Star-San and Septic system

Anyone know what affect Star San would have on a home Septic system? I've heard that it was bad to be dumping alot of Sanitizer down your drain due to the way a house hold septic system works.

It says "septic-system safe" right on the bottle. I have used/dumped it down my parents sink (they are on septic) and they have had no issues.

Yep star-san is just fine for your septic. If you use over 2-300 gallons at a time I might be concerned... otherwise you'll be fine. The fluid already in the septic tank dilutes and buffers the star-san to a point where it's acidity is way above 3. So then it is no longer a sanitizer and the bacteria in the tank can process it.

wow.. I read the bottle and don't remember that.. I must have selective reading, I know SWMBO says I have selective hearing.

Thanks Guys

Chuck Talley the developer of it said it is actually really good for a septic system..

He talks about it in this great radio i-view...

March 29, 2007 - Sanitizing with Bleach and Star San
Charlie Talley from Five Star Chemicals tells us best practices in using household bleach and Star San in sanitizing equipment.

Clicky To listen

Click to expand...

If it were detrimental bacterial activity in your septic, it would have the same effect on the yeasties. I'd say, it's fine.

I was about to ask this very question. Glad I did a search first. While I understand that it can be reused for a period of time, I was concerned about long tern effects on the bacteria that is in the septic. I could see where it wouldn't be an issue when dumped down the drain in a city sewer system as it would be quickly diluted by all the other household waste water from your house and all your neighbors. However a septic system is typically a private system so only one house drains to them. Until reading this I was thinking about dumping it at the same time as we were draining the bath for one of the kids. It seems like I don't need to worry about it.

Glad I looked this up too. I was not happy with trying to find a place to dump my bleach or using sodium thiosulfate to neutralize it.

conpewter said:

Yep star-san is just fine for your septic. If you use over 2-300 gallons at a time I might be concerned... otherwise you'll be fine. The fluid already in the septic tank dilutes and buffers the star-san to a point where it's acidity is way above 3. So then it is no longer a sanitizer and the bacteria in the tank can process it.

Click to expand...

Yup, been doing it for a over a year not with no problems. That's exactly why I switched from Iodophor to StarSan. The StarSan once diluted is benficial to the septic bacteria whereas the iodine would definitely be bad in the septic system. Charlie Talley from Five Star is very clear on this in his talk in the sticky post.

We're on septic and big fans of Star San. I had never given this any thought. This is really great to learn of. Excellent thread.