There has been a issue discussed by septic professionals for many years about septic systems and will caustic soda harm drain fields. Relocating to another state was a very tedious endeavor that you and your child made. You had to change jobs and your daughter had to change schools. You really needed to start a new life together if you wanted to get over the separation. It was a huge transition on your part even more because from that day forward, you had to do all the things that your ex-husband did. You didn’t plan to have another man in the house pretty soon so you had to master everything for your daughter’s sake. Your new house was an old house, maybe constructed in the early nineties. It had a few contemporary elements there but it still possessed the nineties feel.
Of course, as a concerned homeowner, you had to make sure that everything about your new home was perfect. You didn’t want anything to happen to your daughter. You wanted your new home to be the sanctuary that you needed. It was already too upsetting for her to move to a place she wasn’t familiar with, where she had to form new friendships again. The house should be the last thing she should worry about. The real estate agent gave you the number of the area’s septic expert to fill you in on what you should do in maintaining and caring for your septic system especially your drain field.
The septic expert arrived to give you the crash course that afternoon. He wanted to show you the important parts of the septic system that included the septic lid, septic tank, and the drain field. The drain field is said to be the last stop of the treated wastewater before it is dispersed in to the surrounding environment. This is where the contaminants and pathogens are removed from the effluent. Having learned this, you knew that the drain field should receive the care and maintenance that the septic tank also gets. The septic expert brought out the cleaning agents that he used all the time. One that caught you eye was caustic soda, which is known as a strong, corrosive base. With this, you asked, “Will caustic soda harm your drain field?”
The septic expert looked at you, smiled, and said, “No.”
Also known called sodium hydroxide or lye, caustic soda is indeed a strong base, colored white, and in the form of pellets, flakes, fifty percent solution, or granules. It quickly reacts to the carbon dioxide in air when exposed so it has to be stored in a vacuum sealed container. In water, ethanol, and methanol, sodium hydroxide is very soluble. When it breaks down in water, it is exothermic. In non-polar solvents and ether, it is insoluble. Caustic soda is also known to leave a yellow stain on paper and fabric.
It doesn’t harm drain fields because caustic soda’s by-products even improve the bacterial performance and the soil percolation. Caustic soda is a component of water softening systems installed in your home. The mineral discharges that it releases into the drain field improve the soil’s absorption. The minute amount of salt doesn’t kill off the resident bacteria. Instead, it even improves their performance.
Caustic soda gives a product of salt and water when it mixes with acids like hydrochloric acid. As you know, there are some household cleaners that have this acid as an active component. When sodium hydroxide is used to clean the septic system saturated by strong acids, the pH balance is returned and the bacteria is helped to regain their normal population once more. Caustic soda is a very beneficial chemical compound if used properly like in treating crude oil, drilling mud, digesting tissues, degrading amphoteric compounds and metals, and preparing food items.
The septic expert’s information about caustic soda was a very enlightening thing for you. He answered the question of will caustic soda harm drain fields. By then, you established that sodium hydroxide was a good chemical compound to have in your household, especially in caring for your drain field.