Reef Tanks and Septic Tanks

[dangles]

I'll be moving out into the country here later this year and was curious... Is there anything I need to worry about being on a septic system? Will disposing of old saltwater down the drain and into the septic tank cause problems? Or should I run a drain line out into the yard? Wouldn't that cause a TON of salt buildup in the soil over time?

Does anybody have any firsthand knowledge or suggestions about that? Thanks!

***EDIT***

I just saw there's already a good thread on this. Disregard.

 

[Rmckoy]

The only thing that comes to my mind would be salt on the lawn will kill the grass and all living plants .

that being said salt crystallizing within the weeping bed could potentially be a issue many years down the road ( I wouldn’t worry much about it )

 

[dangles]

I just saw there's already a good thread on this. Disregard

 

[homer1475]

Been dumping 20G of saltwater every week for the last 20 years. Never have had an issue with my septic tank, or leech field.

Actually just had it pumped last spring, no salt creep anywhere in the tank. I think the small amount of water were dumping down the drain is negligible amount compared to taking a shower, or washing the dishes. Pretty sure it gets diluted enough to not cause issues.

 

[Dburr1014]

I'll be moving out into the country here later this year and was curious... Is there anything I need to worry about being on a septic system? Will disposing of old saltwater down the drain and into the septic tank cause problems? Or should I run a drain line out into the yard? Wouldn't that cause a TON of salt buildup in the soil over time?

Does anybody have any firsthand knowledge or suggestions about that? Thanks!

***EDIT***

I just saw there's already a good thread on this. Disregard.

If you have a cement septic tank the salt will eventually make it fail.
Water softener systems in homes in my area now have to be seperated from septic because of this.
My wife and I almost bought a house that just had it seperated and the septic system was bad. We drove by the house a couple months later to see the house having a new septic installed.

Dodged that bullet.

 

[Rovert]

I'll be moving out into the country here later this year and was curious... Is there anything I need to worry about being on a septic system? Will disposing of old saltwater down the drain and into the septic tank cause problems? Or should I run a drain line out into the yard? Wouldn't that cause a TON of salt buildup in the soil over time?

Does anybody have any firsthand knowledge or suggestions about that? Thanks!

***EDIT***

I just saw there's already a good thread on this. Disregard.

Link please?

 

[homer1475]

If you have a cement septic tank the salt will eventually make it fail.
Water softener systems in homes in my area now have to be seperated from septic because of this.
My wife and I almost bought a house that just had it seperated and the septic system was bad. We drove by the house a couple months later to see the house having a new septic installed.

Dodged that bullet.

That makes no sense to me...... If you have a whole home water softener, if you turn on a faucet, your using softened water. Where are you supposed to go with the waste? And if it's separated from your septic, where does it go?

And yes my tank is concrete, in 20 years of dumping 20G a week down the drain religiously, my tank is still in good shape for it's age.

 

[Rmckoy]

That makes no sense to me...... If you have a whole home water softener, if you turn on a faucet, your using softened water. Where are you supposed to go with the waste? And if it's separated from your septic, where does it go?

And yes my tank is concrete, in 20 years of dumping 20G a week down the drain religiously, my tank is still in good shape for it's age.

I’m assuming similar to campers where they separate sewage from grey water ?
Toilet goes to a holding tank and everything else goes to a tank that can legally be dumped outside

 

[Dburr1014]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://ctawwa.org/images/downloads/Resources/clean_water_and_your_health.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiRxN_U-sn9AhX_j4kEHYN4DswQFnoECA4QBg&usg=AOvVaw1UUbBWSpIeOr-n-9M3m_fE

This says it will contaminate the ground water.
But think about it. Salt and concrete don't mix.
Not all tanks are concrete. Plastic, fiberglass, ect., are also used. Mine is concrete and I will not dump salt in my system.

 

[Aqua Man]

I dump the old salt water on my driveway. Was hoping it would help kill the weeds that grow in the gravel. Was very surprised that the weeds didn’t care about the salt and actually grew from being watered!!!!!

 

[bnord]

just to try to make myself feel a little better I run well water down the same line while and after a salt discharge for a little dilution effect
doubt it helps much but makes me feel better

 

[PicassoDan]

I live in western NY, where highway departments dump TONS of salt every winter on every road and parking lot. The salt has a small affect on certain trees/plants, but to a large extent, it is pretty benign.

I also have a concrete septic tank, and will not dump a ton of salt in it. I have a gravity drain that goes out to daylight a couple hundred feet from the house. If you have the option, dump the old salt water out in the yard. And no, it won't kill the grass. It actually becomes a draw for the local deer population though - they stand there and lick the salty water, lol.

I also have well water that needs to be heavily softened. Softeners use saturated brine solution to 'recharge' the softener resin (sort of like DI resin). I would definitely NOT recommend dumping this salt water in your concrete septic tank - I have seen failed concrete tanks because of this. And yes, they're fine for about 20 years. And then the top caves in.
The softened water that comes out of the tap has a very tiny amount of sodium in it and is not an issue for septic tanks.

Some salinity numbers (units are parts per million)
softened tap water: <1,000 ppm
reef tank water: ~35,000 ppm
water softener brine discharge: >300,000 ppm

 

[homer1475]

If you have a cement septic tank the salt will eventually make it fail.
Water softener systems in homes in my area now have to be seperated from septic because of this.
My wife and I almost bought a house that just had it seperated and the septic system was bad. We drove by the house a couple months later to see the house having a new septic installed.

Dodged that bullet.

I live in western NY, where highway departments dump TONS of salt every winter on every road and parking lot. The salt has a small affect on certain trees/plants, but to a large extent, it is pretty benign.

I also have a concrete septic tank, and will not dump a ton of salt in it. I have a gravity drain that goes out to daylight a couple hundred feet from the house. If you have the option, dump the old salt water out in the yard. And no, it won't kill the grass. It actually becomes a draw for the local deer population though - they stand there and lick the salty water, lol.

I also have well water that needs to be heavily softened. Softeners use saturated brine solution to 'recharge' the softener resin (sort of like DI resin). I would definitely NOT recommend dumping this salt water in your concrete septic tank - I have seen failed concrete tanks because of this. And yes, they're fine for about 20 years. And then the top caves in.
The softened water that comes out of the tap has a very tiny amount of sodium in it and is not an issue for septic tanks.

Some salinity numbers (units are parts per million)
softened tap water: <1,000 ppm
reef tank water: ~35,000 ppm
water softener brine discharge: >300,000 ppm

I honestly had no idea thats how a water softener worked. I understand now why they would want it separated. Not the water coming out of the faucet, but the brine solution discharge from recharging the resins.

 

[dangles]

Link please?

SALTWATER DISPOSAL

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?

www.reef2reef.com

 

[dangles]

Fwiw I have a 50g tank running 1 gpd auto water changes. I’ll occasionally do a 5g manual water change when I clean the sand bed, maybe once a week.


When I get new fish I quarantine them in a separate 20g tank. I do larger water changes more regularly on this one - maybe 10-15 gallons every other day if I have a few fish in there at the same time. This only happens once every couple of months until the main tank is stocked. After that I’ll rarely need to qt.

So overall my saltwater waste volume is pretty low compared to many.

 

[Aqua Man]

Wondering if there's anyone out there living with well water and septic tanks? How is your reefkeeping effected by this?

When we were looking for homes out in the country, questions about the well were on the top of the list. How deep? How old is the pump? Has the well ever run dry? Is it a shared well?

Water pressure is also important for the RO to run efficiently. I added a booster pump for the RO. We also have large containers to hold the brine so we can water garden plants in the summer.

Our water is also full of CO2 which depletes DI resin very quickly. Luckily the TDS is low, below 50, so I decided that DI was not needed. Effluent after RO membrane is 1. Been running without DI for years now. CO2 can also be off gassed in a separate container then pumped through the RODI.

 

[Dburr1014]

When we were looking for homes out in the country, questions about the well were on the top of the list. How deep? How old is the pump? Has the well ever run dry? Is it a shared well?

Water pressure is also important for the RO to run efficiently. I added a booster pump for the RO. We also have large containers to hold the brine so we can water garden plants in the summer.

Our water is also full of CO2 which depletes DI resin very quickly. Luckily the TDS is low, below 50, so I decided that DI was not needed. Effluent after RO membrane is 1. Been running without DI for years now. CO2 can also be off gassed in a separate container then pumped through the RODI.

That's interesting that you don't have DI.
My well runs around 48 TDS. I'm still pushing through DI though.
You haven't had any problems at all?

 

[exnisstech]

I've been on septic my entire life. I run multiple tanks and everything goes through the septic system and has for years. No water softeners in use so I can't comment about those. I had the tank cleaned last year for the first time in 27 years. Except for the crust on top from waiting so long the guys said everything looks fine. I know salt can corrode concrete as evidence by my garage floor. They salt the roads here in the winter and it drips from our cars. The waste salt water from tanks is so diluted and the liquids don't stay in the tank untill it's pump but go out through the leech system so it doesn't bother anything .

 

[ca1ore]

Whether you send tank water into the septic or directly into the yard …. same amount of salt ends up in the ground. I have my concrete tank pumped every year. Asked the guy who maintains it and he said that the relatively small amount of salt water relative to normal house use, and the size of the tank makes damage unlikely. I have been discharging the brine from my whole house softener to the yard for years.

 

[Aqua Man]

That's interesting that you don't have DI.
My well runs around 48 TDS. I'm still pushing through DI though.
You haven't had any problems at all?

Really hard to prove. I’ll just say that I’m happy with with my coral growth and my tanks don’t grow algae like crazy. It’s been at least 6 years without DI.

I run a sediment filter in my old DI canister. So 2 sediment and then 2 carbon before the RO membrane.