Saltwater in septic tank

R

Rich_Lucas

New member
I am moving and want to get a 240 gallon tank. However my new home will have a septic system and I'm curious as to the affect of the saltwater from changes on the system. Does anyone else have any experience with large water changes and dumping the water in to a septic tank?

Thanks.
 
I have read mostly negative comments about dumping salt water into a septic system. Some say the newer systems can handle it but most will tell you to avoid it. I have no choice so I dump all my water changes into my septic and I have done this for 3 years without problems. My system is only four years old so maybe I will regret it someday. I have a 180g tank and do regular water changes.
 
I wouldnt recommend dumping into the septic tank. You could just dump it outside, just make a spot that you dump it everytime.
 
We are building the house so the septic system will be brand new when we move in. Maybe I should ask our builder if he knows anything about it, although I'm thinking he won't. Outside is a possibility, it's woods all around me so I could run a line to a place in the woods to pump it to or something.
 
On my house the down spouts go into a drain tile which goes out to my culvert to keep the water away form my house. I run a piece of flex tube and pump into them instead of my septic.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15372323#post15372323 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by crooks
On my house the down spouts go into a drain tile which goes out to my culvert to keep the water away form my house. I run a piece of flex tube and pump into them instead of my septic.
Click to expand...

+1 great idea! :D
 
the new septic tanks have most of the equip held in place with these metal hangers
they will rust and can do damage
i found this out myself
 
When I lived with my parents up until the time I was 17 I always had a SW tank and always dumped the SW down the toilet. After my dad got remarried i bought the same house that I grew up in and still dump SW down the toilet. Never had a problem. The septic tank was cleaned out about 6 months ago which is the first time in over ten years and there were no negative effects in the tank. The only reason we cleaned it out was because a pipe busted under the house that was probably 30 years old and it needed to be replaced all the way down. It is just a concrete box with a pvc pipe in it and a couple field lines.
 
Yea, I plus one dumping into a tube, buried under ground that goes out to the woods. Well, if i had a better job and money wasnt an issue, maybe.
 
I always figured plain salt water was one of the more mundane things we flushed down into our septic tank :p. We were on septic up until just a few months ago, I always just dumped my water outside though just to save putting those extra few gallons of water every week into the tank (which would need pumped eventually).
 
Im just curious, Why do you guys pour your water down the toilet? If the water is pure enough to sustain corals it cant hurt the environment can it? I would think for the most part its cleaner than NSW. Ive been dumping mine on the front lawn form the past 10 years or so.... Should I be feeling guilty??
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15373502#post15373502 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jbird69
Im just curious, Why do you guys pour your water down the toilet? If the water is pure enough to sustain corals it cant hurt the environment can it? I would think for the most part its cleaner than NSW. Ive been dumping mine on the front lawn form the past 10 years or so.... Should I be feeling guilty??
Click to expand...

It's not that saltwater in itself its bad.....but like most things, too much of it can cause a problem. The problem with pouring it on the lawn or directly on the ground is that over time the salts will build up in the soil and make it impossible for most vegetation to grow there. You're essentially "salting" the soil.

Dumping it into the septic system is "better" in the sense that the saltwater will be transported to the leach field and will infiltrate a few feet below the surface, and will prevent alot of the salt buildup on the surface. However, it also can cause any metal in the system to rust quicker - and, depending on the volume you dump, can also have a negative impact on the ecology and hydraulics of the system. A septic tank is essentially a settling basin, where solids settle and liquids elute off into the leach field...If you start pumping too much water through the system, this gets disrupted and you get solids into the leach field, which destroys it and costs many thousands of dollars. However, if your system is sized appropriately and maintained (pumped every ~5 years), you should be able to dump many gallons of saltwater in weekly without any significant harm.
 
We have a newer "bio septic" in which bactiria grows to break down waste. If I poured salt water into this type of system it would kill the system. I had my plumber install a drain from my reeftank and past the septic directly to the leach lines. This could be done for anyone who has a septic.
 
I've been dumping my saltwater into my septic tank now for 18 years in the same house.
The last time it was pumped, about 3 months ago, I told the guy who did it and he said that there was no harm done at all.
 
My father-in-law pumps tanks and he has told me that you want to reduce the amount of liquids into a septic tank whenever possible. Excess water can (doesn't mean it will) push solids into the leach lines, this can reduce the lifespan of the lines. They are very expensive to replace so you don't want to risk losing even part of their life.
 
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