Best disposal of old saltwater

[Arsalan]

Finally ready to setup auto water changes and have a critical issue to resolve:

Where to drain the water?

Trying to see what others are doing and what the old timers recommend since I would assume years of draining saltwater in one place might cause issues.
I remember someone here saying they dug a french drain in their yard and plumbed it to that.. not sure I'll be able to do that but if its the best possible option I can wing it.
I'm pretty sure my house is on a septic tank and also there's a drain right in my basement near the sump but kind of hesitant to use that.

Thoughts / advice?

 

[Matt W]

Interesting and following. Also curious about the septic impact. My guess since the SW waste volume and waste profile (pretty inert) there is likely no risk. Doing six loads of laundry on a Saturday is much more likely to impact a septic system.

 

[this is me]

I'm pretty sure my house is on a septic tank and also there's a drain right in my basement near the sump but kind of hesitant to use that.

Thoughts / advice?

What you mean "you're pretty sure"? Your house is either connected to town sewer system or you sit on top of a sh** box.

 

[Arsalan]

What you mean "you're pretty sure"? Your house is either connected to town sewer system or you sit on top of a sh** box.

Haha good point, I guess it was silly of me to assume it (only because the house is a little over 100 years old).
I actually checked my water bill and I pay for sewer so I'm in fact not on a septic.

I guess my concern is salt corrosion on the plumbing.. is this a valid concern?

 

[this is me]

You can also check your plumbing. Most plumbing use PVC.
How much water are you talking about here. I dump 50-70gallons of salt water into my drain system and have no concern about it since they're PVC. I'm sure people have larger system and are dumping a lot more salt water than that.

 

[Reefer508]

I have an old house with a septic system, not town sewer, all though my bill reads as a Water/Sewer bill. I dumped water change water into my septic system for years, 30+ gallons every 2 weeks, with no apparent problems. However I was informed that the salt water will break down the cement over time. I don't want to have to replace my septic so I stopped doing that. I put in a dry well for just that purpose, I also dump r/o waste there. It was a lot of work but I think worthwhile.

 

[Arsalan]

Just got off the phone with my city water & sewer and engineering departments and they confirmed I'm on a sewer.
Being an older house, the septic plumbing is cast iron inside the house and it goes into clay outside the house (city system).

The drain I have near my sump is just a cement hole (as far as the eye can see) and I was concerned of what Reefer508 mentioned about the salt breaking down cement.

I would think dumping it into a toilet drain or some other drain where it could (would) frequently get washed out by fresh water from normal use would be less of a problem than the cement drain in the ground that would only have consistent drips of saltwater throughout the day and nothing else to wash it down.
It'd be really convenient to use that drain since its about 8 feet away but not sure it's logical.

 

[aresangel]

I toss mine on the grass/ garden. Especially after I forget to weed all spring trying to kill the weeds. (It doesn’t work)


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[CrypticLifeStyle]

Your bio-waste I'm sure is more toxic, and corrosive then saltwater would ever be on a septic system. The iron / steel pipe will go eventually either way. Been there done that.

 

[Matt W]

Again interesting discussion. I just watched my septic tank get pumped last week and also fear repairs.

Regarding SW and cement, in a septic situation, the SW would have greater contract time (albeit diluted significantly) and I can see the risk. In the cement drain/pipe scenario, the contact time with SW would be very little and presumably not frequent exposure (i.e. not daily), I wonder how significant this risk would to the cement.

 

[Arsalan]

The contact time with SW would be very little and presumably not frequent exposure (i.e. not daily), I wonder how significant this risk would to the cement.

This is actually the main reason for my concern, I’ll be using a Neptune Systems DOS pump for the auto water changes so I’ll be swapping out about 26 mL of water per hour 24/7 so there’s almost consistent exposure.

But now that I think about it, I may try to fish the 1/4” tube as far down the drain as I possibly can, hoping it’ll help.

Anyone else doing this type of water changes? If so where is it getting drained?


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[dakar652]

that kind of volume with not present any sort of a threat to your plumbing in my experience. I have 100 year old home with cast plumbing and have never had an issue. I use my old tank water to flush the toilet after my morning dumps for a few days after water changes...that way the water never goes to waste

 

[Arsalan]

that kind of volume with not present any sort of a threat to your plumbing in my experience. I have 100 year old home with cast plumbing and have never had an issue. I use my old tank water to flush the toilet after my morning dumps for a few days after water changes...that way the water never goes to waste

Haha love that, almost makes sense to rig something to have my toilet flush chamber fill up with old SW.

I typo’d that number off by a digit, shooting for changing about 24g per month so I figured 126mL per hour would be ideal but I may increase it if necessary.

Regardless, I’m starting to get a feeling the costs and effort of an alternative outweigh the risk of just using the existing drains in a house which makes me lean towards just putting it down the drain.


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[dakar652]

i try to not worry about stuff until it becomes a problem in cases like this. if you have sewer...I highly doubt saltwater would be any source of an issue with your plumbing. that's a REALLY neat idea with plumbing directly to the toilet tank! then you can brag to all your friends with saltwater pools that you have a custom saltwater john!

 

[nemodan]

Please, read this thread. Is short.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/is-it-ok-to-drain-salt-water-into-septic-system.82869/

 

[Arsalan]

Haha yeah after reading that thread, I think I won’t question dumping SW down the drain.

With that said maybe a next project will be to have my toilet flushes trigger my water changes... [emoji23]



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[Arsalan]

Please, read this thread. Is short.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/is-it-ok-to-drain-salt-water-into-septic-system.82869/

Thanks man!


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