Weird and Spooky Plumbing in Knoxville

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Billythegrape

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Hello all,

I'm Matt, live in Knoxville TN.

Here's my situation. I just bought a new house in March. The way the house is setup is that it's in a hill, so both the "upstairs" and the "downstairs" are ground level entries, front and back of the house respectively.
This means that the house requires a pump to pull sewage to the sewer, I think. The plumbing in the upstairs bathroom (street level) gurgles quite frequently and at times violently; sometimes the plumbing in the bathroom sink discharges whatever's in the p trap along with a nasty stench of the farts of a thousand dead cavemen.
I investigated a suspicious closed off "room" in the first floor by peering through the drop ceiling. I discovered what looks from afar like a 55 gallon oil drum submerged in the cement floor with two pvc pipes leading from it. Preliminary research indicates this could be the pump, which acts like a tiny septic tank. Not sure.
Anyway, when this bad boy activates, there's usually a slam when it cuts off. Then the shower gurgles upstairs, the toilet bubbles, and my beard hairs from two days ago vomit into the sink.
My question is what the heck is going on? None of the downstairs plumbing exhibits these issues. My upstairs toilet flushes sluggishly could this be the issue? Should I cut through the wall and clean the pump thingy out?
 

Terry

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A sewage ejector has a vent line going outside, and a discharge to the main plumbing upstairs. I sounds like the lower portion of the home is working fine.
However, the pump downstairs is not supposed to be affecting the upstairs plumbing that way. Most inspectors like to see that 2" from the pump going into a 4" line to prevent the surge you seem to be getting upstairs. If you are getting backup when the pump kicks on, you may want to look at that connection to see what size pipe they are dropping that into.
It also could be that the main gravity sewer for the upstairs is having issues. Were any pictures taken of the plumbing before being closed in?
 

Jadnashua

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An ejector pit with a pump will typically have a check valve on the outlet so that whatever you pump out doesn't try to flow back in. The pit needs to have some room inside it for your waste to go. It also needs a vent to allow the trapped air to escape when you add new stuff. It has a float switch or sensor that turns the pump on when it approaches full so there's continued room for new stuff to come in. Once it turns on, it typically will run until the level is fairly low (but not empty) so that small discharges (say washing your hands) won't cause the pump to turn on/off frequently. A larger input like maybe from draining a full tub, or laundry might make it run longer, depending on it's capacity and the size of the tank.

The clunk is probably from the checkvalve closing. Some types are quieter than others, but any type might get partially clogged, and leak, letting some of that you pumped out back in. Servicing those is a nasty job, and plumbers, justifiably, get paid well for it.
 

Billythegrape

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Here are some pictures. Top pic, left pipe makes a 90° right into the black iron main line.
 

JRC3

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Amazing what people will wall over and cover up. Sewage or sump that should have plenty of access for maintenance. Look at all the moisture that has been stacking up in that confined space. I'd give it plenty of access and a way to allow air in and out. And spray everything down with Concrobrium mold killer. You can buy it at one of the home stores.

Looks like it has a back up pump, I wonder if the primary pump has failed and causing some problems.
 

Billythegrape

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Amazing what people will wall over and cover up. Sewage or sump that should have plenty of access for maintenance. Look at all the moisture that has been stacking up in that confined space. I'd give it plenty of access and a way to allow air in and out. And spray everything down with Concrobrium mold killer. You can buy it at one of the home stores.

Looks like it has a back up pump, I wonder if the primary pump has failed and causing some problems.

There is some sort of pump thing outside here are pics of it. The black iron main pipe leads into it.
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2016-11-11 16.11.18.jpg
 

FullySprinklered

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I think Terry's on the right track. The upstairs level drains may not be taking the waste water as fast as the downstairs system pumps it out. Also, looks like there's another stage out in the yard that lifts the waste water up to the street main.
If you're referring to the twin wires when you mentioned a back-up pump JRC, that's the pump plugged into the back of the plug for the float switch. Or, if the pictures are out of sequence, never mind.
On another track, thanks for the bump, Terry. You're a good dude.
 

Billythegrape

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I think Terry's on the right track. The upstairs level drains may not be taking the waste water as fast as the downstairs system pumps it out. Also, looks like there's another stage out in the yard that lifts the waste water up to the street main.
If you're referring to the twin wires when you mentioned a back-up pump JRC, that's the pump plugged into the back of the plug for the float switch. Or, if the pictures are out of sequence, never mind.
On another track, thanks for the bump, Terry. You're a good dude.
Guys, this stuff is great. Thanks so much. I was planning on cutting an access door into there and making the door an in wall bookshelf. Now as far as venting the little room goes, should I just put something similar to a gable vent? Also, can I clean this thing myself? How should I do it, with a shop vac or something?
 

FullySprinklered

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By coincidence I had a call on a sewage injector pump yesterday. Turned out the non-flushing toilet just needed some plunging. The other issues were related to a bad check valve flapper that was causing a short cycling of the pump. Most of the stuff being pumped out poured back down into the tank when the pump cycled off. It was not a continuous short cycling , but if you ran the basement tub and lavatory, it would start pumping every twenty seconds or so. You could hear the waste water pouring back down the pipe into the tank after the pump turned off.
I installed a new check valve, spring loaded type, and put it all back together. The dickhead that put this system together didn't hook the tank up to the vent, which was three feet away and up the wall a bit. He capped a short piece of 2" and shoved it down into the tank lid and let it go. I think I saw his momma leaning on a lamppost somewhere. I didn't stop to chat, needless to say.
Over the years, the stub-down for the sewage injector vent had accumulated something like 6 gallons of rain water. As a rule, I drill a small hole in the pipe just above the cap to drain down the water before trying to tying it in to the tank.
I think that every person is allotted a certain number of hours to deal with life's aggravations. Waiting for six gallons of water to squirt out of a 1/4 in hole would deplete the stash in a significant manner. While standing on top of the water heater and holding an 18 gallon storage tub that thankfully happened to be empty. Shoot me in the head.
 
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