Quote:
Originally Posted by MAXUM
One thing to look at and this is REALLY important. If you look at a house that happens to have a brine based water softener installed, or have one installed do not under any circumstances have them drain into a septic system. It will destroy it. When I put mine in I dug a dry well to drain it into in the back yard. Now I have no idea if that is "legal" per say but draining it in your septic system will lead to premature failure. There are other methods to soften water, but they can be significantly more expensive.
I think the whole idea of a dug well is fine provided the source of water is that good and more importantly reliable. I'd personally not necessarily shy away from one, but I'd have plan b in my back pocket if I had problems, which would be drilling a well. That of course assumes a well can be successfully drilled too.
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Hi Maxum,
I am curious where this REALLY important information came from. I started my water treatment career in the 80's and am often asked if brine discharge from a water softener can damage a septic system. To date, I haven't found any evidence that it does (although "some experts" are sometimes quoted as saying that it does). In fact many studies suggest that the additional sodium helps to promote bacterial growth. Further, the additional calcium discharged has been shown to aid the ability of certain soils in performing their duties on our doodies. There are currently over 30 million households in the United States with water softeners treating their well water. I don't think that very many have dry wells. This is not to say that dry wells aren't a viable option. If the septic system was undersized to begin with, they would be recommended. A water softener discharges about the same amount of water as a top loading washing machine and less than most dishwashers.
Of course, if you can do a google search and come up with some evidence to support your claims, I will humbly stand corrected.