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SEPTIC SYSTEM INSPECT DIAGNOSE REPAIR

SEPTIC CARE INSTRUCTIONS
SEPTIC CONSULTANTS
SEPTIC D-BOX INSPECTION
SEPTIC DRAINFIELD FAILURE DIAGNOSIS
SEPTIC DRAWINGS
SEPTIC DYE TEST PROCEDURE
SEPTIC FAILURE SIGNS
SEPTIC INSPECTION & TEST GUIDE
SEPTIC LIFE EXPECTANCY
SEPTIC ODORS
SEPTIC PUMPS
SEPTIC SUPPLIES & PARTS
SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN ALTERNATIVES
SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN BASICS
SEPTIC SYSTEMS, HOME BUYERS GUIDE to
SEPTIC SYSTEM SAFETY WARNINGS
SEPTIC TANKS
SEPTIC TREATMENTS & CHEMICALS
SEWAGE & SEPTIC CONTAMINANTS
SEWAGE BACKUP, WHAT TO DO
SEWAGE BACKUP TEST & CLEANUP
SEWAGE BACKUP PREVENTION
SEWAGE CONTAMINATION in buildings
SEWAGE CONTAMINANTS in FRUIT / VEGETABLES
SEWAGE EJECTOR / GRINDER PUMPS
SEWAGE LEVELS in SEPTIC TANKS
SEWAGE NITROGEN CONTAMINANTS
SEWAGE PATHOGENS in SEPTIC SLUDGE
SEWAGE PUMPS
SEWER BACKUP PREVENTION
SEWER GAS ODORS
SEWER LINE REPLACEMENT
SINKHOLES, WARNING SIGNS
SMELL PATCH TEST to Track Down Odors
SOAKAWAY BED FAILURE DIAGNOSIS
SULPHUR & SEWER GAS SMELL SOURCES
SUMP PUMPS

TOILETS, INSPECT, INSTALL, REPAIR
TOILET ALTERNATIVES
TOILETS, DON'T FLUSH LIST
TRAPS on PLUMBING FIXTURES
TREATMENTS & CHEMICALS, SEPTIC

VIDEO GUIDES: Septic Videos

WASHING MACHINES & SEPTIC SYSTEMS
WATER SOFTENERS & CONDITIONERS
WATER SUPPLY & DRAIN PIPING
WASTEWATER TREATMENT BASICS
WATER, WELLS, WATER TANKS: TESTING GUIDE
WINTERIZE A BUILDING

More Information

Photo of pouring unwanted drugs into a toiletWhat Drugs Can Be Flushed into a Septic Tank - Septic Tank Maintenance and Protection Advice
     

  • How to dispose of un-wanted drugs and medical supplies - not into the toilet, not into the septic tank, Don't flush un-used drugs into the septic tank; Excreted medications and their effect on private septic systems
  • TOILETS, DON'T FLUSH LIST
      NEVER FLUSH INTO SEPTICS
      BETTER NOT TO FLUSH
      HOUSEHOLD CHEMICALS
      OTHER CHEMICALS
      CHLORINE IN DRINKING WATER
      CHLORINE IN SEPTIC WASTEWATER
      DISHWASHERS vs SEPTICS
      DRUGS INTO the SEPTIC TANK?
      GARBAGE GRINDERS vs SEPTICS
      REDUCE IMPACT of SOFTENER on SEPTIC
      REVERSE OSMOSIS CONCENTRATE DISPOSAL
      SEWAGE PUMP CLOG DAMAGE
      WASHING MACHINES & SEPTIC SYSTEMS
      * NO FLUSH SUMMARY LIST
  • Questions & Answers about disposing of drugs and medicines by flushing them down the toilet
  • References

Click to Show or Hide Related Topics

  • SEPTIC SYSTEM INSPECT DIAGNOSE REPAIR - home
  • BACKUP PREVENTION, SEPTIC
  • BACKUP PREVENTION, SEWER
  • CHEMICALS & TREATMENTS for SEPTICS
  • CLEARANCE DISTANCES, SEPTIC SYSTEM
  • CLOGGED DRAIN DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR
  • D BOX TROUBLESHOOTING
  • DRAIN CLEANOUTS
  • DRYWELL DESIGN & USES
  • EFFLUENT RETENTION TIME
  • FILTERS SEPTIC & GREYWATER
  • GARBAGE DISPOSAL vs SEPTICS
  • ODORS, PLUMBING SYSTEM
  • ODORS, SEPTIC or SEWER
  • SEPTIC DRAINFIELD INSPECTION & TEST - home
    • DISPOSAL CLOGGING FAILURES
    • ODORS INDICATING DRAINFIELD FAILURE
    • SEPTIC DRAINFIELD FAILURE CAUSES
    • SEPTIC DRAINFIELD FAILURE DIAGNOSIS
  • SEPTIC DRAINFIELD LIFE
  • SEPTIC DRAINFIELD LOCATION
  • SEPTIC DRAINFIELD RESTORERS?
  • SEPTIC DRAINFIELD SIZE
  • SEPTIC DRAINFIELD SHAPE
  • SEPTIC INSPECTION & TEST GUIDE
  • SEPTIC DRAINFIELD INSPECTION & TEST - home
  • SEPTIC LOADING & DYE TEST PROCEDURE - home
  • SEPTIC MAINTENANCE INSTRUCTIONS
  • SEPTIC PUMPS
  • SEPTIC PUMPING REPAIR
  • SEPTIC SYSTEM REPAIR
  • SEPTIC TANK BAFFLES
  • SEPTIC TANK CLEANING
  • SEPTIC TANK, HOW TO FIND
  • SEPTIC TANK INSPECTION PROCEDURE - home
  • SEPTIC TANK LEVELS of SEWAGE
  • SEPTIC TANK PUMPING SCHEDULE
  • SEPTIC TANK TEES
  • SEPTIC SYSTEM DESIGN - home
  • SEPTIC SYSTEM INSPECTION & TEST GUIDE - home
  • SEPTIC TESTS: DYE & LOADING TESTS
  • SEPTIC TREATMENTS & CHEMICALS
InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.

Are there some drugs or medications that are safe to dispose-of by flushing them down the toilet or pouring them down a sink and into a private septic system? What unwanted or old drugs may damage the septic tank or leach fields? This document explains how to extend the life of the septic system by being careful about what goes into it.

Green links show where you are. © Copyright 2013 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Author Daniel Friedman.

Pouring Drugs into the Toilet, Sink, or Septic System?

PHOTOGRAPH of
perscription drug being poured into a toiletDrugs, prescription or prescription medicines, should never be flushed down a toilet unless your pharmacist or the drug manufacturer tells you specifically that the particular drug is absolutely harmless to the environment.

While this is not a new topic, as recently as April 2007 the New York Times reported the growing detection of pharmaceuticals such as birth control pills, anti-depressants, painkillers, shampoos, and other compounds in rivers, lakes, streams, and ground water, including possibly drinking water.

The Times article described "pharmaceutical and personal care products" or "P.P.C.P.'s which are being flushed down drains and which pass through sewage treatment systems and private residential septic systems into the aquifer.

Beyond a possible hazard of inadvertent consumption of antibiotics (and growing development of bacteria resistant to our antibiotics), it is possible that very low levels of other compounds will have a drastic affect on some animals, possibly going un-detected until that population declines beyond its ability to recover.


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Technical Reviewers & References

Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.

  • New York Times Science Section, F1 and F8, 3 April 2007
  • Our Stolen Future, Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers, published by Penguin Publishing, 1997.
  • HOUSEHOLD CHEMICALS into the septic tank?
  • OTHER CHEMICALS to keep out of the septic system
  • Percolation Testing Manual, CNMI Division of Environmental Quality, Gualo Rai, Saipan provides an excellent English Language manual guide for soil percolation testing. Original source: www.deq.gov.mp/artdoc/Sec6art108ID255.pdf
  • Soil Test Pit Preparation, fact sheet, Oregon DEQ Department of Environmental Quality, original source www.deq.state.or.us/wq/pubs/factsheets/onsite/testpitprep.pdf The Oregon DEQ onsite water quality program can be contacted at 811 South Ave, Portland OR 97204, 800-452-4011 or see http://www.oregon.gov/DEQ/
  • Thanks to reader Michael Roth for technical link editing 6/29/09.
  • The Septic System Information Website home page for this topic
  • Septic Systems Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance- online textbook. Detailed how to inspect, maintain, repair information
  • The Home Buyer's Guide to Septic Systems
  • Septic Tank Pumping Guide: When, Why, How to pump the septic tank
  • Home & Outdoor Living Water Requirements
  • Septic Tank Capacity vs Usage in Daily Gallons of Wastewater Flow, calculating required septic tank size, calculating septic tank volume from size measurements
  • Septic Tank/Soil-Absorption Systems: How to Operate & Maintain [ copy on file as /septic/Septic_Operation_USDA.pdf ] - , Equipment Tips, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 8271 1302, 7100 Engineering, 2300 Recreation, September 1982, web search 08/28/2010, original source: http://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/pdfimage/82711302.pdf.
  • How Big Should the Leach Field Be? - table of soil percolation rate vs. field size
  • Septic System Drainfield Absorption System Biomat Formation - what leads to drain field clogging and expensive drainfield repairs
  • Table of Required Septic & Well Clearances: Distances Between Septic System & Wells, Streams, Trees, etc.
  • Ten Steps to Keeping a Septic System Working, suggestions from the U.S. EPA, edits and additions by DJF
  • Pennsylvania State Fact Sheets relating to domestic wastewater treatment systems include
    • Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-161, Septic System Failure: Diagnosis and Treatment
    • Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-162, The Soil Media and the Percolation Test
    • Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-l64, Mound Systems for Wastewater Treatment
    • Pennsylvania State Wastewater Treatment Fact Sheet SW-165, Septic Tank-Soil Absorption Systems
    • Document Sources used for this web page include but are not limited to: Agricultural Fact Sheet #SW-161 "Septic Tank Pumping," by Paul D. Robillard and Kelli S. Martin. Penn State College of Agriculture - Cooperative Extension, edited and annotated by Dan Friedman (Thanks: to Bob Mackey for proofreading the original source material.)
  • ...

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

  • Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.
  • ...

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