Wells and septic systems

[pascal32]

We have been looking at a new home, something with some land.

A lot of the places we are looking at have septic systems and wells. I'm not worried about the well (maybe I should be!), the septic system has me worried.

Can I dump salt water in there? I was thinking of moving to a 180 for a total of 260 ish gallons along with a 90 gallon.

That's a lot of salt water every week!

Do I need to worry about this?

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, you'll also be dumping a lot of freshwater through it with all the making of RO water... I'm on City water, so don't listen to me, but seems like there's plenty of folks out there on septic.

 

[low riderr]

i dont run salt water into my septic system.salt eats concrete for 1 and i dont think its to good for the bacteria in the tank. small amounts once in awhile is prob. ok but 55 gal. at a time would be to much. just my 2 cents

 

[rjmayes34]

i am on septic and have often wondered that. Ill take my 25 gallons a week and throw the water out in the lawn when i do my water change. Then with my ro waste water i use that for laundry. Im not on a well thought so i cant say how that will be. Not sure if it even matters about that wast ro water going in the septic,not sure if their would be any back effects from doing this.

 

[pascal32]

i dont run salt water into my septic system.salt eats concrete for 1 and i dont think its to good for the bacteria in the tank. small amounts once in awhile is prob. ok but 55 gal. at a time would be to much. just my 2 cents

What do you do with your salt water?

 

[pascal32]

i am on septic and have often wondered that. Ill take my 25 gallons a week and throw the water out in the lawn when i do my water change. Then with my ro waste water i use that for laundry. Im not on a well thought so i cant say how that will be. Not sure if it even matters about that wast ro water going in the septic,not sure if their would be any back effects from doing this.

Does the salt water affect the lawn at all?

 

[low riderr]

fertilize my yard,just move around alittle

 

[mr86mister]

So far I have always dumped my saltwater into the lawn. I run on a well and septic. My RO water that got expelled I ran back into the main well before that was filtered through back into the house unit. If your septic is massive and you get it cleaned once a year you should be decent. The only problem you will run into is the evaporated salt that will always remain in the bottom of the tank and it will eventually pile up and you'll need a really thorough cleaning of it. Such a messy situation...lol.

 

[Gravesj1s]

Most septic tanks are going to be made of metal and saltwater being corrosive to metal you can rule out using the septic tank.You can only put things that are biodegradeable through them.

Secondly,if,and its unlikely your septic was made of say ABS you'd still have to deal with the leach field side of it.The salt would likely begin to clog the holes in the drainage pipes.

If the property your looking at has "land" as made mention of, you could come up with another alternative.Off the top of my head,you could skip the septic all together ,and use another area of your property to disperse the saltwastewater.Topography would help,but not a must.That said, you could run a line subsoil to a dedicated area much like sumppump discharge lines are done.This would work and not be to complicated or labor intense.

Lastly,, it should not effect the well at all.
-Wish you the best with whatever you decide,good luck with everything.-Steve

 

[jfl14609]

Salt and septic definitely dont mix i just go in the yard same with the waste water from my ro

 

[Willistein]

I've never seen a septic tank made of metal. With all of the laundry detergent, bleach, cleaners, etc. going in a septic tank, is 30 or 40 gallons of salt water once a month really an issue? I highly doubt it.

 

[Willistein]

Pascal, your best bet is to ask a few septic pumping companies in the area. Do a little research online, too. I think they've done studies on how water softening systems (which use and discharge salt) affect septic tanks.

 

[rjmayes34]

Septic systems are made from CONCRETE,never metal!!! It is a concrete box with a concrete top and some plastic serrated pipes coming out of it and going to the lawn. I have never seen a metal one!!!!!! Back in the day the would use some cast iron for the drainage pipes going into the lawn but if it had them, they probably need to be replaced anyway.
I have had no ill effects from my salt water in my lawn. I just try to not put it all in the same spot and away from my foundation.

 

[Willistein]

I have wondered this same thing while doing a 30 gallon water change. Our septic tank is 1500 gallons so that is about 2%. I think a half cup of bleach is a lot more detrimental to the bacteria population. We'll see next time I have to get it pumped.

 

[Jacwil]

I just did a simple google search and basically every hit said not to dump saltwater into your septic tank for numerous reasons...just like jfl the plumber stated

Also...color safe bleach isnt detrimental to the septic system...reg straight bleach is a big no no.

 

[rjmayes34]

so i wonder if when i clean my filter socks if that has any bad effects on my septic then? Cause i use 3/4ths cup of unscented bleach when i wash them once a week in the washer...

 

[Gravesj1s]

Septic systems are made from CONCRETE,never metal!!! It is a concrete box with a concrete top and some plastic serrated pipes coming out of it and going to the lawn. I have never seen a metal one!!!!!! Back in the day the would use some cast iron for the drainage pipes going into the lawn but if it had them, they probably need to be replaced anyway.
I have had no ill effects from my salt water in my lawn. I just try to not put it all in the same spot and away from my foundation.

LOL,alright Im obviously off que here.I assumed it in part at camp the septic has a metal lid access in the yard.The second I read your response here it clicked instantly you cant put metal in the ground like that.

I never gave it much thought until this thread but when I bought my house I found a metal vent pipe sticking out of the ground and was told it was part of an old septic tank.I never paid it any mind.That was until my neighbor had a sink hole appear in her back yard.I was told it was an old septic that was covered over and never filled in when public sewer came to the area.

Anyway, doing an addition at my house I had to pull some permits.While at the town hall I found an old pic of what my house used to look like and it had a large metal tank visable,I was told was the old septic tank.It was definately metal.

If it wasn't a septic tank ,do you know what this thing was?I'm wondering if metal was used above ground...Dont know,I was a city kid grew up on syracuses southside,no chance of ever seeing a septic tank there..lol.

 

[scuba namena]

septic here. all my waste water gets poured on my gravel driveway, seeps in. its a pain lugging buckets.

 

[jfl14609]

There are a few reasons not to put saltwater in septic tanks first of all just like our sumps certain types of bacteria are in septic tanks that help break down waste. simply put saltwater destroys certain bacteria in the tank, salt water will eat through and severely lower the life expectancy of the actual tank itself what most people dont realize is there are also junction box's in the yard as well where water will sit. My advice is unless you want to help my job security dont do it haha

 

[rjmayes34]

lol dont wanna have to call you up!!!!
Im not sure what the box would have been in your pics you seen? Depending on how old the house is maybe a catch basin, to collect water for the house when their was no city water? Depending on how old your house is and weather or not you have oil or propane tanks but maybe one of those? Im not too sure what it could have been?