Where to dump dirty water

[mfinn]

I use my drain into my septic tank.
I have lived in my current house for 32 years and have always had saltwater tanks.
For about 15 years I had a 180 and a 135 gallon tank that I did water changes every two weeks and changed about 80 gallons total, and that water went into my septic system.
I get my septic tank pumped about every 10 years and each time I have questioned the guy who does the deed.
I always ask how the tank looks, how is the system working and what condition the tank walls, the baffles and inlets and outlets look. I explain that a large amount of salt water goes into it on a regular basis and just generally talk to these people about it.
I've always gotten pretty much the same answer.
The saltwater has not done any harm to the system. Everything is looking like ( after the last time) a 30 year old system. Which is normal.
The guys I've talked with, also say the even though a 80 gallons of saltwater may seem like a large amount, it really isn't compared to the volume of water that goes into the tank on a weekly basis and the amount of water already in the tank itself.

So for the average reef tank owner, I would say based on personal experience, it is safe to dump your water change water down the drain, if you are on a septic tank system.

 

[Timfish]

FWIW, water softeners can dump a lot more salt sown a drain than water changes from an aquarium. Once municipalities start coming down on water softeners then there may be issues with disposing of old aquarium water.

 

[David Carp]

I’ve pour mine down various Drains in the house, it cleans them out if you let it sit, from the Osmosis Shock to the Bacteria growing in the Drain. I used to put Roadway Rock Salt down the Floor Drains, at work, that the AC Drains dumped into. Never had another clogged floor drain.

Fascinating. Can you elaborate???

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I ran a test for over a year on a scrub cedar tree I was planning on taking out. It was a smallish tree around 15' and I put 20 gallons a week of used salt water on it. It outgrew the other nearb cedar trees. I usually put the water in between the bases of my large Doug Fir and Ponderosa Pines.

Salt tolerance varies greatly and many sources provide lists of plants and trees from most to least salt tolerant.

I’m not sure what species that was, but eastern red cedars make the list of eastern trees that are best salt tolerant.

 

[ColoredRock]

https://soilsfacstaff.cals.wisc.edu/sswmp/pubs/1.7.pdf

Should I Use A Water Softener When I Have A Septic System? | Water-Right

www.water-right.com

 

[Pistondog]

https://soilsfacstaff.cals.wisc.edu/sswmp/pubs/1.7.pdf

Should I Use A Water Softener When I Have A Septic System? | Water-Right

www.water-right.com

Was there a point in the article you wished to highlight? I saw no mention of saltwater.

Ok theres the link.

 

[ColoredRock]

Was there a point in the article you wished to highlight? I saw no mention of saltwater.

Ya I hit send to quick.
I wouldnt use it at my parents house with 50 gallons of water changes every week plus having a soft-water filtration system which uses a brine to soften the water...where they constantly had problems with there septic system were they had to pump it out every 4-5 years.

I think like every thing in this hobby It all depends on your particular factors for your particular situation.

To answer OP question toilet... as I am in a track home.

 

[Philip Chin]

Down my driveway into the street. We put enough into the septic system!

 

[Narideth]

I dump some down the drain into my septic and others into patches of weeds outside that I'm trying to kill. It depends on which tank I'm taking from because the one in the kitchen is right next to the sink - draining the 3ish gallons for a water change is super easy there.

So far the weeds have just laughed at me

 

[fish farmer]

I dump some down the drain into my septic and others into patches of weeds outside that I'm trying to kill. It depends on which tank I'm taking from because the one in the kitchen is right next to the sink - draining the 3ish gallons for a water change is super easy there.

So far the weeds have just laughed at me

I throw about 5 gallons on my lawn, never see a dead patch. I also live in an area that gets brine/salt treatment in the winter...never see dead grass.

 

[Narideth]

I guess I should expect that plants living a handful of miles from the ocean would be able to handle salt, BUT STILL.

 

[nuxx]

Our automatic water changes went into the drain in the laundry room