BAUCE
Well-Known Member
can use Optimum No Rinse with 2 gallons of water total. Been using it on my sports car for 8+ years and great results.
Septic Tanks + Saltwater, help me prove a point
- Thread starter ichthyogeek
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DSEKULA
Well-Known Member
I operate water and wastewater treatment plants for a living. There is certainly the potential for saltwater to have a negative effect on your septic system. For most people I would think the chance running a home aquarium is pretty small but there is a chance the bacteria could die off, leach field gets clogged etc.
As far as water softeners go bc someone mentioned them. If a public water supplier wants to add a water softener to a system that feeds into a public wastewater system approval is required to ensure the system can handle the extra salt. The same would go for a public aquarium or similar facility that was disposing of salt water. There are studies that have to go into this proving that proper dilution can be achieved.
On a home level you are free to assess dilution yourself and take your own risks. As a home owner I have a reef tank, water softener, and septic system. The reef and softner do not drain into my septic bc I do not like the risk.
As far as water softeners go bc someone mentioned them. If a public water supplier wants to add a water softener to a system that feeds into a public wastewater system approval is required to ensure the system can handle the extra salt. The same would go for a public aquarium or similar facility that was disposing of salt water. There are studies that have to go into this proving that proper dilution can be achieved.
On a home level you are free to assess dilution yourself and take your own risks. As a home owner I have a reef tank, water softener, and septic system. The reef and softner do not drain into my septic bc I do not like the risk.
DSEKULA
Well-Known Member
To a gravel pit drainage area on our property, I live in the country in the middle of nowhere though. I'm pretty sure the land under the gravel will be barren for a long time lol but it's a postage stamp area in a place where lots are min 4acres so I'm not sweating it, if I was in a more populated area where I was killing off my only land I'd probably try to find a way to lay a small pipe down to a road way drainage area etc... Not that I'm condoning anything illegal depending where you live.
DSEKULA
Well-Known Member
Ah yes please don't pollute the lake lol. maybe dig a specific drainage spot or specific holding tank. You could even line an area and let the water evaporate and just have the muck removed professionally every few years basically making a drying field. It would depend what is allowed in that area. If you know the specifics of the septic system you could look into how safe it is for that specific system consulting the company or engineer. It's not that you absolutely can't drain to septic it just that there is a risk involved and you may need to plan ahead to ensure its managed.
ScottR
Surfing....
Where I live, all of our toilet water is NSW from the ocean that’s treated. It arrives to us usually at 32-35 ppt. People even use the water for their fish tanks as the water is free. So everyone flushes their toilets with this seawater... in the whole city of 7 million people!!!
ichthyoid
Active Member
If I discharge while it’s raining, or program the Apex for the middle of the night, then no one would know.
I also live on the highest lot in the subdivision, at the top of a long hill. At the bottom is a stream with a drain from the street.
My waste water is 40 gal per month. That’s about 12 lbs. of salt I don’t want in the septic tank. Maybe I could just evaporate the water & toss the salt?
ScottR
Surfing....
Possibly but all of that wastewater also goes down the same pipes as regular tap water as well. I’m sure the toilet waste water is a very small percentage of total wastewater collected.
chipmunkofdoom2
Always Making Something
The average household in the US uses 300 gallons of water per day. If we assume that 80% of that goes back down the drain in some form, that's 7,200 gallons per month going into your septic tank.
If you have a 100 gallon tank and do four 10% water changes per month, you're only putting 40 gallons of saltwater a month down the drain. That means saltwater accounts for barely half a percent of the fluids going into your septic tank. Even if you perform 400 gallons of water changes per month, saltwater still accounts for just barely 5% of what's going into your septic tank.
I would suspect this is why most forum members here have no issues with putting saltwater in their septic tanks. The amount of saltwater going down the drain is minuscule compared to the other household water uses.
If you have a 100 gallon tank and do four 10% water changes per month, you're only putting 40 gallons of saltwater a month down the drain. That means saltwater accounts for barely half a percent of the fluids going into your septic tank. Even if you perform 400 gallons of water changes per month, saltwater still accounts for just barely 5% of what's going into your septic tank.
I would suspect this is why most forum members here have no issues with putting saltwater in their septic tanks. The amount of saltwater going down the drain is minuscule compared to the other household water uses.
Just as comparison....
While I do not have a leach field(long story, but used to have one), I do have a septic tank that gets pumped uphill to the towns septic system. So I have a rather large grinder pump in my septic tank.
In the last 10 years(the length of time the all metal pump has been in service), I open up my tank at least once a month to check on things. The metal pump still looks brand new with 0 spots of rust or corrosion on it.
I dump 10g's of saltwater down the drain on a weekly basis. I would have to agree that the small amount we dump down the drain is so diluted by the time it reaches the tank, it's probably negligible.
While I do not have a leach field(long story, but used to have one), I do have a septic tank that gets pumped uphill to the towns septic system. So I have a rather large grinder pump in my septic tank.
In the last 10 years(the length of time the all metal pump has been in service), I open up my tank at least once a month to check on things. The metal pump still looks brand new with 0 spots of rust or corrosion on it.
I dump 10g's of saltwater down the drain on a weekly basis. I would have to agree that the small amount we dump down the drain is so diluted by the time it reaches the tank, it's probably negligible.
shwareefer
Valuable Member
I've never poured my salt water into my septic system. That's mostly because my basement laundry drain goes into a grey water pit somewhere under my basement floor ( country house built in 57, code not code then, no idea). Either way after several years of this I decided to start dumping it in my long gravel driveway to kill the weeds and grass that grow there. Works great.
My belief is that any concentration of accumulated salts is detrimental to areas you wish plants and trees to grow. So if you wish plants and trees to continue to grow - don't do it. It could take 20yrs but once the soil is dead good luck bringing back to life. In the very dry summers here I usually at some point need to use well water for gardening and I always put my softener on bipass. The softener has very little sodium compared to sea water, but the accumulation over time is my concern.
Personally I don't think diluted see water is going to impact a 6 inch thick concrete tank as much as it will a leach field over 20 yrs. I think any risk to the leach field should be avoided at all costs - or it might cost you bigtime.
My belief is that any concentration of accumulated salts is detrimental to areas you wish plants and trees to grow. So if you wish plants and trees to continue to grow - don't do it. It could take 20yrs but once the soil is dead good luck bringing back to life. In the very dry summers here I usually at some point need to use well water for gardening and I always put my softener on bipass. The softener has very little sodium compared to sea water, but the accumulation over time is my concern.
Personally I don't think diluted see water is going to impact a 6 inch thick concrete tank as much as it will a leach field over 20 yrs. I think any risk to the leach field should be avoided at all costs - or it might cost you bigtime.
What he said. A few years ago I had this question raised by a client. We looked at how much thier water softener used and how much thier aquarium used and the salt for the aquarium was less than a fourth by weight. Clearly thier water softener was a the major source and they were ok with it using it as there were already concerns about the issues caused by very hard water with high TDS in their water supply. There are some good cautions raised above so the question seems to me what is your risk/reward equation. What are the consequences short term, intermediate and long term with your situation?
ichthyoid
Active Member
Consider the cumulative affect of those 40 gal. per month water changes. That comes to around 1,400 lbs. of salt in a 10 year span (long term reefer here,... decades).
In much of the eastern US we have clay soil, (ultisols) and salt destroys its structure & ability to clump, also referred to as agglomeration.
I won’t be a part of that.
FWIW, I just built a house with a drip irrigation (pumped) septic system. I have clay in my soil. I specifically installed a daylight drain (not connected to septic/sewer) in my garage floor for washing cars, salt water, etc. It meets code in my area as long as it runs through an oil / sand separator. Passed inspection 3 weeks ago.
DanConnor
Valuable Member
I dump 50 gallons a week into my septic system, along with the urine of 3 people. I just had my tank pumped for the first time in 3 years and the guy said it was in excellent shape, fwiw. Relatively small amount of sludge.
By the way, the Romans never salted their enemies fields; that is a myth.
By the way, the Romans never salted their enemies fields; that is a myth.
ichthyoid
Active Member
Small volumes of 3.5% saline being continuously diluted by a large volume of fresh water. Perhaps you have a better solution?
As for the under cover of darkness, that is so I don’t further antagonize my neighbor’s neuroses.
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