Saltwater Bad for Septic Tank??

[tikireefer]

Hi all,

Posted this in the "New to the Hobby" form, but haven't had any responses, maybe someone local might have a answer.

Been a part of the marine/reef hobby for a while now and my wife and I just recently bought our first house which is exciting since I can finally upgrade to a larger tank. The house has its own septic tank and septic field and I have been wondering how the saltwater from my water changes might affect the septic system. I had previously lived in apartments where the water and sewer where both city owned, so I had never really given this much thought, until now. Currently I have a 46 gal. tank and only do a 10 gallon water change every other week, so about 20 gallons a month. I recently bought a new 150 gal. tank and I am in the early stages of planning this new setup. I will be dealing with a lot more water volume with this larger tank and in return be doing much larger water changes. I have read some things online about this and have heard both good and bad about putting saltwater in septic tanks. Anyone knows anything about this or have personally experiences to share?? Thanks!

 

[Illuminati]

I have a septic system as well. Most of the time I take my water and toss it in the street at night when nobody is looking (I live on a very empty road).
Once it starts to get cold I'll just flush it down the toilet.

I don't think it will hurt anything.

Do you also have a well for your water?

I do and I have a water softner and use salt in that. It goes right into the septic, I figure the tank water can't be much worse than that.

 

[maliboost]

well, supposidly water softeners don't hurt them and they pump quite a bit of brine into the drain when they reginerate http://muextension.missouri.edu/webster/ag-edge/waste-home/watersoft.html

 

[flapjack1439]

I'm a licensed septic guy and also am on well and septic.

In general, you want to keep as much water out of the septic system as possible. Salt water might not hurt it but it definitly won't help the system and too much might effect the microbes in the system. I dump mine in the sump which pumps it to the ditch. The amount your putting in is miniscule and gets pretty well diluted.

Current Illinois ordinance does not allow water softners to discharge to the septic system. They should be piped to the outside or sump pit. This is due more to the volume of water entering the system and not so much the salt.

 

[SaraB]

I do the same as flapjack1439. I drain my saltwater into the sump and then it pump it out to the ditch. I figured that much saltwater in my septic field would not be a good thing.

 

[kimoy]

IMO it is also a bad idea dumping your saltwater into your sump. my parents just moved into a house which the previous owner owns a reef and she dump her saltwater into the sump. after a couple of weeks of my parents moving in the sump is not working, so i checked it and found a lot of rust and the pump is about to fall apart because of the bolts being rusted....just my 2 cents

 

[smketyr]

I have a gray water pit, basically, it is 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep filled with pea stone and has a dirt and grass cover that I dump my saltwater into, the grass doesn't grow too well there anymore.

Don't forget about the the waste water from the RO/DI unit, that adds water to the septic fast, I learned the hard way. Now it has a separate drain line and feeds the flower beds.

 

[SaraB]

After my water changes I rinse out the sump with fresh water and let the pump cycle twice before shutting off the water. Hopefully this extends the life of my sump pump.

 

[kimoy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8367671#post8367671 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sara B
After my water changes I rinse out the sump with fresh water and let the pump cycle twice before shutting off the water. Hopefully this extends the life of my sump pump.

good luck with your sump...like you said hopefully it will last longer than my parents house which is only 5 years old when they bought it....

 

[RobTop]

For those using the sump pump...I have had 2 fail after about 18 months due to corroision. My guess is that the salt just rusted the crap out of it. I now add a bunch of fresh water to it as well to rinse it off.

 

[flapjack1439]

Sump pumps usually have fresh water entering on a constant basis from the footing drain, hence the need for them. So you shouldn't have to flush them too much.

I think cheap pumps is the issue.

I use an ejection, sewage pump with a 2" discharge in my sump, like a Zoehler or Hydromatic. They're made better, they have to resist corrosion from sewer gases, and cost a lot more but they last for years.