the rim depositing tiny amounts of limescale as it does so which build up over time.
I thought your solution to this problem, something which will dissolve limescale overnight with no need for scraping covered all typical situations. Not only your own where apparently you only get limescale under the waterline.
michael adams
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I have.
Your only references to acid were the two I've already quoted.
So what acid were you actually referring to, which is capable of dissolving limescale overnight ?
michael adams
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I think he's forgotten?
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