Washing machines and septic tanks.

[Keith]

Snowie have been doing it all over Scotland for years, they inject it into the soil, but same difference.

[The Natural Philosopher]

well my wife does, and it hasn't.

you are supposed to do it every year, but this one seems to be good for

5 years at least.

[Huge]

Particularly since the local water company have an arrangement with the farmer whose farm I live on and they plough sewage sludge into the fields every 2 or 3 years. I can see (but not smell) a "heap" of the stuff - many hundreds of tonnes

- from where I'm sitting, waiting for the ploughing season in the autumn. It's a tad whiffy when they spread it out, but stops as soon as it's ploughed under.

[The Natural Philosopher]

When I had the old septic tank, going deep into the clay anywhere near its outfall with a spade was distinctly whiffy.

It's amazing how little smell the aerobic bacteria leave, as compared with the anaerobes.

[Andy Dingley]

Not at all! Carnivorous s**te is a lot more troublesome than vegan s**te, and humans are especially bad. Cowshit is no trouble, horse is practically fragrant. When you have carnivore shit in there, the problems start. Mostly though I can consume most cow parasites without major risk as they aren't looking for my species and aren't interested, but if it infected one human to start with, chances are it will infect me too - and thus we have cholera.

Nor is bacterial action all that reliable. If it's right down at the bottom, in the anoxic layer, not much happens. The likelihood is that a septic tank working in the ideal manner isn't too much of a hazard and isn't filling up either, but the ones that _need_ pumping are just those that are the worst risk too.

[Andy Dingley]

Sewage sludge is a lot safer than the solids sucked straight from a domestic septic.

(If they've done it right, at least)