If your home is on a septic system, consider installing a washing machine lint filter to help protect your drain field and extend the life of your system. Waste water from you septic system flows into the drain field where it leeches into the soil. A drain field can fail if it becomes clogged with too much solid material that was suspended in the waste water.
Waste water from washing machines contains a great deal of tiny lint particles. These particles can be too light to settle out of the effluent in the septic tank and as a result they remain in suspension and flow out into the drain field where they can clog the pores in the soil around the drain field.
To make matters worse, much of this lint is inorganic fibers that do not decompose and will accumulate in the drain field for years. A washing machine lint filter can greatly reduce the amount of lint from your washing machine that gets into you drain field. These filters are relatively inexpensive and easy to install.
You may be wondering whether a washing machine lint filter is really necessary or is it a solution in search of a problem? After all, there are millions of septic systems in use that have been working just fine without a washing machine lint filter.
On the other hand, thousands of septic systems fail every year and one of the main reasons for septic system failure is a clogged drain field. Your drain field may work fine for years, but once it clogs up it’s too late to do much about it other than installing a replacement drainfield. Replacing a clogged drain field can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000. Compared to the cost of replacing your drain field, a lint filter that probably helps and certainly does not hurt your septic system seems like cheap insurance
