No experience with the device but have had numerous houses with septic systems over the last 40 years and nothing special downstream from the washer. Never a problem.

Unless its a current code issue or a consensus issue in your particular residential market, I wouldn't worry about it

I have always had a septic, and NEVER had a machine with a washer lint filter, or down-stream lint filter and never had a septic problem due to lint. Sounds like a solution in search of a problem.

Molly~

We don't have one, and you certainly don't need something fancy if you did. The 99 cent walmart metal laundry lint screen is all you'd need on the end of your hose. With our septic the lint screen is not there and not an issue. It was mandatory when our basement laundry used an ejector pump to pump the wash water up to the sewer pipe. The ejector pump didn't like the lint. The septic system doesn't seem to care.

We've spent 31 years on a septic system, raised a large family in the country and have never had a filter or any problem.

You don't need a lint trap...Your septic system is able the handle the lint just fine.

I think if my sister's garbage disposal can dump stuff into her septic, then you can drain your unfiltered wash water there as well LOL.

Never had a problem either in 13 years at our current house on a septic. As an aside, around where we live standard septic designs are not allowed to have garbage disposals (but I'm sure people put them in anyways). I've heard that a special multi-chamber septic tank is needed to do a garbage disposal which meets code.

The theoretical problem is not with the septic tank, it's in the leach field. Over time it's possible to have small fibers (and other materials) settle at the bottom of the leach field, which can contribute to the development of a fiber and bacterial "mat"; water won't be able to pass through the mat, thus rendering the leach field unusable.

Cotton fibers will rot over time, but synthetics will not.

Certainly a clogged leach field is a very real problem (not theoretical) that some septic owners have had to deal with. How much clothing fibers from the washer contribute to the problem is anyone's guess.

Preventing lots of washing machine lint from entering your septic system (meaning both the tank and the leach field) is probably "Not A Bad Idea", although not using a filter *probably* won't cause you any problem. If you are building a house now, you might indeed want to have the plumbing arranged so you can add a filter later, if you decide to do so. Just adding an easily removable wall panel so you can get to the plumbing might be enough.

The 99-cent walmart filter someone referred to is, I believe, a clamp to which you attach a leg from an old pair of pantyhose. This will work if you are draining the washer into a wash tub; if you are draining into a stand pipe, there's no place to put such a filter, effective as it might be in capturing lint.

CMC

CMC has got it right. The problem arises depending on what you wash. If you're partial to fluffy acrylic/orlon/nylon/microfiber etc., then you'll be sending a lot of synthetic fibers down the drain that will not decompose in your lifetime. If you're a cotton/hemp/wool kind of person, not so much of an issue.

Under the worst scenario, the noncompostable fibers can mix with grease and make a fiber-reinforced plug, or they can coat your drain field and render it less effective and, finally, ineffective.

When I asked my septic installer what I could do to guarantee that I wouldn't have septic problems, he said "Number one, don't have teenage daughters." Okay. Still, a simple lint trap can't hurt anything.

Moderate Mark