20 gallons every three weeks down the drain with a septic system.

[stanleo]

This really doesn't seem like that much. Is that a bad idea? I do 20 gallon water changes every three weeks and was wondering if it could just go down the drain with a septic system. I know you shouldn't do it with large amounts of water but is this considered too large?

 

[lapin]

How much water goes in on a normal week? Family of 4?
Dilution is the solution to not kill off the bacteria.
20 gallons would prob not harm the tank bacteria too much. Over time it could kill growth on your leech field

 

[kyleinpdx]

As @lapin said you may notice whatever is on top of your system begin to brown and eventually die off but I’m guessing that would take years to build up a high enough concentration of salts.

In reality 20g is not much water, unless you have fancy new toilets that’s really only 7-10 flushes worth of liquid. There is maintenance you’ll want to do on the septic system anyway, add some bacterial enzymes/digestants a little more often that normal and you’ll probably be just fine.

 

[andrewey]

I can only speak from an n=1, but I dumped around 10 gallons per week down my septic system for 8 years or so and never noticed any changes in my leech field. Asked the guy who came to empty the tank whether he thought it would make a difference and he suggested that the salt concentration would be a drop in the bucket with the amount of water being deposited every day, hence why the field never changed.

 

[DangerDave]

He said drop in the bucket...lol.

 

[sfin52]

He said drop in the bucket...lol.

I'm glad I am not the only one to notice that.

 

[Scorpius]

It'll kill any roots growing into your drain field. That's a bonus.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

You need to eat at old country buffet once a week, add more bio solids to the tank to balance things out.

Side note.. you may get fat.

 

[Timfish]

Water softeners will dump a lot more salt than that into a septic system. At some point it seems reasonable to me it would cause issues but from what I've seen I'd guess it would at least take years.

 

[TriggerFinger]

I’m on septic and am afraid of corrosion from saltwater. Does anyone think that is a possibility? Family of 4, loooots of laundry and baths between 2 kids and 2 adults. It would make my life SO much easier to dump it down the drain

 

[Timfish]

You mean the plumping corroding? I guess that might depend on how old your house and septic system is. Older ssytems might have cast iron pipe instead of PVC.

 

[mfinn]

I've been dumping anywhere from 70 -100 gallons every 2-3 weeks into my septic tank for 30 years and there is zero issues.

 

[TriggerFinger]

I know nothing about the septic system. I know all my plumbing pipes out of the house are pvc, I just assumed there was metal screws or something in the actual septic tank.

 

[snorklr]

my septic system is about 8 yrs old and i watched it installed...the pvc drain pipe ran straight into a concrete holding tank and was cemented into the hole...same with the pipe coming out to the drain field's plastic "tunnels"....not a piece of metal anywhere....that being said i dump my waste water on the gravel driveway to help kill the weeds