Presently brine discharge goes in my septic - need to change that!

[Mark Dolfen]

My brine discharge currently goes into my septic. The septic is 500 gallons and everytime the system regenerates the toilets "bubble" (like it is backing up into the house). I have been there several years, never had a problem until about 1 year ago. Had the septic pumped, and the problem is quickly back. I have read pro/con arguments on brine discharge into the septic and am looking for a solution to possibly send the brine discharge outside as opposed to my septic. My major concern is freezing in winter. I live in Illinois and we sometimes have very cold winters, yet the softener doesn't care - it still needs to recharge. I am on a approx. 30" crawl of pea gravel and the softener is on the main floor. Presently it is connected by a hose directly to the septic line (not happy about that - the last homeowner had it installed this way). The crawl is presently dry as a bone. Was looking to get advice on how I can change the brine discharge line from my septic to somewhere (I thought of possibly a dry well in the crawl?) Anyone - PLEASE HELP!

 

[ENIGMA-2]

Brine will not hurt a properly functioning septic system.

As your primary concern is the bubbling of the toilet, my guess is, you have a problem with venting.

The first thing that comes to mind is one of your roof vents is plugged (birds and other animals like vents as they release warm air).

When the softener drains, it develops a flow in the drain. This causes a positive pressure to form ahead of the flow and a negative pressure to form in back.

The purpose of the vent system is to allows these pressures to be relieved to the atmosphere. If the vent downstream of the softener is blocked, the positive pressure will try to find a way out the open air, and it does through the water closet.

The "direct" connection bothers me, the drain from the softener should connect to a standpipe (like the type a washing machine connects to), along with an Air gap and proper vent.

Are you certain you septic tank and leach field is working properly? Do you have it pumped every five years or so?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Bannerman]

A 500 gallon septic tank seems unusually small. What is the size of your home, the plumbing configuration and number of occupants?

How is the softener configured? Please post the programmed settings as well as the softener size, and your water's hardness, iron and manganese levels.

You may wish to post some photos of the drain connection from the softener to how it is connected to the septic system. As you specify a hose connected directly to the septic line, I suspect an unsuitable method of connection including lack of venting.

Other threads on this forum have provided links to studies which have indicated that softener discharge, provided the salt setting is an efficient amount, may be beneficial to septic bacterial colonization.

 

[Smooky]

Your biggest problem is your septic tank is under undersized and your drainfield may be undersized too. Over time the soil in the drainfield can get clogged up with grease, biomass, or roots. There are a lot of different opinions on whether softener discharge is harmful to the septic system. The bubbles usually start when liquid starts to back up. This could be a clogged drain in the plumbing or maybe your drainfield is staring to fail. If you reduce the flow to your septic system it may last a little longer before you have to do a drainfield repair. In NC we are encouraged to run softener discharge to the ditch and mine goes out into the woods. I would not do a dry well under the house, that is just asking for wetness problems under the house.