Our home has a well and a septic system. We have a sediment filter in the basement that backwashes a substantial volume of water at 11 gpm into the septic system. We're very rural with plenty of space on our own land, and I'd like to reroute that backwash flow to daylight instead of into the septic system.
There's already a 1-inch pipe stub that runs through the basement wall, coming out 2 feet below grade outside (our frost depth here is 18"). I'm planning to use that stub as the means for the backwash drain to exit the house. The daylight exit would be 225 feet away, with a drop of 6 feet over that distance. I'm considering using 1-inch PVC for the 225 foot run.
The entire drain pipe will be buried below the frost depth. It's the daylight exit I'm trying to figure out how to keep from freezing over. Without a vent in the system, it seems like I might have a slow "glub.... glub... glub..." continual draining after the backwash valve has closed, like pouring from a Coke bottle. If that slower draining goes on for a long time, it seems like ice could build up at the exit and eventually block it, much like ice dams on a roof. I also wonder if we'd hear glubbing noises for hours in the house. My wife would just love that.
I've wondered if putting a dip or trap in the drain line about 10 feet back from the exit would help. Maybe then the water in the last 10 feet would trickle out quickly, and the water behind the dip/trap would remain in the pipe below the frost line until the next backwash.
Should I run the line straight and not worry about ice dams or glubbing? Should I put a dip or trap near the end? Or am I just asking for trouble no matter what I do? Thanks for any advice.
There's already a 1-inch pipe stub that runs through the basement wall, coming out 2 feet below grade outside (our frost depth here is 18"). I'm planning to use that stub as the means for the backwash drain to exit the house. The daylight exit would be 225 feet away, with a drop of 6 feet over that distance. I'm considering using 1-inch PVC for the 225 foot run.
The entire drain pipe will be buried below the frost depth. It's the daylight exit I'm trying to figure out how to keep from freezing over. Without a vent in the system, it seems like I might have a slow "glub.... glub... glub..." continual draining after the backwash valve has closed, like pouring from a Coke bottle. If that slower draining goes on for a long time, it seems like ice could build up at the exit and eventually block it, much like ice dams on a roof. I also wonder if we'd hear glubbing noises for hours in the house. My wife would just love that.
I've wondered if putting a dip or trap in the drain line about 10 feet back from the exit would help. Maybe then the water in the last 10 feet would trickle out quickly, and the water behind the dip/trap would remain in the pipe below the frost line until the next backwash.
Should I run the line straight and not worry about ice dams or glubbing? Should I put a dip or trap near the end? Or am I just asking for trouble no matter what I do? Thanks for any advice.