Salt water Affects on a Septic System

[Bryan89]

I am contemplating moving to a new larger house. The area we are looking into has only septic available, vice the city sewer I currently utilize. Does anyone know the effects on the septic from putting about 200 gallons per month of salt water in the septic?

Thanks in advance.

Bryan

 

[L and L]

Good question. I've also wondered the effects of calcium hydroxide (kalkwasser) in my septic tank. I sometimes discard the kalk waste into my toilet.

I don't do water changes enough to worry about saltwater in there tho.

I try to pour out the kalk waste into my flower garden... there's got to be some beneficial properties still in there.

 

[anabolic_1]

I just dump all mine in the lawn, down stream, if you will, from my well water,....never had a problem....been doing it for about 20 years now.

GL
Mike.

 

[Kent E]

no problems here.

 

[Bryan89]

Thanks for all of the responses. Since I have gotten no negative responses, it would appear that putting 200 - 400 gallons of salt water per month in the septic is not an issue.

 

[Randall_James]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7329636#post7329636 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by anabolic_1
I just dump all mine in the lawn, down stream, if you will, from my well water,....never had a problem....been doing it for about 20 years now.

GL
Mike.

and the grass lives?? Salt tolerant strain?

 

[Fat Man]

I did some research a couple of years ago (sorry I didn't keep any links). What I found out was the only issue was with heavy clay soils, it seems the salt can somehow reduce the porosity of the soil making the leach field less effective. The significance of this was also downplayed in the sources I found.

 

[Bryan89]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7331834#post7331834 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fat Man
I did some research a couple of years ago (sorry I didn't keep any links). What I found out was the only issue was with heavy clay soils, it seems the salt can somehow reduce the porosity of the soil making the leach field less effective. The significance of this was also downplayed in the sources I found.

That may be an issue, as my soil could be used to make pottery.

Thanks for the reply.

Bryan

 

[Fat Man]

As I remember from my reading it is possible but probably not significant enough to worry about.

 

[pepe.king.prawn]

The effect you're speaking of is commonly encountered in farming. Though farmers don't use saltwater, irrigation water is often hard enough that depending on how they irrigate their fields they can get a build up of salt that tends to encapsulate roots, eventually killing the plant (usually fruit trees). However, I agree, there's probably no cause for concern with your septic system.

 

[goodfortune]

I wouldn't put waste old saltwater after waterchanges down the septic tank. Salt can affect the porosity of the soils in your drain field over time; look up "Cation Exchange Capaicty" for further details...

I'm not saying that your tank will fail just from putting your old saltwater into it, but septic tank failure can be common in certian areas, and I wouldn't do anything that might tip the balance toward failure.

I know quite a few people who just pour it into thier grass; I'd just direct it away from your septic tank though.

HTH,
Michael

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7331834#post7331834 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fat Man
I did some research a couple of years ago (sorry I didn't keep any links). What I found out was the only issue was with heavy clay soils, it seems the salt can somehow reduce the porosity of the soil making the leach field less effective. The significance of this was also downplayed in the sources I found.

 

[skeeter_ca]

I'll let you know in ten years.

 

[Rungeg]

If you have a septic system then I assume your house would be off the beaten path, so dump it in the woods, There is a bacteria balance that needs to be kept in your septic, as well as it needs to pumped every so often, depending on size, leach field, use.

 

[Kent E]

I have extremely heavy clay soil and no problems, I dump about 75-100 gallons every month. So much more fresh water is run in the system that I'm not worried about the cement tank, not really worried about the leach field either. If it fails in a number of years I'll put in a new one.

 

[darkangler]

My rooto rooter guy came to fix a problem with my tank because it had roots that were breaking into the old piping. After clearing the pipes, I asked about saltwater. He said to "go for it, It'll help kill the roots that try to grow back through the pipes". So, nothing bad has come of it yet. No roots either!

 

[mthedude]

I wouldn't worry about it too much considering you'll have 1000's of gallons of FW going through the Septic system every month, how long are you planning on staying in this house?