A sand separation system and method for operating a sand separation system, in which the method includes separating sand from a fluid using a separator. The method includes, signaling for a blowdown unit to blowdown the separator, opening one or more blowdown valves of the blowdown unit coupled to the separator in response to the signaling, so as to blowdown the separator, and receiving the sand from the separator into a sand disposal unit. The sand passes through the one or more blowdown valves that are opened. The method includes measuring a weight of at least some of the sand that was separated in the separator using a load cell of the separator, a load cell of the sand disposal unit, or both, and determining a blowdown interval for subsequent blowdown operations of the separator based in part on the weight of the sand.