Environmental Benefits

It would be enough if DOWN JOHN™ was simply extremely effective at reviving your septic system and providing you the cost-savings that it does, but there are a large number of amazing environmental benefits too. Here is a list of them.

Binding Toxins

A powerful benefit to the environment with the use of DOWN JOHN™ is that it neutralizes the activity of toxins. The carbon is surface active and toxins actually stick to the surface and are removed from being active.

This will happen with heavy metals, organic compounds such as antibiotics, cleaning chemicals and pharmaceutical treatments. Leachate testing shows that these toxins stay bonded and don’t wash off.

Reducing Green House Gases

Measurements also show that the generation of methane and carbon dioxide, both greenhouse gases, is reduced and they are reduced and sequestered as fixed carbon in living organic material.

This process is advanced by the high number of active, thriving bacteria in the whole septic system, i.e., the biomass concentration is maximized to match the food supply. In an 18 day test, gas emissions were measured. The methane emission was reduced by 94% and carbon dioxide by 73%.

Richer Soil for Plant Growth

Cellulose fiber in the diet is broken down by cellulase generating bacteria in the septic system. When these bacteria have passed through the tanks and into the leach field, these live bacteria continue to break down fiber in the soil leaving rich residues which improve the soil quality and give it a more spongy make up.

The live bacteria continue to generate humus, sequestering carbon and improving the water holding capacity of soil and nutrients provide a rich soil for plant growth.

Elimination of Nitrates

Without DOWN JOHN™ the anaerobic breakdown of proteins then amino acids in a septic system can produce ammonia which is free to escape as odor. In the leach field that ammonia will be oxidized to nitrates which then contaminate runoff water.

However, the DOWN JOHN™ bacteria feed on the proteins and form new proteins in their own cell walls, fixing the nitrogen in an organic form which is then available for rapid plant uptake before oxidation to nitrates can occur. Therefore, nitrates do not build up in the leach field to contaminate runoff water.

Improved Air Quality

Because the nitrogen becomes fixed and is not free as ammonia gas, and sulfides are captured and reduced to free sulfur, odorous gases are greatly reduced improving air quality surrounding and down wind from the septic system.

Waterways Protected

An overflowing septic system is an ecological and environmental health disaster. With DOWN JOHN™ the potential danger of septic system overflow is halted, protecting waterways and reducing the risk of surface pathogens, to propagate infection in humans and animals.

Creating a Healthy Fertilizer

The DOWN JOHN™ treatment has been shown to capture nutrients and produce fixed organic nitrogen, convert phosphates into phosphorus and sulfide gas into free sulfur. All of these mean the effluent is an excellent fertilizer going into your leach field.