What happens when you discharge your water softener’s backwash in your yard, lawn, or outside?
Not only impacts vegetation life, but animals’ tools negatively.
The backwash consists of lots of sodium ions or salt, and minerals. Although minerals contain in the backwash are not that high, it impacts plants’ health positively.
But the intake of sodium is way too high than required for the plants.
Plants or grass cells are not that big to absorb big sodium particles. Even if some are absorbed, they are more than required and put plants’ internal functionality in disarray.
The sodium cells stuck in the grass or plants cell prevent them from absorbing the required water. That leads them to dry, dry thrust.
If any stray dog or other animal consumes that high sodium intake liquid, it can put their health in danger too.
If there is any water well, the high sodium intake is indirectly coming to you back, because it eventually goes into underground stored water pound from where authorities fetch that water and send our homes.
So, if you are using a water softener, and there Is no proper dumping system, sewerage line, or dry well around you, discharging it carefully, without putting our ecosystem harmony into danger is difficult.
In this guide, we are going to help you get that backwash rightly dumped, and cry for the negative damages it can put if you discharge it on your lawn or outside.
Why can’t you drain water outside or in the lawn?
Whether it is a remote area where you hardly find someone to talk to you or an urban area, if there is no proper sewage system for you to dump the backwash water softener, you can’t just discharge it outside.
In those scenarios, especially if you don’t have the budget, it is hard to figure out what to do.
You may think of discharging it in your lawn, however, your lawn will turn dead within a few weeks, a well-maintained patch of grass will be killed, just wanted to let you know.
Backwash water contains too much sodium. I have mentioned above too that this much sodium can’t be absorbed by plants or vegetation. It is stuck in their cells and stops water absorption which leads to death because of dryness.
I have seen some cases where people mentioned that their lawn was as good as before even after discharging backwash water softener in the lawn.
I always believe in details, maybe the sodium intake on that discharge is not that high. The water hardness is not that high, which does not require lots of sodium discharging, thus the sodium intake in that water would be minimal and can’t damage the soul of the vegetation.
Or maybe, they people spread the backwash in a large area or used it for watering the lawn before it rains, which spread or dilute the salt intake.
If it is a prolonged dry period, and you add more water to dilute it, and some of the water drain out, maybe that too would not damage your lawn.
How to drain water softener without damaging the ecosystem?
If not the lawn, or not outside where can I discharge water softener or drain it out, if there is no sewage system around.
Well, there are many ways, if you use your brain, the tiniest part even, you would learn what I am going to explain.
Dry good method
The dry well method is one of the most popular, and affordable ways to discharge water softeners.
Here, you are not going to disturb the ecosystem, but going to use their method of filtering. Yes, how our earth filters the water that is absorbed in the soil?
For that, you need to make a dry well, select a point away from your home 10-feet. Keep in mind, you should do that only when there is no water reprocessing authority around, or a water well. If there is a water well in the 100-feet surrounding, you can’t do that.
Select a point, and dig a hole that is 4-feet deep and wide. Use a landscaping liner and cover the hole, get a PVC pipe, and attach it to the main drainage machine, enough to reach the hole. Install a dry well now, and level it. Cover the area with pebbles and stones.
French Drain method?
If you have a big lawn and want to discharge water in it, wait for a little, let me explain to you a way that would not harm your lawn, and you would be able to discharge water over there too.
Make a trench, one foot wide and 20-inches deep trench. Install PVC drain pipe, make sure it holes upward, get a perforated PVC pipe if possible, or you can do just fine with a regular one. Covers the remains with pebbles and stones.
Will water softener discharge kill the grass of my lawn?
Yes, if you continue adding the discharge in a smaller area of your lawn, you will end up killing the grass of your lawn.
The backwash contains high sodium ions, irons, minerals, and many other hard substances, which are more than required or difficult to absorb substances by the grass.
Every time you discharge your water softener, the salt intake, as well as other minerals, increases, and it in the end kill your lawn.
Why Will Water with Salt Kill Grass?
If you keep discharging water softener in your lawn, the salt quantity beneath increases. The water gets dry but the salt remains there in the grassroots.
This stops the grass from taking water, or in some cases, grassroots expel water which leads to dryness, and in some cases, it takes all the salt, more than required which is harmful to their growth.
Can I save my lawn if it is already drying out due to the water softener discharging?
If it has not been that long, you did it a few times, yes you can save it. The grass is hard to kill, it requires continuous discharging of saltwater into it, and if the weather in your region is hotter than average, it may increase your grass drying process faster.
Just stop it right away, try to dilute the salt gathered in the grassroots, and you will see within a few weeks, your lawn will be green all over again.
Conclusion
Discharging water softener in the lawn is not recommended. It contains high sodium intake, minerals, and many other ingredients which are more than required for the grass or vegetation.
If you have committed this mistake, and suffering the loss, as your green lush lawn is turning pale, stop discharging water softener in the lawn right now.
Starts adding hard water, sprinkle the water frequently, try to dilute the salt gathered din the grassroots, if you continue doing that, within a few weeks you will turn the table all over again.
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