Septic and drywell question

[timkins4292]

I have an old drywell (farmers drain) that only my kitchen sink and clothes washer dump into and it is starting to run slow. We do 2 loads of laundry every week and every other week a 3rd load plus the dishes at night. I have taken to wiping all of the dishes with paper towels prior to washing them to cut down on the grease and food particles going into the drywell. If I need to reroute these to my septic what problems will I run into if any. The septic is a 1000 gallon concrete tank and is pumped every 2-3 years and there are only 2 people in the house. The Town I live in will allow me to try and repair the drywell but will not allow the installation of a new one. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Jeff Handy]

I had a dry well just like that for my kitchen and laundry.

The former owners of the house had a big family, and they told me they had to clean it out every five years or so.

They said a big block of grease/soap/glop would form, and needed to be extracted, it was corking up the dry well.

Maybe a septic pumping company can inspect and clean yours out?

Also, many towns allow you to pump your laundry water right out onto the surface of your backyard.
Onto the grass or into shrubs or gardens.
It is free water for the plants, and is harmless if you don’t use too much bleach.

This is getting much more common every year.

 

[Jeff Handy]

If you do so few loads of laundry, you could dump that gray water onto your lawn, no one will know, even if not locally approved.
Just attach one of those long sump pump flexy discharge hoses where it exits the house, and uncoil it onto the grass when doing laundry.
Move it to different spots as needed.