alex gonzales
New member
what's the best (enviromentally speaking) way of getting rid of water that I pull out when doing a water change? Down the kitchen sink, down the curb, or what?
Old tank water
- Thread starter alex gonzales
- Start date
What kind of pipes would you not want to put saltwater down?
Octoshark
Marine Biology Student
Metals are great conductors of electricity due to "electron pools" in which electrons are very easily "transported or shared among all." Saltwater is a chemical soup and some metals, when in sufficient contact with all of the ions may interact with other electrons and become vulnerable to being dissolved into the liquid, which results in the corrosion. This process works faster in a solution that conducts electricity, and that is the reason why this is a bigger issue for saltwater than it is for freshwater.
If someone knows better, please verify/correct this.
heatdissipation
New member
Down the drain
+1
I don't know about California but here in Indiana you will not find metal waste pipes leading to a septic tank or a city treatment plant. PVC or in the older homes they were ceramic.
LKGRenegade22
New member
Down the drain for me. I have all PVC plumbing so it shouldn't matter?
Saltwaternoob
New member
water the lawn
Financial Panth
New member
+50
Down the drain it goes. I doubt you can harm anything with saltwater, especially if you flush at the same time.
that's where mine goes. I spread it around the lawn and I haven't killed any grass yet.
Financial Panth
New member
I do. No problems with dead grass.
Its probably illegal in the state of California tho as saltwater probably contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer... :hmm5:
Salt build up in soil is a terrible thing, nothing will grow and there is no remedy other than tons of freshwater. If you have good drainage and fair amount of rain it will probably never be a problem. Way back in ancient day, armys would put down rebellions and sow salt in the fields of the vanquished group to make it impossible to grow crops. Best thing todo is down your drain or gutter line where the water will eventually make it back to the ocean.
oregonanenome
Premium Member
I re-use my water for a frag tank, then it goes down the gutter drain. A macro algae tank or lower quality pod propagation system would be a good re-use as well.
Octoshark
Marine Biology Student
Changing water isn't only done to remove nitrates, etc but it is also done to replenish the good stuff as well. For example, if you have a lot of corals, the calcium supply (or anything else) in that old water may be depleted and a water change would be beneficial.
crabbejoe
Premium Member
I agree, but what if you did a water change of something like 80% recycled water, 20% freshly mixed (to replenish trace elements), and dosed to maintain calcium, mag, and alk levels?
