I just bought a house in septic country. We are talking about a warm-weather state with big humidity. Won’t move there for a couple years, so I have time to figure this out.

It wasn’t until I read up on septic systems, when the house was already a done deal, that I realized everybody with mites in the hinterland has been trying to fight the bastards without benefit of bleach or ammonia.

Because it says all over the “Septic Smart” literature that you can’t use either of those anti-mite staples if you have a septic system.

Oh how ignorant I was. I thought a septic system was just a tank that got pumped when it filled up.
Now I know it is a backyard sewage treatment plant with its own little ecosystem, that can be disrupted rather easily. It’s like a piece of scenery in a play turned out to be a character.

Good news is, the house is pretty much wood floors and window blinds. If it were all carpet and drapes, it would have held no appeal. Years after the infestation, my esthetic is still about arthropods.

It is clear that I’ll need to beef up my essential oils game. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Septic smart, meet mite savvy.