numbersguy
New Member
Our home is below the sewer line so we have a sewage ejection pump in the basement. In 2009 the sewage ejection pump that had been in use since 1969, died. It was replaced by my plumber with a Myers (Pentair Water) model SRM4M1C sewage pump - called Basin Prop with E-Z Switch. (It has legs on it and rests on the bottom of the tank - my plumber tells me.)
The older sewage pump gave us no problems for the 5 years since we moved in to this house. No later than one year after installing the new pump - my wife came screaming in to the bathroom while I was showering that the sewage tank was leaking in the basement. I called the plumber; he opened the access hatch and discovered while solids as large as softballs and salad plates floating in the tank, sticking to to the sides, and attached to the float making it about twice its normal size. The solids were so thick on the sides that they prevented the float from rising and thereby waste water overflowed through the hatch plate. I dragged the garden hose down to the basement and the plumber cleaned out the tank and pump and dissolved all the solids.
Last week I was again showering and my wife came in screaming that the sewage pump alarm was going off. I suspected I knew the cause - and I was right! I took off the access plate and peered in with a flashlight and saw the white solids again - only one year since the last time the plumber was out! At least this time the alarm went off.
This is a WHOLE house sewage pump, so everything drains in to it before being pumped up to the city sewer line.
Two questions. (1) what is causing the solids to form - and how do I prevent them? (2) why was my 40 year old sewage pump able to do its job without the solids growing and causing it to overflow?
(A facts: we have city water, no water softener, and we do not pour grease down the kitchen drain.)
I do not like frivolous lawsuits but I am considering legal action against the plumber for installing the wrong pump and/or the manufacturer for a faulty design of pump that does not do what was was designed to do.
Someone else in the world must have had the same problem as I and found the cause. Thanks for your help.
The older sewage pump gave us no problems for the 5 years since we moved in to this house. No later than one year after installing the new pump - my wife came screaming in to the bathroom while I was showering that the sewage tank was leaking in the basement. I called the plumber; he opened the access hatch and discovered while solids as large as softballs and salad plates floating in the tank, sticking to to the sides, and attached to the float making it about twice its normal size. The solids were so thick on the sides that they prevented the float from rising and thereby waste water overflowed through the hatch plate. I dragged the garden hose down to the basement and the plumber cleaned out the tank and pump and dissolved all the solids.
Last week I was again showering and my wife came in screaming that the sewage pump alarm was going off. I suspected I knew the cause - and I was right! I took off the access plate and peered in with a flashlight and saw the white solids again - only one year since the last time the plumber was out! At least this time the alarm went off.
This is a WHOLE house sewage pump, so everything drains in to it before being pumped up to the city sewer line.
Two questions. (1) what is causing the solids to form - and how do I prevent them? (2) why was my 40 year old sewage pump able to do its job without the solids growing and causing it to overflow?
(A facts: we have city water, no water softener, and we do not pour grease down the kitchen drain.)
I do not like frivolous lawsuits but I am considering legal action against the plumber for installing the wrong pump and/or the manufacturer for a faulty design of pump that does not do what was was designed to do.
Someone else in the world must have had the same problem as I and found the cause. Thanks for your help.
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