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toilet pumps

3kings | Posted in Construction Techniques on January 22, 2009 03:07am

i have a client looking to add a half bath on the first floor the problem is the waste stack is on the opposite side of the basement and there are 8 million other mechanicals and the main beam in between i was wondering if i could have the plumber drain to a toilet pump below the unit in the basement then pump up and over the beam to the main stack any ideas
Noah

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  1. jayzog | Jan 22, 2009 04:32am | #1

    Ejector pumps are used all the time and work well, but it is another mechanical thing to break. Twice in the past year I've had someone flush a rag into an ejector pit, which then wraps around the pumps impellor, which then results in a really disgusting service call.

    If there is any way to do it with gravity , in the long run it is worth the effort. 

  2. clarkster75 | Jan 22, 2009 06:58am | #2

    My basement is below the main drain line (by 4'--lazy city/developer--!#$%^&) and my plumber just installed a Proflo (pf93020) pump and it is nice, and very quiet.  Looks to be very durable too.  1/2 h.p. and cast iron pump...

    It was a pain to install since concrete and a 3x3x4deep hole had to be dug but maybe a smaler version is available.  I am connected to a full basement, hence the large size of the pump.

    And yes, if the power goes out I am sunk.  But since my dad is going to be down there I am not worried about it :-)   But yes it would flood my whole bsmt if a wash cloth got in there somehow.

    Hope this helps, but so far I am pleased

  3. Davo304 | Jan 22, 2009 09:38am | #3

    It's done all the time and works well. There are several options. I don't remember the brand name, it was for my buddy's house and he purchased the thing, but basically it was a  plastic tank that sat in the ground below the toilet and was set up with a toilet flange that connected to the toilet. This was in a basement and we had to cut through the concrete floor and set this tank in place and then pour concrete back around it. A 3/4 inch dia sewage discharge line flowed up behind the back of this tank and we connected extra lengths of pvc pipe to tie into the existing main stack which was approx 8 ft above floor level and 60 feet  east of our toilet location. That unit was installed in 2001 and to date runs fine.

    Saniflo makes a design whereas the discharge tank sits on the floor directly behind the toilet and takes up very little room indeed. I believe the discharge line for this is also 3/4 or 1 inch dia.  Supposedly it can handle quite a load for a very long distance . A 4 foot vertical height can be handled very easily with one of these units.  However, a Saniflo unit is not cheap...last time I priced one it was around $800 if memory serves me right.  But it would do the job you need and will install without needing to tear up an existing floor. I personally have not installed one of these units but have heard from others that they work as intended.

    Saniflo will handle both a lavatory and a toilet, but I am unsure as to whether it will handle a shower as well.

     

    Approx 5 years ago, I did a basement remodel and installed a full bathroom; complete with lav, toilet, and shower accommodations.  The main stack was 4 to 5 feet vertical...similar to your situation.  In this case, I chose to dig up the concrete flooring and run underground drain lines into a grinder pump sump pit. The pit was hidden outside the immediate bathroom walls by being placed in a closet location. The closet has a false wall in the rear, which can easily be removed to access the pit should anything go wrong.  The grinder pump I used was manufactured by Goulds, and came complete with grinder pump, sump pump float, and plastic pit encasement. You can also buy an alarm system that would sound off if the sewage level in the pit got too high and for some reason was not discharging. I did not buy the alarm system with this unit.  My cost at that time was $450.

    It has worked flawlessly.....but, before the system was fully up and running, we had a rag that had been stuffed in the toilet drain opening , get pushed down into the drain and it did get wrapped in the pump's impellers....uuuuugggh.  We had to remove the top cover and fish the wrag out...not fun. Ever since that day, the unit has been OK. I told the owner that should a rag ever get accidently shoved down into the drain in the future...to call my plumber friend...cause I don't want to fish out anything  ever again.

     

    Davo

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