Is using vinegar for cleaning harmful to septic tanks? This is the first time I have lived in a home with a septic tank and I know bacteria live in the tank and I know vinegar kills bacteria.
I don't think that you would put enough vinegar into your septic tank to affect it one way or another. I used to live in a house with a septic tank that had a pump out for liquids into a field, and then the solids were removed once a year. We really didn't pay much attention to what went into the tank, except of course, the usual detergents and soaps, household wastes, wash water, etc.
There is so much water that goes through your system, that anything you run down the drain is very diluted. You don't put anything like gasoline or used motor oil or weed killer or anything like that down the drain.
We also just bought a house with a septic tank and I've never really lived with a septic system before so i started trying to find something safe to use in the toilet cause they had bad stains. Anyway, my aunt in Texas has lived in a house with a septic for like 15 yrs and she actually told me to use 2 pints of vinegar in the toilets, scrub it, let it sit for awhile, scrub again, then flush and she said it's actually better than using any other chemical cleaner and doesn't kill the (good) bacteria.
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Is apple cider vinegar harmful to septic tanks? My wife just poured an old 32 ounce bottle of Bragg down the sink!
No, you are safe :)
What a waste of good vinegar! But, for anyone using a septic system it is safe to use white vinegar for all your household cleaning and apple cider vinegar is the same - it will not harm your septic system.
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