SALTWATER DISPOSAL

[EASTERN INDIGO]

I recently moved from a big city to a house with a well and septic tank. How do I dispose of about 400 gallons of saltwater per month without contaminating the aquifer or killing septic tank bacteria?

 

[Crustaceon]

Some studies have been done on this and it seems to be a non-issue. Figuring your septic tank is between 600-1200 gallons and you're probably not dumping 400g at once through the system, that septic tank SG won't be affected too much.

 

[collins.jason.k]

Find a spot you need to kill some weeds and pour it there? I don't dispose of that much a month but I always water where i want grass or weeds to die with my dirty salt water.

 

[dwest]

I recently moved from a big city to a house with a well and septic tank. How do I dispose of about 400 gallons of saltwater per month without contaminating the aquifer or killing septic tank bacteria?

Wow, 400 gallons per month! What size is your tank?

I have a 180 gallon tank and do 1% daily AWC changes so I am disposing about 60 gallons per month into my septic. I’ve been doing that for almost 30 years without issues. Your amount might be a problem though.

 

[dennis romano]

Did you ever watch "Ask this Old House"? Just a couple of weeks ago the plumbing expert was discussing how septic systems work. He was adamant about never dumping inorganics into a septic system. Sodium chloride(salt) is inorganic. Same day, different episode, the mason was discussing salt and what it does to concrete. He showed how it degrades concrete. Most likely, your holding tank is concrete. My tanks are in the basement. I have a pump that pumps the water up into the city sewer line. I never let salt water stay in the holding tank, flushing it out immediately.

 

[EASTERN INDIGO]

Wow, 400 gallons per month! What size is your tank?

I have a 180 gallon tank and do 1% daily AWC changes so I am disposing about 60 gallons per month into my septic. I’ve been doing that for almost 30 years without issues. Your amount might be a problem though.

 

[EASTERN INDIGO]

Two 210 fowlr, one 210 reef, one 125 q/h, one 80 anemone cube, all with sumps, so maybe 850-900 after rocks, sand and mermaids. 50% change monthly, monthly triton tests on anem and reef.

After I posted this Q I came up with the idea of a 10' square evaporation box with a black EPDM liner with bird netting on top. 100sq ft = 63 gal per inch of depth, so 10 inches high should do, with staggered changes and allowing room for rain. Full day Florida sun. I'm also curious about the salt residue. Maye it can be recycled, but maybe there will be too much to deal with. Interesting experiment.

 

[vessxpress1]

Instead of buying weed killer use spent saltwater. Works great

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

i collect my water changes and use for weeds, and driveway deicer in the winters.

 

[exnisstech]

I've been dumping into my septic system for over 7 years with no issues, tho not 400g a month. I will mention I haven't had my septic tank cleaned since we built the house in 1997 so my system may be an exception.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Instead of buying weed killer use spent saltwater. Works great

The only problem is it permanently kills the soil in that spot. If you are ok with that, have at it.

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

The only problem is it permanently kills the soil in that spot. If you are ok with that, have at it.

good point , im on 8 acres with a hill and a creek mostly wooded, i would not dump it in front of the house lol.

 

[dadnjesse]

I've been dumping into my septic system for over 7 years with no issues, tho not 400g a month. I will mention I haven't had my septic tank cleaned since we built the house in 1997 so my system may be an exception.

You never pumped your tank in 26 years?

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

i think alot of homes put salt into their septic , if they regenerate thier water softner, thats salt.

not sure what it would do to a steptic if its a ton of salt, if its poly tank not much if its cement tanks,well then salt is definately not good for cement.

 

[exnisstech]

You never pumped your tank in 26 years?

Nope and that's with 4 girls in the house for quite a few years so more TP. Hard to beleive I know. I did add some bacteria when we moved in so evidently it worked :thinking-face: but I can't remember what it was but it was supposed to jump start the bacteria cycle. Kinda like Dr Tim's on for septic systems:face-with-tears-of-joy:

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

Nope and that's with 4 girls in the house for quite a few years so more TP. Hard to beleive I know. I did add some bacteria when we moved in so evidently it worked :thinking-face: but I can't remember what it was but it was supposed to jump start the bacteria cycle. Kinda like Dr Tim's on for septic systems:face-with-tears-of-joy:

seems amazing.. ive had mine go south once so now we get it pumped annually.. but we also have to get it tested by the state once a year my septic doesnt have a leachfield it just drains to a creek.

 

[pledosophy]

I dug a deep hole, put in a reservoir, covered it with drainage rock and plumb my used salt water into it.

I have old pipes and don't want to run salt into them.

 

[exnisstech]

seems amazing.. ive had mine go south once so now we get it pumped annually.. but we also have to get it tested by the state once a year my septic doesnt have a leachfield it just drains to a creek.

Sound similar to mine. I have two 2600 square ft sand filters the liquid flows through then down to a creek. I rotate the filters every 6 months. Im lucky tho as I live in a rural area and once the final inspection was done when the house was built there are no more inspections.

 

[brandon429]

why not just design a filter system that doesn't require 50% water changes monthly

other methods exist to carry bioload and export whole waste particles before they degrade and go into solution as waste/necessitating the water change frequency

 

[mfinn]

I have lived in my current house for 32 years and have always had saltwater tanks.
At one period of time for 10 years I had 3 tanks in my house and was changing about 150 gallons every 2 weeks.
At the minimum I do about 100 gallons every 2-3 weeks.
All of this water goes into my septic tank. I have my tank pumped every 7-8 years and every single time I ask the person who pumps it for an assessment of what he can see.
So far ( after 32 years) I'm always told that it looks normal.

So the op said 400 gallons per month? That's only 100 gallons per week.
If that was the only water going into it, there might be a problem, but how much water does the house use? How much water is already in the tank?
Showers, bathes, dishwasher, laundry, etc.