Reusing dirty saltwater to water your plants?

[coral acquisition]

Hey guys,

I was thinking of doing this and just wanted to know what you guys think.
Basically use our dirty salt water and use the evaporated water to water your plants.

What do you guys think? #3 on the list
http://www.wikihow.com/Turn-Salt-Water-Into-Drinking-Water

 

[bobbychullo]

as long as you distill/evaporate it. salt is bad for the roots, it will most definitely kill the plant (makes it so the plant cannot uptake the water from the soil). I would make sure you do a good soaking to once in a while regardless on your plants since salts are present in tap water and tend to build up if only doing light waterings (especially in potted plants). they need to be flushed from the root zone periodically...

 

[coral acquisition]

Understood and thanks. I was thinking of doing this since whenever I do a water change, I just flush it down the drain. I'm thinking that I can at least get the fresh water and use it to water the plants.

 

[Reefski's]

what a waste of time and effort. if you do make distilled water you could just use it again in the aquarium since only the water will be evaporated leaving all the salts behind.

 

[pandimus]

That's a lot of energy water to save some water

 

[marfuerte]

It depends on the plants, frequency etc. I have been doing this for years (more than a decade infact) on the ground cover plants around my house. I alternate waste salt and fresh h2o with absolutely no ill effects. Many plants can tolerate salty water. Experiment and see. It is not a lot of effort and as water becomes scarcer and more valuable we need to be creative, use grey water and conserve. FWIW I own a plant nursery.

 

[dodgerblew]

I throw 5 gallons of dirty SW a week on the lawn with no problems

 

[keepLearning]

I dump 5 gallons to my longan fruit tree like weekly and it has been no issue so far. The fruit is actually very sweet I guess due to the fish waste in the old water and the calcium has been helping the fruit texture as well

 

[bobbychullo]

It depends on the plants, frequency etc. I have been doing this for years (more than a decade infact) on the ground cover plants around my house. I alternate waste salt and fresh h2o with absolutely no ill effects. Many plants can tolerate salty water. Experiment and see. It is not a lot of effort and as water becomes scarcer and more valuable we need to be creative, use grey water and conserve. FWIW I own a plant nursery.

i guess it must travel past the root zone fairly quickly then? I know there are plants that are salt tolerant but I didn't think you could use it to water them. i guess fertilizer is basically salts so it makes sense. I stand corrected!

its probably a little riskier if the plants are potted and not in the ground? I'm curious, because I'll use my water change water as well but I only have potted plants...

 

[pandimus]

I've also put it on my lawn. I also their skimmer gunk in garden

 

[ryanerickson]

Saltwater left big burn marks in my grass years ago now it dumps straight into a garden bed in my back yard nothing grows in that area. I am dumping 40-50 gallons at a time.

 

[bobbychullo]

Saltwater left big burn marks in my grass years ago now it dumps straight into a garden bed in my back yard nothing grows in that area. I am dumping 40-50 gallons at a time.

ive also heard dog urine can do this. This is basically what I thought would happen if you used old salt water to water your plants, hence my first post. I think as long as you don't let concentrated salt sit in near the soil surface, i.e. alternate with non-salt water like Marfuerte does, you may get different results. It may also depend on your turf, if you have shallow roots then it may be affected differently than if you deep water a lot and you have deep root systems...

EDIT: maybe after you dump your 40-50 gallons do a lite watering over the area with some fresh water do dilute the salts...

 

[marfuerte]

I'm not saying all plants can take it. Desert plants are more tolerant. Here in Cali many almond trees are suffering due to salinity creep and may die over the next few years. I also wouldn't use it on potted plants. But your link got me thinking about making an solar evaporation gizmo since I go through about 25-50 gallons a week depending on how lazy I feel, lol.

With a good grey water system, rain barrels and drip irrigation you can save real $. I know someone who has about 40 fruit trees, huge landscaped yard, etc. who's water bill was only $27.00 this past January and February. Just saying...

 

[coral acquisition]

Thanks for the reply guys. Since I live in Cali and we have a big water problem, I figured that reusing the water somehow would help and not be a waste by just throwing it in the sink or what not.

I tried dumping the saltwater on the grass and it seemed to have killed it. I only do 5gal water changes but figured that someone that does bigger water changes would think this could be helpful.