Water Softener Drain Project

[ctpres]

Next project is to install water softener in pump house. Have three drain options. 1. Two hundred foot underground pipe to septic line thru open yard. 2. Two hundred foot underground (thru trees) to usally dry creek bed. 3. Build mini drain field in yard near pump house/well. Any comments or fresh ideas from T.B.N.U. greatly appreciated. I think keeping a down slope in options 1 & 2 will be nearly impossible.

 

[ktm250rider]

I just dump mine out the side of the house. There isnt that much back flush to worry about. May be different with your system though.
Ive heard that its not good to drain the water softener into your septic since the iron that its taking out can clog the holes in your drain pipe. Ive also heard that its not a problem eithor.

 

[claridon]

As I understand it, the backflush water from my water softener is a salt brine. It's created by mixing water with the salt I occasionally put in the softner. For this reason I would not allow it to run anywhere near my septic leech field.
My softner drains into the footer drain and eventually flows out into the ground with the house gutter water and foundation footer drain water. There's not much flow coming out.
-Len

 

[jsborn]

I checked with my softener co when i installed mine and was told that no more salt than is in the water it will not hurt your septic drain field. I opted to run a drain to the edge of my yard into the woods and the only problem I have encountered in the past 2 years is now the deer seem to want to come to the drain area and lick the ground and pipe outlet.

WOW what a problem.

 

[Onthesauk]

Went through the same thing 6 to 8 months ago. Ended up digging a hole just outside the garage. About 2 foot square and 3 foot deep. Filled it up with pea gravel and works just fine. And that's in fairly heavy clay. Backflush cycle should be somewhere in the 20 to 40 gallon range.

Did a little looking before I did this. Apparently CA prohibits dumping the backwash in septic because of the salt. Most of the other material I read says it probably doesn't matter. One of those issues that seems to still be under discussion.

 

[Defective]

I would wonder about the salt leaching back into the well if you drain it right at the well...

 

[keving]

Mine goes out to my back yard underground for about 30 feet and is deposited in hole about the size of a 55 gallon drum filled with various layers of gravel and is about a foot from the surface. Grass grows great and a nearby tree seems to love it!

 

[Silver_Knight]

Are you guys sure about this? When mine regenerates is uses about 75 gallons of water and quite a bit of salt. I thought that amount of salt would kill grass and trees.

 

[Tig]

1. Two hundred foot underground pipe to septic line thru open yard.
-Since the water is not contaminated there is no need to put the burden and salt on the septic.

2. Two hundred foot underground (thru trees) to usally dry creek bed.
-Dumping anything into a creek bed is a big no no around here.

3. Build mini drain field in yard near pump house/well.
-IMHO this is the proper solution. As some have mentioned it only has to be a dry well not a tile bed. Your softener manual will tell you how much water is used in regeneration. Just make sure the dry well is bigger so it has days to drain off into the ground.

I think option three is the best.