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Here we describe and provide photos of a simple test demonstrating how bathroom tissue should be expected to break down inside of the septic tank. Also see TOILET TISSUE? which addresses the questions of whether or not we should use special or bio-degradable toilet paper when a home is connected to a private septic system and what kinds of paper or toilet tissue may damage the septic tank or leach fields?

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This document is a chapter of Inspecting, Testing, & Maintaining Residential Septic Systems an online book on septic systems.

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Testing Toilet Paper for Septic System Breakdown

Here we demonstrate a simple low-tech toilet paper test to explore what happens to toilet tissue when it enters the septic tank or sewer system. At TOILET TISSUE? we explained that in a conventional septic system using a tank and drainfield, ordinary toilet tissue does not harm the septic system. The toilet tissue remains in the septic tank, kept from flowing into the drainfield by septic tank baffles, and eventually toilet tissue breaks down in the septic tank and is not a solid bulk problem at normal levels of usage. To see just what actually happens to toilet paper in a septic tank produces photographs that some readers may not wish to examine closely, so in our forensic laboratory we made the simple toilet paper test illustrated here. One square of Rite-Aid® low-cost bathroom tissue was inserted into a quartz-glass test jar containing approximately 100 ml of tap water (photo at left).

We capped and shook the jar of water and toilet paper for approximately 30 seconds (photo at left). This agitation is more violent than what happens in a septic tank, but there too the incoming and outflowing sewage, combined in some systems with bactreial action and mechanical aeration, produces agitation of the sewage in the tank, including toilet tissue. You can see that very quickly the toilet tissue separated into a large number of very small, fine paper fragments suspended in the water. Still, we would not want even these small fragments to flow out of the septic tank into the drainfield, as soil clogging would follow, reducing the drainfield life. The job of septic tank baffles is precisely that of keeping floating scum and solids in the septic tank.

But what keeps these small particles of toilet paper (or other waste) in the septic tank if they are agitated into and mixed with septic liquid effluent that will indeed flow out through the septic tank outlet baffle and into the drainfield? Time is the answer, or in septic-speak, settlement time. During periods of inactivity mechanical agitation of sewage in the septic tank is reduced, allowing solids to either settle out into the sludge at septic tank bottom, or coagulate in the floating scum layer at the top of the septic tank. You can see in this photo (left) of our toilet paper test that after just 1/2 a minute the toilet paper fragments have already settled out and begun to collect on the bottom of our test jar. See EFFLUENT RETENTION TIME for details about septic tank settlement time. Further septic tank agitation during use may re-mix these toilet tissue fragments, causing them to break into still smaller fragments that again will settle out of the liquid, moving towards the septic tank bottom. Eventually the cycle of agitation and settling will virtually dissolve the toilet tissue to very small microscopic paper fibers that may be digested further by fungal or bacterial action in the septic tank or drainfield. Our toilet tissue test shown here was performed in simple tap water, without the benefit of septic tank microorganisms that would be expected to further break down bath tissue into ever smaller, septic-tank-digestible, fragments. That is why when the septic tank is opened for pumping and cleaning (see SEPTIC TANK PUMPING SCHEDULE), only the most recently-used toilet tissue is going to be found visible in the septic tank.

We will keep this test in our laboratory and will provide here further updates and photos on what happens to toilet paper in plain tap water.

See WASTEWATER TREATMENT BASICS for a simple explanation of how septic sysetms work.

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WHAT CAN GO INTO TOILETS & DRAINS?
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
TOILET TISSUE?
TOILET TISSUE TEST
WASHING MACHINES
WATER SOFTENERS
* NO FLUSH SUMMARY LIST

• New York Times: "What Mr. Whipple Didn't Say: Softer Paper is Costly to Forests", Leslie Kaufman, New York Times, 2/26/2009 p. A17
• Greenpeace: 2/18/2009 article at http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/press-center/reports4/tissueguide includes a downloadable .PDF file. The Greenpeace site reports "Did you know? Americans could save more than 400,000 trees if each family bought a roll of recycled toilet paper—just once. Recycled tissue products help protect ancient forests, clean water, and wildlife habitat. It's easier on the Earth to make tissues from paper instead of trees. Download our printable pocket-sized version of the Guide."

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More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

• The Septic System Information Website home page for this topic


• Additives & Chemicals: Septic System Maintenance - Are they even needed? Are they even legal?
• Biomat Formation in the Septic System Drainfield Absorption System - what leads to drain field clogging and expensive drainfield repairs
• Buyer's Guide to Septic Systems - what to do when buying a home with a septic tank
• Cesspools Home Buyer's or Owner's Advice
• Cheating on Water Tests - (Chlorine in Wells and Septics) Testing Water for Real Estate Transactions - Water Test Cheating Warnings for Home Buyers and Home Inspectors
• Clogged Drain Diagnosis - is the problem the septic system or the Building drain system?
• Drywells Home Buyer's or Owner's Advice
• Contamination in Buildings how to test buildings for bacterial contamination from Sewage and Septic backup, remediation, & references
• Leach Field Inspection Procedure Septic Leach Fields - how to inspect and diagnose septic drainfield failures - what causes septic field failure?
• Maintenance: Ten Steps to Keeping a Septic System Working, suggestions from the U.S. EPA, edits and additions by DJF
• Septic Systems Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance Book - online textbook: how to inspect, maintain, repair septics
• Septic Tank Pumping Guide: When, Why, How to pump the septic tank
• Septic Tank Location - How to Find the Septic Tank, how deep will the cover be, how to document its location
• Sewage & Septic Backups and what to do about sewage spillage in buildings
• Tank Location - How to Find the Septic Tank, how deep will the cover be, how to document its location
• Tank Pumping Frequency Guide for Septic Tanks: When, How, What to Watch For when pumping or cleaning septic tanks
• Water Usage: Capacity: Determining Needed Septic Capacity - Typical residential water usage for people, appliances, and activities.
• What is a Septic System An Engineer's View & Septic System FAQ's

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