[Thirsty_Monk]

My understanding is that yeast competes with beneficial bacteria for oxygen is septic systems. This is why municipalities do not want live yeast in their water treatment plants.

I give the yeast nice warm bath over 120F for 30 min and down the drain they go.
Composting is a fine option.
I already had house drain plugged with yeast.

[majorvices]

My understanding is that yeast competes with beneficial bacteria for oxygen is septic systems. This is why municipalities do not want live yeast in their water treatment plants.

Now that you mention it I remember this as well. I think it is BS, but I remember hearing it.

Most likely yeast in the septic system just dies or becomes dormant. I doubt there is much for it to consume since it has evolved to ferment maltose.

[tschmidlin]

I dump plenty of yeast into our septic tank, and I've never had the guy pumping it out say there seemed like there was anything wrong or odd with our tank given the time between pumpings.

[denny]

If you have a septic system it should actually be beneficial for it. RidX ready to go!

Could be, but it certainly doesn't hurt!

[tubercle]

....Sending the yeast down a curb drain may be a problem. Any newer city has separate storm and sanitary sewers. Street storm drains go to the nearest river, and a yeast slurry would be an un-natural organic load, reduce water quality, and cause areal stench if not flushed by a decent rainstorm.

A quart of yeast slurry in a river will cause "an un-natural organic load, reduce water quality"?

Really?

Kind of like spitting in the ocean.

[corkybstewart]

Sometimes mine goes onto the compost heap, sometimes onto the "lawn", sometimes into the septic tank depending on which fermentor I'm using.  If it's buckets it goes in the septic tank, carboys onto the lawn and the conical gets drained into buckets for the compost pile

[morticaixavier]

....Sending the yeast down a curb drain may be a problem. Any newer city has separate storm and sanitary sewers. Street storm drains go to the nearest river, and a yeast slurry would be an un-natural organic load, reduce water quality, and cause areal stench if not flushed by a decent rainstorm.

A quart of yeast slurry in a river will cause "an un-natural organic load, reduce water quality"?

Really?

Kind of like spitting in the ocean.

gotta say this argument doesn't hold water. it's not just 1 qt of yeast. it's 1 quart of yeast * 500K homebrewers in america (okay not all of them are dumping yeast in the storm drain, and not all of them that do live in the same place, but you get the idea)

the spitting in the ocean argument is exactly the same that leads to dumping radioactive waste in the ocean because hey what's a few thousand barrells of toxic gunk in the whole ocean?

Not saying there is an issue with disposing of the yeast cake in the storm drain but...

[tschmidlin]

gotta say this argument doesn't hold water.

I get what you're saying, but there is a huge difference between dumping something that is food and will degrade quickly, and something that is toxic and has a half-life of 24,000 years.  Huge difference.  And I know you know that.

Yes, the "spitting in the ocean" argument is a bad one in a lot of instances.  I don't think it is in this one, considering the volume of yeast on a homebrew scale, number of homebrewers who dump yeast outside, how frequently they dump yeast, geographic distances between them, and the fact that it will readily be healthy food for other organisms.  Crank up any of those factors and it might be bad.

[morticaixavier]

gotta say this argument doesn't hold water.

I get what you're saying, but there is a huge difference between dumping something that is food and will degrade quickly, and something that is toxic and has a half-life of 24,000 years.  Huge difference.  And I know you know that.

Yes, the "spitting in the ocean" argument is a bad one in a lot of instances.  I don't think it is in this one, considering the volume of yeast on a homebrew scale, number of homebrewers who dump yeast outside, how frequently they dump yeast, geographic distances between them, and the fact that it will readily be healthy food for other organisms.  Crank up any of those factors and it might be bad.

If I have told myself once, I have told myself a million times. 'Don't be hyperbolic'

point taken and fully conceded. I dump my yeast in the compost or on the lawn and it I am sure washed into local water ways and/or sewers. but mostly eaten by other life forms

[tschmidlin]

If I have told myself once, I have told myself a million times. 'Don't be hyperbolic'

And I've told you a billion times, stop exaggerating.

[tubercle]

We keep fogetting that besides coming in neat little packages, yeast exist in nature. There is probably more yeast washed down a storm drain naturally in a day during a rain storm than all of us could dump in a year.

[Dane8it]

Following is a quote from  https://brewerywastewater.com/brewery-wastewater-101/brewery-wastewater-101-septic/

(keeping in mind this is written for breweries, but i suppose some homebrewers rival nano breweries)

"Some of the issues of a brewery on septic are:

First there is the pleasant mental image of the septic tank turning into a fermenter. It will create foam, fill with spent yeast, and pH will drop.  There is potential for back pressure issues due to CO2 generation, and due to the low pH and lack of oxygen the proper bacteria will not grow well so there will very little actual treatment going on in that tank. The tank will have to pumped quite often to remove the spent yeast, and this gets expensive.

Suspended solids (yeast, grain, hops) and dissolved solids (sugar) will pass through the septic tank and will plug the drain field over time. The solution here is usually to dig up the drain field and start over, probably on a new patch of ground. It takes time for this to happen, probably years, but it has happened over and over again and it’s expensive.  Several projects have had to replace their drain field in under 2 years!"

[ynotbrusum]

I live on a septic and I suggest one word:

Compost. 

Both the yeast and the spent grains.  The bacteria have no problem eating up all of it in my experience.  And a couple times a year, I have a big burn pile on top of my compost pile to get rid of shrub and branch trimmings and re-start the process.

It is interesting to see the old names in the thread, though.  Last I heard, Tom Schmidling got his PhD and is running a brewery....Cheers.

[BrewBama]

I am careful about what I put down the drain. I never considered yeast would be a problem source for my septic but I can now see how it could. I feed the spent grain to the wildlife in the corner of the yard next to the tree line. I may end up dumping yeast outside as well now.


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[denny]

I've been putting yeast in the septic for years.  Considering how little I put in and the size of the septic systemll I can't see what it would be an issue.  Im not dumping huge amounts daily as a brewery would.