Water heater distance from ejector pump?

[brmiller]

I intend to move my hot water heater from inside a closet in the habitable area of my basement to a garage closet that also houses the air exchanger/furnace and ejector pump for the basement bathroom. This closet is part of the garage that was closed up to hide the mechanical.

In my permit application, the county plan engineer (Clark Co, WA) marked that the new water heater had to be 24" from the ejector pump. I didn't notice when I was in the permit office, and when I got home and measured the distance from the ejector pump well to the opposite wall where I intended to put the water heater and I only have 37". No water heater is that small to still allow a 24" margin, so according to the notes on my plan, this won't work. Sure, I can call the plan engineer, but I'm curious (on a Friday night) what the rationale is or if someone can point to the code that informs this distance requirement. I know when we had the furnace replaced, planning for this water heater move, the HVAC installer was careful to set it up so there would be the minimum required space for maintenance in front of both furnace and future water heater. Is this the distance requirement? Some kind of 24" space on both sides of the water heater (water heater would be in a corner)?

Thanks in advance - my first post here and I've learned a lot about DIY plumbing already.

Brendan

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

I have never, ever heard of a non-sense rule like that...
Around here they literally can be almost on top of the
ejector pump if necessary to fit everything in the allotted area....

Perhaps that is the "ideal" amount of room the dumbass would like to see..
lots of accessibility is a good thing but you can take it to the absurd too

Call some plumbers in your area and ask them for their opinions
Where you should start is to call the plumber you are going to use and simply ask him if
this guy is blowing smoke up your ass.. perhaps looking for a kick-back or donation..??

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Terry]

That may be the access space needed for future work and servicing of the pump.

 

[Reach4]

In my permit application, the county plan engineer (Clark Co, WA) marked that the new water heater had to be 24" from the ejector pump.

The ejector pump is below the floor. If you need to increase that separation a bit to meet those literal words, how about putting the the WH on bricks or blocks?

 

[Terry]

Water heaters are no longer allowed on bricks. But I don't think that's the issue anyway. It's about access to the pump for repairs.

 

[Cacher_Chick]

If you have natural gas and a good quality water supply, a tankless water heater may solve the space issue.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

Water heaters are no longer allowed on bricks. But I don't think that's the issue anyway. It's about access to the pump for repairs.

Access to the pump is the issue but how much room do
you really need to pull a sewage pump out of a pit considering the pit is normally
about 2 foot wide and some even wider you really only need clearance from the front


It Probably would be wise just to ask for a variance on this non-issue....

 

[brmiller]

Thanks for the replies, folks. This is an all-electric house, so gas not an option, and not super crazy about tankless. Will get some local plumber assessment (which I need to have out anyway) and see if we need to escalate back to the permitting office. Just wanted a quick word on access/code requirements - figured if there was something on the books, you guys would know. The pump pit can be serviced/maintained from the other side as well. It's all tight, but there's a spot 24"x24" in front of all three devices that you can use to work on the affected device. Some of these maintenance buffers overlap, but I'm not going to have HVAC and plumbing guys in there all at once!

Brendan

 

[Dj2]

With your latest information, backed by licensed plumbers' assessments, I believe you have a shot at getting a variance from the plan checker or a supervisor.

All the above reasons are enough to let you proceed with your plan, but they must be approved first.