Elevation change for sewer line

[meesha123]

Hi everyone,

I'm having a new sewer line put in to connect our house to the city sewer, and the contractor has to make an elevation change of about 2-ish feet to maintain correct pitch to the pump tank. This is how he currently has it configured: with a cleanout preceeding a 90 degree drop and another 90 degree bend to continue to the tank (the piece of pipe extending at an angle is just holding up the other pipe). This seems all wrong - if I do need to use that cleanout, I'm going to have to snake around three 90 degree angles. Couldn't he do to 45 elbows, or even 22.5 elbows to get down to the correct elevation and eliminate the cleanout in the middle of the yard altogether? This transition is about 25 feet from the tank. If the 90's are required, shouldn't the cleanout be part of the first elbow going down, using a sani-tee, instead of it being a whole separate piece? I'm located in Maine.

 

[Breplum]

1. the "Tee" as pictured is complete bollix. A tee is never a cleanout and doesn't have enough sweep to use as a cleanout.
2. Of course 45s or 22s are more than ideal. The fewer degrees of bend the better.
In place of the tee a combo fitting is appropriate, or a wye as part of the angle down toward the lower line

 

[Sponsor]

 

[meesha123]

1. the "Tee" as pictured is complete bollix. A tee is never a cleanout and doesn't have enough sweep to use as a cleanout.
2. Of course 45s or 22s are more than ideal. The fewer degrees of bend the better.
In place of the tee a combo fitting is appropriate, or a wye as part of the angle down toward the lower line

Thanks for the reply Breplum. Would changing to 45s eliminate the need for a cleanout there? What about the increased slope for that short section? Would liquid overrunning the solids be an issue?

 

[Reach4]

That horizontal part seems shallow for Maine, if it is not going to be covered by the house.

 

[Sylvan]

Thanks for the reply Breplum. Would changing to 45s eliminate the need for a cleanout there? What about the increased slope for that short section? Would liquid overrunning the solids be an issue?

No actually, I would install a wye, 1/8 bend as Breplumb stated

Replace the tee and add the combination fitting

 

[Sylvan]

I am heading to Maine as I love the area heading up on route 7

 

[GReynolds929]

Depth seems really shallow for a building sewer, what's the frost line in your area? As stated use a combo or two way clean out fitting. 45 can be used instead of 90. 45 does not negate cleanout. No worry about solids being left behind. I do think this should be a lot deeper. Most areas in the north have a frost line of 4' or more, pipe need to be below that.

 

[John Gayewski]

Looks like he needed to drop down sooner to add depth to the pipe.

The two 90's are legal although the lower one should be a long sweep 90. It'll work fine as is but it's not ideal.

I do like the idea of using a tee uptight, but I think he's trying to make a two way cleanout here as it is so shallow that snaking either direction would be easy.

You want a cleanout in the yard is better there than in the house.

Best would be if he could lower the ditch enough to get to the lower elevation and run with slope back up to the house. Near the outside of the house you could use the upright tee to drop down and have a cleanout going one way (toward the street), then add a wye and 1/8th bend to cleanout going the other way (toward the house) I think you'd rather have a cleanout box in the yard than having people drag drain cleaning tools that can spray blackwater everywhere, into your house in the future.