Troubleshooting: Water Softener Use and Garbage Disposals

From a troubleshooting standpoint, another conversation to have with the homeowner focuses on two major water-using devices that can cause problems: water softeners and garbage disposals.Over the past decade there has been a lot of discussion and research on whether water softeners have an impact on septic systems by changing soil structure in the drainfield, reducing infiltration capacity and leading to early failure. Early research done in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s indicated there was no significant effect. More recent research has indicated that there may be problems with soils already high in sodium content and in low exchange