Plumbing question...

[Gerritt]

Looking for a bit of info fellas...

 

I am in the country and am on a septic system (tank and bed) in recent years the area where the bed is located, the grass would normally be the greenest area in the whole yard... But something has seemed to change and this area is now full of brown dried up grass could this be caused by the water softner which hasnt been a problem before... or does it indicate some else is wrong?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

G.

[wallyboss]

Stop eating chili, that might help a bit. , Might want to check if your tank needs emptying, it tank is full (both side) or outlet is blocked then no grey water will reach the weeping bed. If it's an older tank and it has a cast iron T on the outlet it might have rusted out and clogged(that happened to me).

[Old Man]

The water softner will increase the sodium levels in your water. The harder the water, the more sodium your gray water will contain. If this gray water is rising up through the soil profile, via capillary action, into the root zone, this increase in salinity could be causing the problem with the growth of your grass. A soil test could confirm this.

[Kingsalmon]

You should have your water softener discharge directly outside and not throught the septic system. Think about how much salt you put in your softener, all that ends up in your septic! On our system it is discharges directly out with the sump pump lines.

[wallyboss]

The back wash of your Softenener should definetly go thru sump pump. But if there wasn't any changes to your softener (settings) then it shouldn't be because of salt, if it wasn't doing it before.

[Gerritt]

no this is a first... and no changes have been made to the softner.... so I am unsure and really dont feel like digging up around the tank.... but looks like I have too.... Ugh.

[irishfield]

Don't get in too much of hurry there G.. when's the last time it rained??? All those nice tile pipes carry the heat from the methane in the tank and have probably just dried out the yard above it. 30C.. for well over a week, etc.

[John]

Don't get in too much of hurry there G.. when's the last time it rained??? All those nice tile pipes carry the heat from the methane in the tank and have probably just dried out the yard above it. 30C.. for well over a week, etc.

 

Yup, my thoughts Ed Zachary

[lookinforwalleye]

Hey Gerritt check your Pm`s

[Bernie]

You havent been up for the last few gatherings here Gerritt.

The grass is just starting to recover from around my outhouse.

[aplumma]

Discharged sodium in an above ground situation is considered a level 1 hazardous material violation. The sodium does not evaporate and can not be purged from the ground it must be removed and new soil deposited. The old soil must be hauled away as contaminated soil just as it it had lead in it big buck here in the USA. That said I would have the lid on the distribution box opened Not the tank and see if it has flow and if it is covered in salt crystals. It could be your are not using the amount of water to get the water in the field to rise high enough to water the grass. You also might have enough moister in the area to have a fungus or grub infestation. Any septic system that is rated for lets say a 3 bedroom house and then a water softner is added the drainfield in theory should be upgraded to a 4 bedroom perk as a rule of thumb. You also want to check to make sure that the unit is not cleaning itself more often than needed a mechanical timer VS a metered time makes a big difference on a mechanical does it on a timer and the metered only cleans when you have used the volume of water it is set for. A power outage does have the ability on some units for it to reset it's memory and it will go into limp mode and clean more frequently.

 

 

Art

[Old Man]

You should try doing the soil test first. You need to take some core samples 0-6" and 6-12" and submit them to a soil test lab and request a conductivity test. They will be able to tell you if the problem is related to salinity. I know you stated that you haven't had this problem before, but if you've experienced lower than normal rain fall, the salt will rise to the surface into the root zone causing poor plant growth. A solution is to irrigate the area heavily with low salt containing water which will leach the salts back down the soil profile out of the root zone, but if you experience a dry spell again, the same problem will occur.

Edited July 14, 2011 by Old Man

[Big Cliff]

Discharged sodium in an above ground situation is considered a level 1 hazardous material violation. The sodium does not evaporate and can not be purged from the ground it must be removed and new soil deposited. The old soil must be hauled away as contaminated soil just as it it had lead in it big buck here in the USA. That said I would have the lid on the distribution box opened Not the tank and see if it has flow and if it is covered in salt crystals. It could be your are not using the amount of water to get the water in the field to rise high enough to water the grass. You also might have enough moister in the area to have a fungus or grub infestation. Any septic system that is rated for lets say a 3 bedroom house and then a water softner is added the drainfield in theory should be upgraded to a 4 bedroom perk as a rule of thumb. You also want to check to make sure that the unit is not cleaning itself more often than needed a mechanical timer VS a metered time makes a big difference on a mechanical does it on a timer and the metered only cleans when you have used the volume of water it is set for. A power outage does have the ability on some units for it to reset it's memory and it will go into limp mode and clean more frequently.

 

 

Art

 

Ok Art, I am also on a septic system, I have a green sand filter to remove iron and sulpher, a water softener, and a 5 stage RO system for drinking water (although we also have a UV system to insure that all our water is safe). Now I can only imagine how much water these systems are putting into my field bed, would I be better discharging the waste water into some kind of evaporator system at least for the summer? Oh, and our airconditioner also discharges to the septic system.

[misfish]

You havent been up for the last few gatherings here Gerritt.

The grass is just starting to recover from around my outhouse.

 

He needs a body gaurd,I have been busy.

[aplumma]

Ok Art, I am also on a septic system, I have a green sand filter to remove iron and sulpher, a water softener, and a 5 stage RO system for drinking water (although we also have a UV system to insure that all our water is safe). Now I can only imagine how much water these systems are putting into my field bed, would I be better discharging the waste water into some kind of evaporator system at least for the summer? Oh, and our airconditioner also discharges to the septic system.

 

Cliff

 

The greensand filter and the water softener are about 80 gallons each per backwash cycle and a RO unit is 5 gallon waste per 1 gal made. The RO unit is not a concern because you are using it in small doses it is like running a faucet slowly when it replenishes the reservoir. The greensand filter and the water softener should be set up so they backwash on different days or at least stagger the timers. Set one units clock ahead 2 hours and the other one 1 hour before the actual time. Most units are hard programmed to backwash at 2:00 A.M. Then set the date on Monday for one and Wed for the other or 1 and 3 depending on what they use for their counter indicator. The washing of the systems are on the greensand just water and the water softener uses a brine solution to release the bond of the resin and the minerals. As long as your septic system is not showing signs of ground softness on the field you are fine. With the staggering of the units you will be doing as much as you can short of enlarging the fields. If it does become an issue the greensand filter can be illegally run to another place other than the septic field with no bad results except for a code violation (IN THE USA) but could be legal in Canada.

 

 

Art

[Big Cliff]

Thank you very much Art! Good info, I'll check the timers today.