I am installing a Fleck 7000 4800 water softener. I have a septic tank. I ran the recommended 1/2" discharge line. There is a check valve on discharge line right next to water softener. Then there is 20 feet of 1/2" discharge line to p trap that is connected to existing 2 inch house sewer drain. I installed the check valve to prevent sewage back up. I am concerned about there not being enough water pressure to open check valve. I would appreciate any help in determining if this is a workable system before I turn things on.

Also, Does anyone know of any issues with draining the discharge water into a septic tank?

Thanks for your time!

Mike

Here is your answer from the 2012 NC plumbing code:

504.6 Requirements for discharge piping.
The discharge piping serving a pressure
relief valve, temperature relief valve or combination thereof shall:

1. Not be directly connected to the drainage system.

2. Discharge through an air gap located in the same room as the water heater, either on the floor, into an indirect waste receptor or outdoors.

3. Not be smaller than the diameter of the outlet of the valve served and shall
discharge full size to the air gap.

4. Serve a single relief device and shall not connect to piping serving any other relief
device or equipment.

5. Discharge to the floor, to the pan serving the water heater or storage tank, to a waste receptor or to the outdoors.

6. Discharge in a manner that does not cause personal injury or structural damage.

7. Discharge to a termination point that is readily observable by the building occupants.

8. Not be trapped.

9. Be installed so as to flow by gravity.

10. Not terminate more than 6 inches (152 mm) above the floor or waste receptor.

11. Not have a threaded connection at the end of such piping.

12. Not have valves or tee fittings.

13. Be constructed of those materials listed in Section 605.4 or materials tested,
rated and approved for such use in accordance with ASME A112.4.1.

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Water heater or water softener, same code, but your safety valve would most likely be pressure only, and not pressure/temperature, since it is not a water heater.

Specifically, lines 1 and 8 prohibit the connection you are describing.
Line 11 specifies that the pipe not be threaded - thus to prevent anything from being easily connected to the discharge outlet.
This code does not mention the pressure/temperature relief valve itself. I believe this is because what is referred to as the "discharge line" or "discharge pipe" is that which is down-flow from the pressure/temperature relief valve.

Your back-flow valve, is most definitely a violation of the code. It could prevent a safety release of water through the line.

Whether or not your installation is in the state of North Carolina is pretty much irrelevant, since it is most likely that this code applies to every state in the U.S.

Greetings,

Thanks for your reply. I do not think you understand how Water softeners work. What I have stated and have done is how water softeners are currently installed professionally and have been installed since their inception. What I have stated is nothing new. Unfortunately any and all your assumptions about water softeners with the NJ and NC code regulations along with check valves are completely incorrect when speaking about water softeners.

I simply want to know if a spring loaded check valve is installed on the discharge line (preventing a sewage backup) is there enough water pressure pressure to open this back-flow valve? (My house water PSI is 40 lbs) Since, my discharge line is also at the maximum recommended 20 ft to the house drain (putting more pressure on this discharge line) Will this cause any harm the the fleck 7000 valve itself? Why is there a 20 foot maximum recommendation for the discharge line length?

If there are any solutions any of you have done that might work better when concerned about backflow.

Your check valve will work fine at the pressure you have. The distance is relative to friction losses which in turn, affect flow rates thru the softener. If you must install a longer discharge, or are borderline, upsize the pipe by one diameter. No harm to the valve, regardless.



Edited 1 times.

author m & m is correct I believe, but putting the discharge of the softener into the septic, which contains salt, may harm the bacteria in the tank.

I apologize. I have never installed or even owned a water softener, but have installed a water heater. I thought that water softeners worked pretty much like water heaters.
I'll do a little more research next time before I post.

FW

Edit: When I moved into my house, there was a Culligan water softener in a closet in the basement, but wasn't plumbed to anything. I recall that it was a tank, maybe 1/3 the height and about 1/2 the diameter of a standard hot water heater. It had an inlet, an outlet, and a pressure relief port. That is where I got my idea on how one was installed.

Edit 2: Looking at images of old Culligan water softeners, I am confused. I don't believe the one I found in my home had any electrical hookup, but all that I see in various images I have found by Google searches have some sort of electrical equipment on top. I think that my brain is doing what happens when you try to recall an image from a long time ago. I was just a kid then, so it is quite likely that I don't really remember what I saw.
In any case, I realize that I shouldn't have been so quick to post to this thread with the information I had (or thought I had).

I believe that I am more knowledgeable than I have demonstrated here, but have a bad habit of making assumptions. That said, I learn quickly from my mistakes, so I don't think this will happen again.



Edited 2 times.

The Kinetico softener is non-electric. It uses water flow to advance the cycle to a designated regeneration per gallons used.