How Much Rock Salt to Kill Roots?

[DerbyDad03]

Since I didn't get an answer to this question in my thread about salt damaging my shower base, I'll try my question here.

What is the prescribed dosage of rock salt to control roots in a drain?

Some folks in this group have said they dissolve 25#, but they don't say how often.

One site, supposedly quoting a Mr. Rooter contractor, had this:

"Periodic (every 5-6 months) treatment with 1 cup of rock salt poured into the clean-out, followed by running roughly 1 gallon of water through the system and then allowing it all to "soak" overnight"

eHow says: "Rock salt will kill any plant or root it touches. Flushing it into the sewer system several times daily should penetrate and kill the roots."

Other sites simply say "use rock salt to kill roots in drains" or some variation on that theme.

Nobody seems to have a consistant answer as to a specific amount and how often - except for Mr. Rooter - but that suggestion is so far off from the "25#" suggestion that one or the other doesn't seem valid.

Does anyone have a source for a firm answer? I don't mind using too much salt, but I'd really like to know *how often* I should be treating my drains.

I usually have to snake my drain once every couple of years but I'd rather do preventative maintenance.

[Tony Miklos]

I would guess no two systems are the same. What kind of trees? Salt can kill oaks and some others. 25# sounds like a hell of a lot. I think I'd spread it out over a years time every 2 or 3 weeks.

[Jon Danniken]

ehow is a bullshit site filled with "knowledge" from idiots who get conned into their ad revenue scheme.

Please don't link to ehow, it's the bottom of the barrel of internet stupidity.

Jon

[DerbyDad03]

I agree...and I didn't link, I just quoted.

[Colbyt]

I have no experience with this. I would suspect that repeated dosages at regular intervals would have a more lasting impact. That is common sense at work.

[DerbyDad03]

umm...yeah.

Except that counts as simply another opinion with no solid information. ;-)

What size dosage? A cup? A pound? 25 pounds?

What's a "regular interval"? Every week? Every month? Every quarter?

Right there I've got 9 possible sets of "repeated dosages at regular intervals", but still no clue as to what is the optimum.

With all the "science" I've seen posted in this ng across a variety of topics, I'm surprised no one knows the correct amount and time frame.

[Vic Smith]

Probably because nobody here has used rock salt to kill roots. When I had a sewer root problem I bought a root killer for that, can't remember which one. But there were instructions on the box (or bottle).

--Vic

[DerbyDad03]

re: "Probably because nobody here has used rock salt to kill roots."

Not true. It's been mentioned numerous times.

[DD_BobK]

root killer I have used with success Roebic Root Killer K-77 they also make Roebic FRK-12 Foaming-Killer-Concentrate

[Caesar Romano]

On Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:43:56 -0500, "Colbyt" wrote Re Re: How Much Rock Salt to Kill Roots?:

I don't know what a "prescribed" dosage would be, but I myself pour about 30 gallons of a saturated water salt solution into my leach field (down line from the septic tank) once a year. I came up with this amount from doing research on various sources.

[DerbyDad03]

Ok, we're part way there.

How much salt does it take to "saturate" 30 gallons of water?

Can you cite some of those sources so I can do a little reading?

[dpb]

DerbyDad03 wrote: ...

Can't you type "salt solubility table" into Google?

--

[DD_BobK]

What is the temperature of the water? :)

Poster's treatment of a leach field is somewhat different than a treatment of a drain line leaving the house to sewer or septic.........

[Caesar Romano]

On Tue, 01 Feb 2011 09:05:08 -0600, dpb wrote Re Re: How Much Rock Salt to Kill Roots?:

I just take a 30 gallon tub set next to the access cover for the leach field drain line. I fill the tub with water and throw 25 lbs of water softener salt into the tub and leave it overnight. (I do this during the summer). The next afternoon, the water is a saturated solution. I then siphon the solution into the leach line.

Some salt is left at the bottom of the tub, but I just find another use for it or throw it away.

[DerbyDad03]

The "cites" requested were not related to the solubility properties of salt, but rather a request for the sources that helped Mr. Romano determine that "30 gallons once a year" was the proper dosage for his leach field.

[JIMMIE]

My father in law used to do it. He used water softener salt. Dont think he measured anything just kept dumping in the salt into 5 gal buckets of water until he couldn't get anymore to dissolve. It was the

80s the last time I saw him do it. My guess is he used about 6 buckets more or less 1 or 2. Sorry I cant be more accurate than this, BTW his house had 2 drainage systems one for black water and the other for gray water. He quit using the salt when he started using the gray water on his garden abt 1990.... he had been doing this since abt 1974 when the house was built. He was also on a septic tank and I think this killed any biological action in the tank. Probably why he had to get it pumped yearly.

Jimmie

[Caesar Romano]

On Tue, 1 Feb 2011 10:17:31 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03 wrote Re Re: How Much Rock Salt to Kill Roots?:

Sorry, but I don't recall and didn't save the cites. I just Google searched for something like: rock salt kill roots and got a bunch of citations. I read a bunch of them and decided that if I could get a saturated solution into the wetted parts of the leach field, that should do the trick. So far so good.

[DerbyDad03]

Thanks.

Your searches were similar to the ones I've been doing and there appears to be no "set dosage" .

It's not really a big deal, just more of a "comfort" knowing that I'm not "over killing" (i.e. wasting my time and money) or worse yet "under killing" (i.e. not killing as many roots as I could be).

I guess I'll "go big" to be on the safe side.

Thanks again.

[hallerb]

I have been rock salting my bad sewer line for over 15 years.and appear to have originated the idea here:)

I put 25 pounds of rock salt in my single washtub in basement and add very hot water and stir....till salt is at least half gone.

then go out for day so salt sits in sewer line.

next day i add more water or let the washing machine water that drains into the washtub dissolve the remaining salt. it goes away eventually.

early spring before trees leaf out is most important time to do this, roots are very busy in early spring . but i do it a few times a year just to be on safe side.

I kinda know when the roots are starting to block the line. the basement gets a odor and the floor drain water level bounces when water is dumped into the wash tub.

If I immediately do the salt thing by the next day the roots must die, and the blockage is gone.

so if you get a root back up you can try salt since you have nothing to loose

Mt Rooter probably says salt constantly in the hopes they get the pricey $$ job replacing the entire line, since a lot of people wouldnt want to be salting constantly.

I am on a city sewer, salt might not be good for a septric tanks biological action......

[DerbyDad03]

Thanks...I will use your method a few times a year.

No septic to be concerned with.

I know when the blockage is starting because the basement toilet gurgles and bubbles when an upstairs toilet is flushed. As it gets progressively worse, you don't want to be sitting on the basement toilet when an upstairs toilet is flushed!

I know it's really bad (and time to snake ASAP) when even taking a shower causes the basement toilet to boil.

You sir, are the salt of the earth! ;-)