"Ended up with a tangled mess that looked like a horror movie prop."
Yikes, that sounds painfully familiar. Had tenants once who thought baby wipes labeled "flushable" were totally safe. Spoiler: they're not. Ended up clogging the whole system, and I spent days dealing with the aftermath—definitely not something I'd recommend.
Curious if you've tried putting up those friendly reminder signs or notices in bathrooms? I've seen some landlords swear by them, but personally, I'm skeptical they'd make much difference. People tend to ignore stuff like that after a while. Maybe I'm just being overly cautious, but I've found directly talking to everyone in person about septic do's and don'ts seems to stick better.
Also makes me wonder about garbage disposals—do you guys find they cause more trouble than they're worth on septic systems? I've heard mixed experiences...some say they're fine if you're careful, others say it's just asking for trouble. I've avoided installing them entirely just to minimize risk. Better safe than sorry, right?
"Curious if you've tried putting up those friendly reminder signs or notices in bathrooms? I've seen some landlords swear by them, but personally, I'm skeptical they'd make much difference."
Honestly, those signs are pretty much invisible after a week or two. I had a similar experience at a rental property—thought I'd be proactive and put up a polite sign about not flushing wipes or feminine products. Didn't take long before someone flushed an entire makeup remover wipe pack (plastic wrapper and all). I still don't understand how that even happens...
About garbage disposals, my two cents is they're more hassle than help on septic. I installed one at my own place thinking it'd be convenient, but it ended up causing frequent clogs and backups. Even when we were careful, grease and small food bits added up over time. Finally got rid of it altogether, and things have been smoother since.
One thing that did help me was having a plumber buddy come by and give tenants a quick "septic 101" chat. Somehow, hearing it from someone who deals with the disasters firsthand made more of an impression than anything I'd said before. Maybe it's the horror stories he threw in—nothing like tales of midnight sewage floods to keep people cautious, lol.
But yeah... septic systems can definitely turn into nightmare fuel real quick if you're not careful.
"Honestly, those signs are pretty much invisible after a week or two."
Haha, yeah, the sign blindness is real. I remember putting up a carefully worded notice about not flushing anything but toilet paper—thought I'd nailed it. A month later, septic guy pulls out half a Barbie doll. Still scratching my head over that one... But totally agree about garbage disposals; learned the hard way they're basically septic kryptonite.
"Still scratching my head over that one..."
Haha, the Barbie doll story cracked me up. I've seen some weird stuff myself—once found a whole set of car keys during a septic inspection... seriously, how does that even happen? But yeah, sign blindness is a legit thing; people just zone out after a while. You did your best with the notice though, sometimes there's only so much you can do...
Haha, car keys in a septic tank... that's a new one for me. But honestly, after a few years in this line of work, nothing surprises me anymore. I remember one time we were called out to a property because the septic was backing up badly. We opened it up and found an entire collection of silverware—forks, spoons, butter knives, you name it. Like someone had just dumped their whole kitchen drawer down the toilet. Still can't figure out if it was some weird accident or intentional sabotage by an angry roommate or something...
"But yeah, sign blindness is a legit thing; people just zone out after a while."
Totally agree with this. We once put up bright orange signs everywhere warning people not to flush wipes (you know, the "flushable" ones that aren't actually flushable). Even taped one directly above the toilet paper holder. Did it help? Nope. Two weeks later, we're pulling out a massive clog of wipes and paper towels. People just tune out signs after seeing them once or twice, I guess.
Honestly though, sometimes it's not even about ignoring signs—it's just plain old confusion or misinformation. Had a customer swear up and down that flushing cat litter was fine because the package said "flushable." Took forever to convince him otherwise, and by then the damage was done. Lesson learned: never trust packaging labels without double-checking first.
Anyway, septic systems definitely have their own special brand of weirdness. You think you've seen it all until the next call comes in...
