This article will cover how salt can block a cesspit. Hard water is a common problem among households. It is water that is composed of magnesium and calcium, which make it so difficult to accomplish cleaning tasks. Because it is hard water, you will not be able to lather it up with detergents or soaps. As a result, you do not clean effectively and you end up with slimy scum accumulating in your sink, drains, toilets, and cesspits. That is why homeowners resort to using water softeners. Water softeners are comprised of sodium carbonate or salt. This compound is said to make hard water usable. However, water softeners have a certain effect on cesspits. As a responsible homeowner, you have to know how salt can block a cesspit so that you could find other efficient ways to treat hard water without causing problems to your wastewater treatment system.
The cesspit is a straightforward system. It is a tank that is connected to your home. The waste from your home is collected in your cesspit. The solid waste particles sink to its bottom and are broken down by the resident anaerobic bacteria so that the effluent is clear of solid waste particulates before it flows into the surrounding soil absorption area. In the surrounding soil, it is purified further before being reused. When you apply a water softener, an exchange of chemical cations enables potassium or sodium ions to replace the magnesium and calcium in your water supply. As the water softening process ensues, the water goes through a bed of resin. The result is the effective removal of magnesium and calcium. The resin bed can regenerate to soften water continuously. When the resin is almost all used up, it is washed by a control valve. It then draws the salt solution from the tank of brine so that it could pass through the resin. Once the salt touches the resin bed, the ion exchange happens. Magnesium and calcium that are retained in the resin bed are washed away. The final rinse removes all the excess salt. This manages to make the resin bed capable of softening water again.
When the salt rinsing process happens, there is a concern of letting water softeners loose into the cesspit. It is believed that the salts in the water during the water softening process is harmful to the cesspit and ultimately leads to cesspit failure. According to most experts, increased levels of sodium or salt have significant negative impact on bacteria. An example is when you put freshwater bacteria in saltwater, they won’t be able to survive. Because of this concept, it is concluded that your cesspit’s bacterial population will not be able to survive elevated levels of sodium at all. Frequent use of water softeners causes the outpour of sodium into the cesspit. This destroys the balanced environment for the residential anaerobic bacteria in the cesspit. As you know, salt is a preservative. It is able to eliminate bacteria in substances so that the product could last for a longer period. Incorporating salt in the cesspit kills off the bacteria. The effect is that the solid waste particles are not decomposed anymore so they just stay in the cesspit. The particulates block the surrounding perforations and interrupt the normal flow of wastewater treatment.
You have to make sure that your septic expert knows about your water softening process. This way, necessary additives could be applied to help with the effective treatment of hard water without compromising your cesspit’s functions. It is always ideal to use your drains and toilets properly. Doing so will not add to the possible problem brought about by the incorporation of salt through the water softening process. Environment friendly cleaners are better because they won’t harm the bacteria present in your cesspit. Making your cesspit aerobic could also help maintain your cesspit’s health even if you use water softeners all the time. Work with your septic expert on this matter so that you won’t have issues such as cesspit failure in the future.
