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What Drugs Can Be Flushed into a Septic Tank - Septic Tank Maintenance and Protection Advice
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Are there some drugs that are safe to dispose-of by flushing them down the toilet or pouring them down a sink and into a private septic system?

What unwanted or old drugs may damage the septic tank or leach fields? This document explains how to extend the life of the septic system by being careful about what goes into it.

Citation of this article by reference to this website and brief quotation for the sole purpose of review are permitted. Use of this information at other websites, in books or pamphlets for sale is reserved to the author. Technical review, content suggestions, critique are welcomed and are listed at "References."

This document is a chapter of Inspecting, Testing, & Maintaining Residential Septic Systems an online book on septic systems. © Copyright 2008 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use the links at page left to navigate this document or to go to Other Website Topics. Green links at left show where you are in our document & website.

Pouring Drugs into the Toilet, Sink, or Septic System?

Drugs, prescription or prescription medicines, should never be flushed down a toilet unless your pharmacist or the drug manufacturer tells you specifically that the particular drug is absolutely harmless to the environment.

While this is not a new topic, as recently as April 2007 the New York Times reported the growing detection of pharmaceuticals such as birth control pills, anti-depressants, painkillers, shampoos, and other compounds in rivers, lakes, streams, and ground water, including possibly drinking water.

The Times article described "pharmaceutical and personal care products" or "P.P.C.P.'s which are being flushed down drains and which pass through sewage treatment systems and private residential septic systems into the aquifer.

[New York Times Science Section, F1 and F8, 3 April 2007.] Beyond a possible hazard of inadvertent consumption of antibiotics (and growing development of bacteria resistant to our antibiotics), it is possible that very low levels of other compounds will have a drastic affect on some animals, possibly going un-detected until that population declines beyond its ability to recover.

Recommended reading on this topic:

• Our Stolen Future, Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers, published by Penguin Publishing, 1997.
• HOUSEHOLD CHEMICALS into the septic tank?
• OTHER CHEMICALS to keep out of the septic system

Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

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?
WASHING MACHINES
WATER SOFTENERS

More Information on Septic System Diagnosis, Maintenance, & Repair

• The Septic System Information Website home page for this topic
• Septic Systems Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance- online textbook. Detailed how to inspect, maintain, repair information
• The Home Buyer's Guide to Septic Systems


• Cesspools Home Buyer's or Owner's Advice
• Drywells Home Buyer's or Owner's Advice
• 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


• 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 Home Buyer's Guide to Septic Systems Inspection & Testing - What to Do, Step by Step.
• 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?
• What is a Septic System An Engineer's View & Septic System FAQ's
• Contamination in Buildings how to test buildings for bacterial contamination from Sewage and Septic backup, remediation, & references
• Leach Field Inspection ProcedureSeptic 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
• 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.

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