I have a question about sump pumps and venting requirements. Our house was built in 1948, and we've lived in it for a few years now.
When we bought the house, a sump pump was installed in the basement and I was told that the previous owner had said it only ran once in ten years. We had a lot of rain and flooding here in Iowa last year, and during one of the heaviest rainstorms it ran for a brief period and I could see the water around it. Once the rain slowed down the pump stopped and there was a little water in there until the next morning, then it was gone.
Last weekend we had a lot of rain on top of saturated ground that still has some frost in it, but when the pump ran we ended up with water in the basement because the hose worked itself loose so it was pumping from the sump to the basement floor! Luckily it didn't pump too much water and the pump is located in the unfinished portion of the basement. Aside from a fairly small area of wet carpet and an angry cat who didn't want to walk through water to the litter box, there was no damage.
The installation is pretty odd, and I'm sure not to code. It doesn't drain outside, it drains into the home's plumbing. The sump pit (or what passes for it) is located where the main drain line exits the house. The pump drains via a small length of garden hose that runs into a cleanout from a branch coming from the basement bathroom (bath/shower, toilet, sink) From that cleanout it is about 18" of 4" PVC pipe to hit the main sewer line, about 12" later is the backflow prevention device, about 12" past that there's a hatch cover (I guess for inspection/cleanout of the sewer line as it exits the house) which is what the sump pump actually sits on, then it is out to the street.
I'm not sure if this is really a sump pit since at the bottom is the cover for the sewer line inspection, but despite no visible way for it to happen water does get in there. I know for sure it is not coming up from the sewer line, it is coming up from under/around the foundation somehow.
The garden hose was just stuck in the open 4" PVC cleanout, with some rags stuffed in it around the hose to hold it there or prevent odors. The only time we've ever had sewer smell in the basement its turned out to be dry traps in the basement bathroom which we hardly ever use, so I don't think this setup was a problem, until the hose worked loose that is. I've always intended to do something about that rag since I knew it wasn't ideal, but since the pump hardly ever ran and it didn't seem to cause any problems I just ignored it. Now that it caused water in our previously dry basement, the wife became aware of the rag and is asking me daily when I'm going to get it fixed so the hose can't ever come loose again!
My thought was to see if I could find an adaptor to connect to the garden hose coming from the sump pump (which is connected to the pump's 1 1/2" NPT outlet via an adapter) to the 4" PVC cleanout cover....might take multiple adapters but I'm sure its doable. That way the hose will never come loose again.
But I wonder if I might have problems with venting when the pump is operating. I imagine the rags stuffed in there are not completely airtight and may have allowed some air to enter, if I use an adapter that won't be possible. But I don't know whether a sump pump really needs a vent? If it does, maybe I could connect a Wye adapter off the cleanout, connect the house to one end and add an AAV on the other end? I have no idea where I could hook into the house plumbing vent, but one thing I know for sure is that I'd have to break drywall to do it so the AAV would definitely be the preferred solution if it will work.
I know what I should really do is drain it to daylight, but that would be quite expensive, as I'd have to have a professional come in, drill through the basement wall (poured concrete, which if not done right might end up allowing water into our currently dry basement) and then run pipe out a ways to the street, past several large trees that would have roots getting in the way, etc. Since I rarely get water in that sump pit at all, and when I do the pump doesn't have to run much to get rid of it, I'd rather avoid that expense in this economy.
So would I need to vent the pump in this instance, and if so would my Wye and AAV solution take care of that?
Thanks for any help, all you guys out there know what its like when the wife decides something needs to be fixed, so the faster I find a workable solution the better!
When we bought the house, a sump pump was installed in the basement and I was told that the previous owner had said it only ran once in ten years. We had a lot of rain and flooding here in Iowa last year, and during one of the heaviest rainstorms it ran for a brief period and I could see the water around it. Once the rain slowed down the pump stopped and there was a little water in there until the next morning, then it was gone.
Last weekend we had a lot of rain on top of saturated ground that still has some frost in it, but when the pump ran we ended up with water in the basement because the hose worked itself loose so it was pumping from the sump to the basement floor! Luckily it didn't pump too much water and the pump is located in the unfinished portion of the basement. Aside from a fairly small area of wet carpet and an angry cat who didn't want to walk through water to the litter box, there was no damage.
The installation is pretty odd, and I'm sure not to code. It doesn't drain outside, it drains into the home's plumbing. The sump pit (or what passes for it) is located where the main drain line exits the house. The pump drains via a small length of garden hose that runs into a cleanout from a branch coming from the basement bathroom (bath/shower, toilet, sink) From that cleanout it is about 18" of 4" PVC pipe to hit the main sewer line, about 12" later is the backflow prevention device, about 12" past that there's a hatch cover (I guess for inspection/cleanout of the sewer line as it exits the house) which is what the sump pump actually sits on, then it is out to the street.
I'm not sure if this is really a sump pit since at the bottom is the cover for the sewer line inspection, but despite no visible way for it to happen water does get in there. I know for sure it is not coming up from the sewer line, it is coming up from under/around the foundation somehow.
The garden hose was just stuck in the open 4" PVC cleanout, with some rags stuffed in it around the hose to hold it there or prevent odors. The only time we've ever had sewer smell in the basement its turned out to be dry traps in the basement bathroom which we hardly ever use, so I don't think this setup was a problem, until the hose worked loose that is. I've always intended to do something about that rag since I knew it wasn't ideal, but since the pump hardly ever ran and it didn't seem to cause any problems I just ignored it. Now that it caused water in our previously dry basement, the wife became aware of the rag and is asking me daily when I'm going to get it fixed so the hose can't ever come loose again!
My thought was to see if I could find an adaptor to connect to the garden hose coming from the sump pump (which is connected to the pump's 1 1/2" NPT outlet via an adapter) to the 4" PVC cleanout cover....might take multiple adapters but I'm sure its doable. That way the hose will never come loose again.
But I wonder if I might have problems with venting when the pump is operating. I imagine the rags stuffed in there are not completely airtight and may have allowed some air to enter, if I use an adapter that won't be possible. But I don't know whether a sump pump really needs a vent? If it does, maybe I could connect a Wye adapter off the cleanout, connect the house to one end and add an AAV on the other end? I have no idea where I could hook into the house plumbing vent, but one thing I know for sure is that I'd have to break drywall to do it so the AAV would definitely be the preferred solution if it will work.
I know what I should really do is drain it to daylight, but that would be quite expensive, as I'd have to have a professional come in, drill through the basement wall (poured concrete, which if not done right might end up allowing water into our currently dry basement) and then run pipe out a ways to the street, past several large trees that would have roots getting in the way, etc. Since I rarely get water in that sump pit at all, and when I do the pump doesn't have to run much to get rid of it, I'd rather avoid that expense in this economy.
So would I need to vent the pump in this instance, and if so would my Wye and AAV solution take care of that?
Thanks for any help, all you guys out there know what its like when the wife decides something needs to be fixed, so the faster I find a workable solution the better!
