Frank,

I have a similar septic system, and I have a garbage disposal under the kitchen sink. We also have a dishwasher, along with two full bathrooms.....and 6 people who shower every day.

The biggest factor here is the quality of your drain field. If your sewer drain field will handle the extra amount of water that comes with the use of a garbage disposal, you shouldn't have any trouble.

Cooking grease is a problem in many rural septic systems. Your wife should never dump her used grease down the sink drain. Things like leftover food, plate scrapings, old vegetables from the fridge, etc.......no problem at all. Gravy and chicken grease.....used cooking oil.....etc.....should be collected in a jar and disposed of in the garbage can.

I had my sewer drain field replaced last year, after the drain field pipe had collapsed. It was an old drain field, installed in the early 80s. The pipe the previous owner used was a flimsy, 4 inch, black plastic pipe. It wasn't suitable for use as a drain field pipe. However, when we dug it up, the pipe and sewer system was in otherwise perfect condition.

We've lived here for 9 years, with 6 people in the house. The garbage disposal is used every day, several times each day. My septic tank was pumped out only once, and that was only because I was troubleshooting my sewer problems, when I noticed that I had sewer water in my driveway. Had it not been for the collapsed pipe, pumping out my septic tank wouldn't have been necessary.

Get your wife a garbage disposal. You can use it with confidence, so long as you don't abuse the system with grease.

Joel

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