Where to dump dirty water

[AydenLincoln]

Down the sink drain!

 

[AydenLincoln]

As someone with a saltwater pool already, I really really wish I could just dump it all into my pool .

I mean you could but then you’d be swimming in fish poop and it would probably ruin the filtration lol!

 

[paintman]

For future folks, not recommended for septic systems, at least not without more research. There's a chance that the saltwater can decimate the bacteria population in your system!

wrong

 

[JayM]

Usually dump it in the kitchen sink, but occasionally gets dumped on the weeds in the side yard.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

This topic got new thinking. I wonder how efficient or inefficient it would be to collect your waste water and run another RO/DI setup from the waste water to desalinate it

It's not useful or practical. Desalination of seawater is itself water intensive and costly.

 

[robotrash]

wrong

It's been discussed already, this is extremely unhelpful. Thanks though!

 

[leon.1980]

I dump mine through a portal I found in the back of my house

Does it go to the North Pole? Wouldn’t that be funny!

 

[leon.1980]

I understand the concern but it's unfounded IMO and I don't want people to think they can't dump their waste water down the drain. I've been on septic my entire life (63yo) and I do realize the hassle repairing or replacing a system can be but it will not be because of some water change water being dumped down the drain.

There’s a lot of factors that go into this. What if you own a 500 gallon thank and do a ten percent weekly water change? Depending on the size of your septic system I can see this being a huge problem!
With that being said I dump my measly 20 gal a week or 2 in my septic without a second thought.

 

[exnisstech]

What if you own a 500 gallon thank and do a ten percent weekly water change? Depending on the size of your septic system I can see this being a huge problem!

Thats only 50 gallons so no biggie. The size of the septic tank itself is of no importance for water as it just hold the solid waste and the water flows out through that tank into the leach bed or whatever system the health dept in your area requires to drain the liquid. On septic all the liquid eventually ends up in the earth, it's just how a septic system work.
People tend to way over think things IMO

 

[TX_REEF]

The only responsible solution is to dump it into the ocean. If necessary, buy a kei truck with a water tank on the back so you can fill it up over time and then drive to the ocean for a bulk delivery. Do you want to be single-handedly responsible for de-salinating the ocean????

Something like this will do just fine, I have a white one myself:

(I'm just kidding - use the toilet, dump the whole 5 gallon bucket at once, it will power flush)

 

[spsick]

So I've been dumping my dirty water after a water change outside into an area drain that then goes out to the front gutter. My buddy mentioned that it might be inconsiderate to my neighbors since the dirty saltwater runs down all of their gutters and I live in an area that rarely rains. I'm thinking maybe I should just dump this stuff into my shower drain instead . Is this a stupid thing to put extra thought into?

It’s not good practice to dump saltwater into storm drains (the gutter) as they drain to local waterways.

Toilet is your best option.

 

[STLJam]

Toilet (on city sewer)

 

[snorklr]

all septic systems are not the same...they depend on the ability of your local soil to absorb water...back on long island the soil was so sandy all you had was a brick drywell with no leach field at all...here in North Carolina we have so much clay there's like 3000 square feet of leach field soil contact necessary per house...we have vast areas of land that "don't perc" where you cant build...my sister in law has a system with 2 tanks and a pump to pump the water uphill a couple hundred feet to the area where they could put in the leach field....friends in Pennsylvania have so much rock that they have to truck in dirt and build a "septic mound" on top of the rock....other friends in Florida live in an area where the water table is so high the septic is also in an above grade mound...i've been told those above grade systems rely more on evaporation and the grass growing on top of them using the water than on absorbtion by the surrounding ground....so, do i know the answer? no i don't...I'm just pointing out that salt may effect one type of system more than another, cause pumps and switches to fail sooner in some systems, effect soil permeability on already bad soil, hurt vegetation using the water,etc so there may be some exceptions to the people that have been doing it for 30 years with no problems....

 

[salty joe]

I don't put saltwater through my septic system because the liquid gets pumped and I'm concerned about shortening the life of the pump, I doubt it's designed to handle saltwater. Also, the liquid gets pumped under a mound with trees and over the long haul salt could kill the trees.
I'm less than thrilled with my septic system.

 

[Coach v]

I water my trees with it (RODI waste as well).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I water my trees with it (RODI waste as well).

Used tank water? I do not believe that is a desirable procedure unless you also add a lot of other water to dilute it.

Irrigating with Saline or Seawater - CID Bio-Science

Read more about Irrigating with Saline or Seawater -

cid-inc.com

 

[zoolan70]

Not true. I've been dumping 30-40 gallons a week into my septic for over 8 years with no problems. Just had the septic pumped for the first time in 27 years and all is fine.

I ran over 1000 gallons of reef tanks and put all my waste into the septic at my house. No issue at all.

 

[exnisstech]

I ran over 1000 gallons of reef tanks and put all my waste into the septic at my house. No issue at all.

I think many people do not understand exactly how a septic system actually works and they think the salt water just stays in the tank.

 

[nhendrix]

My WC IS 85gallons right down my driveway most goes in my lawn and my grass is fine

 

[Coach v]

Used tank water? I do not believe that is a desirable procedure unless you also add a lot of other water to dilute it.

Irrigating with Saline or Seawater - CID Bio-Science

Read more about Irrigating with Saline or Seawater -

cid-inc.com

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.