You might like to read this interesting information about worms and asthma.

Goodness me, I think I'm beggining to feel 'worm bound' and rather ill!!!

hi all, sorry for a late post but has anyone tried bicarbonate of soda? i too had the problem of the smelly "poo bin" it was always double bagged and put into a black sacked lidded bin. then i had a brainwave(not an often occurence, believe me!) bi-carb is a natural deoderiser. works wonders on everything even carpets in case anyone's dog has an accident in doors! (oops put it up too far!!!!!!)

I think my children were always and still are more at risk from the parasites in dog poo left in the parks.  Worst case was when my son was about 7 and did sliding tackle and ended up with it on his shoes and all the way up his track suit to his shoulder. Not keen on putting our dog's poo down the toilet but given the options I would rather people did that than leave it for the rest of us to accidentally 'collect' and take home.

You dont by any chance live in NKDC do you :S My black bin gets picked up every 2 weeks but I still put the pooh in there. Even when I was picking up after 5 dogs. There is no where else to put it :( Although i do get a guy to come round and clean my bins once a month!!!!
lea :)

I scoop Rosie's up with a garden trowel (sp), and flush it down the loo. To stop flies gathering in the poo areas, I squirt the lawn with the hose - it also cleans any smudges left when lifting said article. (I've had to arrange for an early disposal of the contents of the septic tank this year!!! I think our fill rate has increased lately!!)

Lonerwhelk...

I was told by a knowledgeable person that septic tanks should NOT need to be emptied if they are working properly. The reason that they fill up with sludge is because there is not enough bacteria in the tank to break it down and turn it to liquid to drain off. The said chap explained that by tossing in things like dead pheasants, rabbits etc that have started to rot ( road kill, YOU dont have to kill them :) ) will restore the balance and lead to a better working tank.
He'd been doing this for years and never had to have his tank emptied, he actually worked for dyno-rod i think it was. :)

Sounds like I am the only one who puts it in the compost pile.  It cooks for a year before we spread it on the garden.  It doesn't smell.  The grass clippings, if not spread out, are far more odouriferous than the poop from our one Lab.   I read landscaping and dog books that said this was OK to do and others that said it wasn't.

I've heard that too jetstone...
if the poo was from vege animals ie rabbits guinea pigs then it was fine to add, but if the animals were meat eaters ie dogs then it wasnt, not sure why :)

did anyone see that program on "revenge " where the betrayed wife made a pie with dog poo for her 2 timing OH............. & he ate it !!! saying it was the nicest pie hed ever had !!!!

Doesn't say much for her cooking!

lol @ jeangenie

These sites say that cat and dog poo shouldn't go on the compost heap. I think it's because they can contain parasites and diseases that won't be killed off, and will just be spread around your garden. :(

There are 2 types of septic tank. First one is literally a tank and is normally installed when the property has less than about half an acre, this type is quite common and will need emptying on a regualr basis.  The second has a facility for liquid waste to run out under ground and so this sort should not need emptying.

Thanks bluebell :)
Its funny how the one that needs emptying is common, as you usually only find septics in rural locations where theres no mains sewers. You'd have thought there would be ample space under ground for the run off.
The 3 houses i've had have all been the run off kind. In fact our row (6 houses) all go into one big tank located in some elses field, mind you it was built 50 yrs ago :D  Suppose its the new built houses that have the emptying kind.
*mental note check tank on next property... make sure it never needs emptying...yukky smell! :D *

Hi Jane

You will probably find that the run off type costs more and people building houses nowdays wont pay the extra  

LOL but they'd rather pay every year to have it emptied :rolleyes: :)

Ok, I'm going to amend my earlier post about putting dog poop in the compost pile.  I checked out Jeangenie's recommended site and several others.  Some say it is OK if you only use the compost for non-food parts of the garden. 

However, none mention any degree of proportion and my compost bins are very large.  We have three, each 5 feet wide by 8 feet long and five feet high and we fill all three to overflowing every year.  I think in this case my one Lab's poop is going to be a small factor in the masses of lawn clippings, wood chips, leaves and other stuff that goes in and I am going to continue to use the stuff for food and flower crops.  I will hazard a guess that most folks' compost bins are not as large as ours so should abide by the admonitions to not use the dog poop stuff on food crops, at the very least.

I have heard many times that septic tanks should not need to be emptied, but nonetheless ours, and all our neighbours, do!!  If not, the contents can back up and cause NO END OF PROBLEMS! I'll go no further - I'm sure your imagination suffices!! Annually is the job!

Happy thoughts,
Karen

as bluebell pointed out earlier to me.... you probably have the tank that is a tank ... as in it holds everything with no soak away....so yes sorry you will have to empty it regularly. i assumed you had the other kind ;) :D

We have tanks AND weeper beds.  I think everyone in Ontario, Canada, who is in a rural area, has these.  Not sure though.  Anyway, we need to have our tank emptied about every three years (depends on number of occupants and size of the tank) and that's because the solids don't run off into the weeper tiles and build up to the point where they must be removed. 

The weeper tiles don't last forever either as soil will eventually infiltrate, they can get crushed and tree roots can play major havoc with them.  A certain amount of sludge does get into them too, sort of like plague in a person's arteries.  Isn't that a nice thought.  After a case of E. coli in the household drinking water of the well of a neighbour we have all, in my community, learned that septic weeper beds only last about an average of 30 years before they get clogged and the liquid effluent from the septic tank begins to travel willy nilly where ever it wants, into the ground water.  Minimum rural lot sizes were increased  here some years ago in an effort to keep septic beds away from wells.

Our septic tank is concrete and it won't last forever either, due to general degradation and the freeze thaw cycle of winter to summer, which is not as bad where I am as we are in pure sand and do not get much frost heaving.

I throw mine in the bin ready for Mr dustman to collect.
I also keep a pile in the garden for the flies then after a couple of days its full of maggots.Not wanting to waste them they are collected up ready for a spot of angling :)
To keep them longer I sometimes put them in a fridge to slow their growth down and feed them bread which is coloured either red or yellow and once the maggots eat this they too turn colour.
Yep us anglers are mad!! :)

we have a man hole cover in our garden and it all just goes down there. Like flushing it down the toilet but without wasting the water :)

sarah xxxxx