Now you flush the system. Hook up a garden hose to an outside spigot. Run the water until the bleach smell completely disappears. This can take an hour or a whole afternoon.
Fun fact: don’t flush the bleach water into your septic tank. It’ll kill the good bacteria that break down your, uh, contributions. Route it to a gravel area or lawn instead. Your grass will get a weird, chlorine-tan.
Once the smell is gone, test the water again. Wait a week first. The first test might show dead bacteria—still counts as a “fail.” You want a clean bill of health.
