Dual-tank dual-floor drip plumbing

[Pharaoh]

If i remember correctly, I think they work up to 50 psi. Worst case, buy your stuff from here. For a couple bucks, you can toss the regulator if you don't need it. Their prices are ridiculously cheap.

http://www.irrigationdirect.com/

 

[DaveB]

OK, so I'm glad I pulled the lid off before I simply started pouring water in...

I guess my drain is some kind of tank down below and not just standing water. This is inside the silver one seen here, which I and Pharoah and others understood to be the ground water and where I could simply drain at will.

Or do I have it backwards, and the black rubbery lid is the one with the ground water drainage? This one did have a faint septic smell to it when I took the lid off.

Maybe (hopefully) that thick greenish pipe allows me access to pour in some water? I'm confused.

 

[Pharaoh]

Nope, you got it right. That is in fact the groundwater drain. The sewage drain is the sealed one. If it were the sewage drain, you would know it. The tub is there to help hold water and keep it from draining through the ground around the foundation.

the green pipe is water that will come from somewhere around the foundation. Either through floor drains or it could be drains in you window wells. Mine looks exactly like that. If you were to open it while it is raining/have water on the floor, you would see water coming in. You will need to put another small hole in the top to put water into it. The cover on mine already had a couple extra holes in it.

 

[DaveB]

So the exposed stuff there (I assume I might as well clean it out) only gets wet during the spring melts, I bet, but whatever volume of water comes from our showers and whatnot actually comes in to a lower point, which is somehow sealed off there. I can see how the little float valve there actually does its work below. I ought to turn on the sink and see if I can watch it rise. I'm sure I could. The question becomes what the barrier underneath there is made of... it being cleaner would surely help me answer that.

I wonder how deep it is underneath there.

If this space shown in the picture does drain eventually, though, wouldn't that mean there already is a hole that lets it seep down into the chamber below?

 

[Pharaoh]

So the exposed stuff there (I assume I might as well clean it out) only gets wet during the spring melts, I bet, but whatever volume of water comes from our showers and whatnot actually comes in to a lower point, which is somehow sealed off there. I can see how the little float valve there actually does its work below. I ought to turn on the sink and see if I can watch it rise. I'm sure I could. The question becomes what the barrier underneath there is made of... it being cleaner would surely help me answer that.

I wonder how deep it is underneath there.

If this space shown in the picture does drain eventually, though, wouldn't that mean there already is a hole that lets it seep down into the chamber below?

The pit that you have exposed should only ever have groundwater/rainwater in it. All the waste (shower, toilets, sinks) from the house will go into the sealed pit. The two pits are not and/or should not be connected. Feel free to clean it out. It will extend the life of your sump pump.

It depends on the design as to if/how the water gets out. Honestly, it probably shouldn't be that dry with the weather we have been getting. Unless, that green pipe is setup as a room drain in the basement.

Don't over complicate it. You found the right spot. Test out your sump pump to make sure it works and then start draining your water. You should be good to go.

 

[DaveB]

Ah, OK. My misunderstanding was rooted in the fact that I had been told that the sink drain went with ground water and the ejector pit was strictly toilet and garbage disposal stuff. Which honestly didn't make a whole lot of sense, given that I routinely put non-water down sink drains.

So the sump I hear all the time when things are running is actually the one in the ejector pit. Interesting. It always sounded like it was moving through the pipe in this pit.

Then again, I think they just join each other on the way out anyway...

 

[Dan F]

I think Pharaoh has it right.

Your groundwater goes into the sump on the left. Sewage goes into the tank on the right (the second pipe is a vent). They shouldn't be connected. They may go to the same place (sewer main) or the groundwater may go to the storm drain main if they are separate systems (this varies from place to place).

I would be very surprised if your grey water (sink/shower water) were plumbed to the groundwater sump, this is not the normal "correct" way to plumb a house.

 

[DaveB]

You are both exactly correct, and I have tested them by standing in there (sweating - it's hot in there in the morning when the furnace and boiler kick in) while the wife showered and I filled the sump pit from the sink.

This was very productive. I learned about them, I noticed that both shake their PVC outlets quite significantly when they shut off, and I noticed that presumably as a result of this, an elbow on the sump pit just before it joins is cracked nearly all the way through.

It dripped on me and has a one drip per 2 minute rate at this point, after I stopped using the sump pit. It drips back onto the pit itself so it's no huge deal in the short term, but obviously I'm glad to have discovered it.

While I was over there I also discovered, for the first time, that my water heater has a space heating outlet and inlet built right into it.

I feel like since it's there I ought to put it to good use. But there's no good way for me to build it in to any of my tanks without a lot of extra exposed plumbing. I think. Maybe I'll come up with something. Or maybe I'll just tear the entire rear wall out of the theater/220 room and run it through there.

Anyway, here are photos of where the two pits merge and then zoomed in on the crack, both before and after I wiped it down. I wiped it and it didn't stink, so it's not getting any backsplashing from the gross pit, which is good.

This is good news. Now I'm clear to start draining the 220 through my new 1" ID dishwasher tubing into there. That will save me tons of time.

 

[DaveB]

Pics came out sideways, plus it's taken from below... the CAT5 you see is the ceiling, and the broken piece is the one that inserts into the asymetrical Y-shaped joining piece of PVC.

Anyway, I'll get that repaired, but I'm glad it's not urgent because it gives me time to think about how to do it right and also how to anchor the pipes so it doesn't happen again.

 

[Pharaoh]

You might just have to strap it down a bit. You could even just add a 2x4 brace with some pipe strapping to help hold it still. Sump pumps are definitely some shaky little buggers. Mine do the same thing.