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    Thread: RDF Users: What do you do with the water from the cleaning cyclces?

    1. #1
      audioenvy is offline Supporting Member
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      RDF Users: What do you do with the water from the cleaning cyclces?

      In another thread there was a discussion about the water that comes out of the RDF during cleaning cycles. One option is to use collapsible hose and route the water to a garden or some other dumping spot. But we're potentially talking about 50+ gallons per day depending on number of cycles. There's not just the issue of the water but also of the smell.

      I'd love to hear what people are doing for this.

      I'm wondering if I could handle this with a 4' x 4' x 3' gravel pit covered with mulch and have the waste water drain into that hole where it would soak into the ground. I could occasionally pour bleach or PP into the pit to kill the organics.

      Thoughts?

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    2. #2
      kevin32 is offline Inactivated
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      I was using a 3 inch pipe to my grass. the dang thing would back up with sludge so now I just have a short pipe. the smell is terrible but I have cool neighbors lol.

      was hard to take a pic. ah that smell
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      Last edited by kevin32; 11-08-2017 at 06:13 PM.

    3. #3
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      I connected mine to 30 feet of perforated pipe that runs along the top of a berm behind my house. I started with ten foot, and then added until it was spread enough to completely dry out between cycles (I rotate the individual pipes as needed to control the amount of water that comes out each pipe). By letting it dry out, the smell doesn't get too overwhelming- in fact, it was pretty much not noticeable except directly over the pipe.

      By the way, I dump the RDF straight into a septic barrel (maybe 40 gallons) with a float switch, so it dumps 30 gallons at a shot.
      Last edited by kby103; 11-08-2017 at 06:21 PM.

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      Quote Originally Posted by kevin32 View Post
      I was using a 3 inch pipe to my grass. the dang thing would back up with sludge so now I just have a short pipe. the smell is terrible but I have cool neighbors lol.

      was hard to take a pic. ah that smell
      Uhhhh yeah. I'm going to need a better solution than the one in that photo LOL.

    5. #5
      vipertom1970 is offline Senior Member
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      catch the solid chit then dump it in the trash on the trash pick up day then pump the water to the planters or pump it directly to sewer system with a timer. I am in a state with drought problem so I have it pump to planters.
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      Last edited by vipertom1970; 11-08-2017 at 06:52 PM.

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      Quote Originally Posted by audioenvy View Post
      Uhhhh yeah. I'm going to need a better solution than the one in that photo LOL.
      great place to hang out and have breakfast and dinner lol. I have my rdf on cement. but I can probably do short pipe then dig into the grass and is a barrel. I'm just to lazy to do it since this is just a temp intex pool
      Last edited by kevin32; 11-08-2017 at 06:27 PM.

    7. #7
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      I just send the water to waste.
      people like to vehemently defend their purchases and find it incredulous that anything could be better

    8. #8
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      This is what the pipe looked like before painting and covering with mulch- I connected the basin to the pipes with 2 inch black flexible pvc buried in a shallow trench (the blue hose you see was temporary to make sure it would work). I have a 90 degree elbow at the end to set the water level in the pipe, I can disconnect the elbow to flush out the crud that settles.

      If you let the RDF steadily drain, it will just create a swamp (I know from experience). Storing it and discharging in bursts works much better.
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      Quote Originally Posted by Russell Peters View Post
      I just send the water to waste.
      it is waste water, so what do you mean you send it to waste? I know we don't send it to our tap water to take a shower with lol

    10. #10
      rcmike is offline Supporting Member
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      I need to work out something myself. Right now I have 20 feet of drainage pipe running downhill from the filter but at the end of the pipe it looks like Kevin's mess.

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    11. #11
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      good trick I've seen for the profidrim is to hang a leaf basket under the waste outlet to catch the leaves. then the sump is in the lowest spot and pumps out the waste without the pump getting clogged with leaves. pretty clever idea

    12. #12
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      Quote Originally Posted by kevin32 View Post
      it is waste water, so what do you mean you send it to waste? I know we don't send it to our tap water to take a shower with lol
      I mean that I waste it, I do not send it somewhere to be reused. It served it's purpose so I throw it away. I am not a tree hugger.
      people like to vehemently defend their purchases and find it incredulous that anything could be better

    13. #13
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      Quote Originally Posted by kby103 View Post
      This is what the pipe looked like before painting and covering with mulch- I connected the basin to the pipes with 2 inch black flexible pvc buried in a shallow trench (the blue hose you see was temporary to make sure it would work). I have a 90 degree elbow at the end to set the water level in the pipe, I can disconnect the elbow to flush out the crud that settles.

      If you let the RDF steadily drain, it will just create a swamp (I know from experience). Storing it and discharging in bursts works much better.
      Interesting. I used to dump my settling chamber once every few days right behind the pond and it never made a mess.

    14. #14
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      Quote Originally Posted by rcmike View Post
      Interesting. I used to dump my settling chamber once every few days right behind the pond and it never made a mess.
      so did I. the rdf mainly comes out as sludge for me. my settling tank had 225 gallons of water also compared to very little water to waste the rdf has. I agree though once it dries the bacteria and smell die. so best to let it dry out if sending it to lawn etc...

    15. #15
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      I dump mine into the same one as my downspouts run to, which is a 4" perforated pipe running to a low area between my property and
      the neighbors that is about 80' from my house. They have 7 acres and I can't even see their house.
      It's a mini settling chamber (1.5 gallon garbage pail) with a basket as the "prefilter" and the majority of the sludge settles at the bottom
      of the garbage pail that I dump out in the woods every few weeks, so less sludge actually goes out into the perforated pipe. The waste water
      runs from the 3/4" pvc pipe to the downspout drain pipe.
      My automatic water changes dump about 30 gallons into the same perforated pipe every 5 hours and it has kept the downspout pipe clear.

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      Quote Originally Posted by Russell Peters View Post
      I mean that I waste it, I do not send it somewhere to be reused. It served it's purpose so I throw it away. I am not a tree hugger.
      lol I see. I'm guess I'm a tree hugger since I try to conserve and reuse my water In a drought state and it is good water for plants and the grass. my roses love poo water. I'm just kidding in a way...

    17. #17
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      Quote Originally Posted by Russell Peters View Post
      I mean that I waste it, I do not send it somewhere to be reused. It served it's purpose so I throw it away. I am not a tree hugger.
      Same here, I have a 10 gpm well so I have no reason to use any of it for anything else. My problem is what to do with the sludge that comes out of the end of the pipe.

    18. #18
      icu2's Avatar
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      The RDF's differ in the amount of water used but my BE uses a little less than a quart per cycle.
      It typically cycles once ever 20 min or so which works out to about 18 gallons per day... so for me it
      was also mostly about separating the sludge out of waste water more than about what to do with the
      actual amount of water.
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    19. #19
      Huysy's Avatar
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      I've tried almost everything, but that smell is something that you cannot escape, especially when you don't have acres of land. I am at a point where this is the best option. Set it and forget it.

      Quote Originally Posted by Russell Peters View Post
      I mean that I waste it, I do not send it somewhere to be reused. It served it's purpose so I throw it away. I am not a tree hugger.

    20. #20
      kimini is offline Senior Member
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      I have it run to an IBC with a sump pump in it, feeding a manifold that can send the waste to one of eight different yard areas. One of the eight is a garden hose for even more versatility. If the waste isn't aerated and dries out quickly, smell isn't an issue.

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