The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Tue Mar 13, 2007 1:57 pm**

The caustic (salty) backflow from a water filtration system I had installed was, unbeknownst to me at the time, undirected, just a pipe exiting the back of my home.

My home is on a hill, and the backflow killed a large swath of my lawn and "burned" a bush separating my property from the neighbor.

I asked the filter guy about it, and he said they don't get involved with where it goes. They usually just find a place under a deck (which I don't have). He did tell me that the flow rate is typically under 2.5 gal/min, with a maximum backflow of about 30 gal total. The regeneration causing the backflow occurs about 3 or 4 times per week.

So, I've come out to this forum to see if anyone has any details they might share about taking care of this. Can I just dig a trench to a hole, connect a PVC pipe from the backflow pipe to the hole through the trench, fill the trench and hole with gravel, and resod the top? Is this what's called a "French drain"? How deep/wide should the trench and hole be? At what grade?

Posted: **Thu Mar 15, 2007 1:09 pm**

Things might be different in Massachussetts, but here in Europe you'd have what we call "leach field" to distribute the iffy water over a larger area and thereby limit its potential for damage.

You can see some very basic info on leach fields here

Posted: **Thu Mar 15, 2007 4:46 pm**

Thanks Tony. As it turns out, I contacted a seasoned landscaper in my area who specializes in drainage systems. I'm having a "dry well", which is what I was describing above it seems, installed to route both the water filtration system backflow as well as gutter run-off.

The Brew Cabin

Drainage for water softener backflow?