While there have been concerns over a water softener’s impact on septic systems – such as killing the bacteria in the septic tank with salt, overflowing tanks with too much backwash flow and reducing the drainage field’s ability to absorb water modern treatment systems have reduced these risks considerably. Today's units minimize salt consumption and it has been found to have no harmful effects on bacteria and the soil of the drainage field if properly sized. Insuring your equipment does not regenerate the softener not more than once a week will reduce the amount of backwash entering the septic system and maintain a health septic bed.