I am in the process of installing a water softener and need to dig a drain field to handle the backwash discharge. What size tile, how long, and how deep should the drain field be? The softener is a demand type that recharges after a certain amount of water goes through the system. It is sized for 2 1/2 baths, 4 people. How close can the drain field be to trees, or shrubs. I know a 55 gal drum is what is typically used, but my soil is heavy clay, and I don't think I could bury the drum deep enough. Plumbing it into my septic system is not an option. Thanks
- Thread starter OliLt
- Start date
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
We tapped ours into a french drain that we have that surrounds the house and opens to air at one end. Acts like a leach bed, as I've never seen anything come out the open end the day after a recharge (running like this for 8 yrs). We also have a demand softener and heavy clay soil. HTH.
MarkB_MI
Well-known Member
- Location
- Motown USA
It takes around 40 gallons of water to regenerate most water softeners. So if your dry well can handle 40 gallons of water in one shot, you should be good to go.
If you have a demand softener, and it's properly adjusted, the discharge shouldn't cause much of a problem since there won't be much salt in the discharge. But if it's not a demand unit, or it's adjusted to regenerate too frequently, the excess salt will cause problems for vegetation if you discharge near the surface of the soil.
I wouldn't use a steel drum; it will rust out and possibly collapse. My dry well is a hole I filled with cinder blocks and pea gravel, then covered with pressure-treated boards and a foot of dirt. Even if the boards rot out, the cinder block and pea gravel fill will keep it from collapsing. I had to dig down through four or five feet of clay before I hit sand.
If you have a demand softener, and it's properly adjusted, the discharge shouldn't cause much of a problem since there won't be much salt in the discharge. But if it's not a demand unit, or it's adjusted to regenerate too frequently, the excess salt will cause problems for vegetation if you discharge near the surface of the soil.
I wouldn't use a steel drum; it will rust out and possibly collapse. My dry well is a hole I filled with cinder blocks and pea gravel, then covered with pressure-treated boards and a foot of dirt. Even if the boards rot out, the cinder block and pea gravel fill will keep it from collapsing. I had to dig down through four or five feet of clay before I hit sand.
Dean Olson
Well-known Member
I used to install water softeners for a living. 1000's over the years.
I would open up a trench about 18" deep and about 100' long and drop in a roll of 100' perforated black french drain pipe and cover it up. Works perfect.
In the early days we would back fill with pea gravel. Later decided that that was not necessary.
If it was in a landscaped yard we would haul some of the heavy clay off and back fill with bank sand and replace the sod we saved.
I would open up a trench about 18" deep and about 100' long and drop in a roll of 100' perforated black french drain pipe and cover it up. Works perfect.
In the early days we would back fill with pea gravel. Later decided that that was not necessary.
If it was in a landscaped yard we would haul some of the heavy clay off and back fill with bank sand and replace the sod we saved.
If you are only going to bury 18 inch deep, you better be sure that frost in your area dont get too deep or the pipe fills and freezes, then backs up into the house. Its not pretty.
I just discharge on the surface (legal to do here). It dont hurt the grass at all, in fact, it seems to like it because its greener there. I think it likes the extra little bit of water every week. Expecially this year, we are kinda dry this year.
I just discharge on the surface (legal to do here). It dont hurt the grass at all, in fact, it seems to like it because its greener there. I think it likes the extra little bit of water every week. Expecially this year, we are kinda dry this year.
I run my recharge discharge water into the septic tank via the sanitary drain for the house. I dd some research and found a report from I believe Iowa State University where some testing was done and they could find no detrimental effects on septic tank/drainfield performance and longevity for doing that.
I run my recharge discharge water into the septic tank via the sanitary drain for the house. I dd some research and found a report from I believe Iowa State University where some testing was done and they could find no detrimental effects on septic tank/drainfield performance and longevity for doing that.
showcrop
Well-known Member
At my Church I used a 15 gal poly drum. I went down around 6 feet 4ft x 4ft, with a two feet of 3/4 stone then the drum with a lot of 3/8 holes in the bottom, and some geo textile over the stone, then backfilled. The ground is sandy, and with the depth I didn't have to worry about any problems with the vegetation around it.
Not sure of your setup but the discharge pumps on a softener will generally pump water 8 feet up or more. When I first put mine in many years ago in the basement, I ran the discharge line up to where it would run into the washing machine drain since it needed an airgap. It was a typical Kenmore 35,000 grain unit. Then the tank overflow tube about 2/3 of the way up the tank, was just run over to the condensate drain for the heater/AC system. If your basement doesn't have a condensate drain line to the sump and you use a condensate pump on your A/C, then I would probably add one of those pumps to your overflow on the back of the tank and pump to the same place the A/C pump goes to.
I don't remember the overflow ever being used until my fiberglass resin tank blew out into the salt tank last month. Had nothing but trouble with those Kenmore's and my last one was 23 years old. Replaced it with a 64,000 Aquasource two side by side tank system based upon the Fleck meter. Never knew water could be so soft.
K Effective
Well-known Member
Considering the age of this thread, OliLt may be on his second softener. I wonder how it all worked out.
K Effective
Well-known Member
Nah, you weren't alone. On a lot of these threads, I would like to hear how it all worked out!
buickanddeere
Well-known Member
We run the washing machine and water softener into a French Drain . The sanitary system
Was installed in clay soil . It is possible to overload the system as water travels slow out through the clay .
I wish the dishwasher and the upstairs shower was also routed though the Grey water system .
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