What to do with Saltwater on Water changes

[MrFuggles]

Hey All,
First time Noob here, so had a question I have been asking to the BRS people and to saltwater Aquarium.com and I am still getting should shrugs. So I am asking everyone here:
Q: What do you do with the saltwater when you do water changes?

I live in NH and Snow and freezing temps are around the corner, I am also on a Well and Septic tank, I cannot imagine that dumping Tons of Saltwater down the drain is good for a septic septic system, I can see the salt concentrate killing off a lot of the bacteria in the septic system. Next, if you do not dump down the drain where do you run it off to ? I have lot of woods around me and I can discharge it out there but what do you do with it in the winter time.
I am in the process of setting up my first LPS tank and this is all new to me, looking for suggestions and info on what others do.

thanks
Brian

 

[GThompson]

I dump mine in the driveway

 

[Mike N]

I put it in my curing tank. The water I take from the curing tank just gets dumped in the driveway.
Following along to see what others do.

 

[fish farmer]

I dump mine in the snow or in places where I want it to melt. I never dump mine down the septic. I'm usually siphoning off sand, snail shells and other grit at WC time so I'm don't want that going down the drain.

 

[AdamB]

Same . I dump in gravel part of my drive.
The waste water from RO goes into floor drain in basement ..

 

[Grape_City_Reefer]

Hey All,
First time Noob here, so had a question I have been asking to the BRS people and to saltwater Aquarium.com and I am still getting should shrugs. So I am asking everyone here:
Q: What do you do with the saltwater when you do water changes?

I live in NH and Snow and freezing temps are around the corner, I am also on a Well and Septic tank, I cannot imagine that dumping Tons of Saltwater down the drain is good for a septic septic system, I can see the salt concentrate killing off a lot of the bacteria in the septic system. Next, if you do not dump down the drain where do you run it off to ? I have lot of woods around me and I can discharge it out there but what do you do with it in the winter time.
I am in the process of setting up my first LPS tank and this is all new to me, looking for suggestions and info on what others do.

thanks
Brian

I am close to the street, with NO open drains. I dump it on the ashpalt and by the time winter rolls around it doesn't do much if anything. It can kill off your grass though if you dump it into your yard. I dump it outside in the winter as well, it will freeze the melted snow/ice will dilute the salt and allow the water to freeze.

I will also dump it in the cracks of our driveway to kill off weeds.

 

[C. Eymann]

Down the toilet --> municipal sewer.

I'd probably do it differently if it was a septic system.

 

[Small triggers]

I dump it wherever I want to kill stuff. Usually Its on my driveway to kill weeds.

 

[SandJ]

Ok, this thread has me thinking. We live in south east GA, a few miles from the ocean. Areas in our neighborhood flood with full salinity saltwater, yet the grass does not die. I believe it is St. Augustine grass. Are some grasses resistant to salt water?!?! And if so, I guess I could run my waste water directly into the yard.

 

[MrFuggles]

Ok, this thread has me thinking. We live in south east GA, a few miles from the ocean. Areas in our neighborhood flood with full salinity saltwater, yet the grass does not die. I believe it is St. Augustine grass. Are some grasses resistant to salt water?!?! And if so, I guess I could run my waste water directly into the yard.

Only one way to find out, pick a spot in the yard and try it, my concern would be dumping in the same spot over and over, my guess that would kill anything over enough time and volume.

 

[Retro Reefer]

I made a “French” drain of sorts in the back of my yard.. I dug a 2’x2’ cube and filled it with gravel.

 

[SandJ]

@MrFuggles , challenge accepted! LOL
My thinking is the same as yours. Yet the water ways that rise with the tide daily have grass growing on the sides. And our high/low tide difference is about 3-5 feet depending on the moon. My daughter measured the salinity last week when she was out catching fish, so we know it is full saltwater.

If it does not kill the grass, it would surely simplify water changes for me.

 

[Grape_City_Reefer]

@MrFuggles , challenge accepted! LOL
My thinking is the same as yours. Yet the water ways that rise with the tide daily have grass growing on the sides. And our high/low tide difference is about 3-5 feet depending on the moon. My daughter measured the salinity last week when she was out catching fish, so we know it is full saltwater.

If it does not kill the grass, it would surely simplify water changes for me.

Sandy soils in your area may play apart, I have a lot of clay and top soil. Sand may allow the salts to drain through fairly fast? Don't know if it even makes sense?

 

[foxt]

There are lots of threads on R2R about salt water and septic systems, and if I recall correctly, the opinions are all over the map but most people avoid dumping lots of salt water into their septic system. The camp that says it is bad for the system points to things like corrosion of concrete tanks from the salt, impact on the bacteria in the system, clogging of leach fields with the salt. The camp that says it is ok points to the fact that water softeners, when they recharge, put out a much higher concentration of salt, and those discharges are put into septic systems all the time.

I have a septic, live in NY, and I run my water change waste out to daylight. I've done it two ways - out to the downspout drains, which run to daylight, and also plumbed a special waste line from my AWC system out of the basement. I do notice that nothing grows where the second line exits the basement.

The funniest thing I recall reading about this subject was the experience that someone had where they had been dumping their salt water in the yard, and the wildlife figured it out and used it as a giant salt lick!

 

[Doctorgori]

I use old water for growing out brine shrimp or nuke it with peroxide or whatever and grow phyto

 

[C_mo97]

I have always dumped mine in the grass and haven’t had any issues.

 

[flyline]

Weed killer here is SoCal

 

[Billldg]

I dump it on the weeds in my plant bed to hopefully kill the weeds, unfortunately the weeds seem to love it, LOL!!! ;Hilarious

 

[GThompson]

Ok, this thread has me thinking. We live in south east GA, a few miles from the ocean. Areas in our neighborhood flood with full salinity saltwater, yet the grass does not die. I believe it is St. Augustine grass. Are some grasses resistant to salt water?!?! And if so, I guess I could run my waste water directly into the yard.

I have St. Augustine and it doesn’t seem to bother it, but I don’t dump it in the same spot every time

 

[FragileReefer]

I had a water system installed in my home to remove minerals from my well water(water-softener). It rinses the resin with saltwater to recharge the resin. The installer said there was two options, Code says to put saltwater down a dry well(deep hole filled with large rocks). Most folks just run the saltwater down the septic. Septic systems have baffle system so the water gets diluted before going into the second chamber then into the leach fields. So in my case my water softener drops 30 gals a month plus my 20 gallon a month from my nano reef. My daily showers and bathroom usage for 2 people i think would dilute the saltwater going down the drain and into the first chamber of my septic. Now if your pouring 500g to 1,000g a month it will be a different situation. In the end, if i had a tractor i would dig a drywell, but for now i think my septic can handle my usage. This is all info i got from contractors working on my new home and i just asked alot of questions but seems like it makes sense to me.