DIY of my skimmer cup to sewer drain line

[Freed]

Hi all, Who here has plumbed their skimmer cups to their sewer lines? I'll start as I have just completed plumbing my skimmer cup to my PVC that runs from my water storage/ main tank waste siphon to my main sewer line in the basement.

I used a 1 1/4" hole saw to drill the side of my skimmer cup for insertion of a 1/2" or 3/4" rubber Uniseal. I then inserted the Uniseal into the hole in the side of the cup. Next I inserted a 1/2" elbow into the Uniseal. I could still go up to 3/4" Uniseal if necessary as the 1 1/4" hole will accomodate either a 1/2" or 3/4" Uniseal. Next I attached a 1/2" tru union ball valve to the elbow and then ran 1/2" PVC via two 45' elbows and lengths of 1/2" PVC to the floor. I drilled two 1" holes side by side thru the floor to the basement to allow the running of the PVC thru it. The floor is ruined anyways so a couple more holes in the floor aren't going to ruin it anymore. Next I attached a union to the PVC going thru the floor in case I need to remove it at some point in the future. I then ran the remainder of the 1/2" PVC to my 3/4" drain line already in the basement that goes to the main sewer line. I have tested the effectiveness of the 1/2" PVC being able to handle an overflow from the skimmer cup if something were to go wrong with air flow to my main skimmer pump. If the air line to the main skimmer pump were to become clogged, the skimmer would push way too much water into the skimmer which would then overfill the cup in large amounts. The 1/2" PVC was able to handle all water overflowing the cup with no problems.

Here are some pics. Show off yours if you have plumbed yours too or if you have done it a different way.

 

[emissary43]

I wonder if that is going to clog? Make sure you have a smell trap on the end of that. Good idea and good job getting it done.

 

[Freed]

I'll be draining water thru it weekly or so. Sucked down all the water being thrown at it and even created a vacuum it was draining so well.

 

[kcress]

I hope you put in a trap. It's not just for odor it's to block poisonous methane from entering the house.

Nice idea though. I like anything that saves repetitive jobs.

 

[Freed]

Trap? I have PVC running to the main sewer drain in the floor. The skimmate runs into the sewer drain.

 

[smoothsailor]

i would think the floor drain to the sewer has p-trap under the basement floor.

BUT, I would add a vent to the drain line at the collection cup, B(just a tee with about 12" of pipe sticking above the skimmer cup.)


I would also install an overflow on the collection cup, (another hole and pipe just below the lid, in case the skimmer over reacts and or overflows. This will then be piped to the sump so that if the skimmer goes crazy, it will spill back to the system, other wise it could drain a good portion of water down the drain.

If the skimmer goes crazy, the water wont be too green or polluted either so not a true concern abut putting doc back into the system, at least not a significant amount)


Also, if I were to have done this with 'hard pipe' I would have used MUCH smaller pipe... As you can see in the pics the skimmate starts entering the drain lin at the bottom. You would never have that much flow to the drain, I hoped..


good job by the way...


Oh, also, I would not use unions belw the floor like you did. I understand you want access or ability in the future, but really, cutting pvc, and installing a .49 cent slip coupling is reasonable, especially with the consideration that a union can leak, so cost and risk, does not equal any benefit for future work...

 

[Freed]

The reason I am using 1/2" pipe is if the skimmer air line were to clog or get blocked for some reason, the main skimmer feed pump will feed much more water into the skimmer and overflow the cup. As I stated above after testing I find that the 1/2" pipe performs very well and moves the water down the drain as expected. I wouldn't go smaller at all. I did think about installing a vent line above the skimmer cup and may in the near future as well. Union doesn't leak but that's always a drawback that can be dealt with later on. If necessary I'll put a coupler in instead but shouldn't have to.

 

[amehel0]

ever thought igf someone was to pur a heavy duty degreaser or what not and it was to foam so much it got into ur cump and over flowed the cup and went in the neck and infected the whole system im not trying to be arrogant or mean i just myself wouldnt do it but apart fromt hat it is a good idea.

 

[bristlebasher]

That just seems like a lot of work for little return

Do you need to undo the valve to remove the cup now , will also lead to maintenance on the skimmer not being done as often as needed.

Is a testiment of your dedication though .................

 

[Freed]

Ok everyone show us YOUR plumbing work.

 

[emissary43]

I like what you have here but do put a P Trap at the end. All that is is the U shaped pipe similar to what you find under your sink. It holds a bit of fluid in it so that air/gases can't come up the pipe from your sewer line. That is why your kitchen doesn't stink. I will post you some plumbing pics when I get home from work.

 

[Freed]

There is a hole in the basement floor where the original sewer line was ran to and terminates there under the floor of the basement. MY PVC line runs to that hole in the floor and lays there on the floor and drains into the sewer. No traps are needed anywhere. No gas is coming into the basement from anything. No gas will come up my PVC. No gas is entering the basement anywhere.

 

[kcress]

But what about the g a s ?






:blown:



Sounds like you've got it covered. Get back to us with your experience with your setup.
:thumbsup:

 

[Young Frankenstein]

Fred I think washing the cup with regular tap water once a week will do the trick, the chlorine from the tap water will kill the odors etc.

 

[rbnice1]

A trap wont really work with his design. All the air in his set up is also going out his drain so a trap would either not alow his skimmer to function or it would blow any liquid in the trap out.

 

[Everyones Hero]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13366069#post13366069 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Freed
There is a hole in the basement floor where the original sewer line was ran to and terminates there under the floor of the basement. MY PVC line runs to that hole in the floor and lays there on the floor and drains into the sewer. No traps are needed anywhere. No gas is coming into the basement from anything. No gas will come up my PVC. No gas is entering the basement anywhere.

If I'm thinking right he doesn't need a trap. Basically he has the line laying on the floor & he's letting the skimmate free fall into the sump in his basement. When the sump gets full the sump pump comes on & pumps all of the water/crap out & into his sewage tank.

The PVC line running from his skimmer isn't physically attached to his house plumbing. It's sitting on the floor above it.

 

[emissary43]

yup that could be right... usually when there is the open feed for the sewage line it has vents or a trap already in place. I thought he had tapped into a sewage line. As for the skimmer pushing air thing that is a good point. Nice catch rbnice1

 

[stugray]

I think the idea is fine with a comment:

I like to see how much skimmate I get so I dont want to just dump it in the sewer as it is created.

It's difficult to tell if the skimmer "runs amok" in the middle of the night if you cant check the skimmer cup.

I drain mine manually so I can track ( holds ~a gallon though ... )

Using Freed's idea, I would just keep the valve closed until I wanted to dump.

Stu

P.S. my utility sink next to my sump had no-where to tie the drain into, so I drilled thru the wall into the adjacent bathroom & dump the drain into the shower.

It works fine ( of course would never meet code ), but the visitors dont like finding dead bristle-worms & critters in the bottom of the shower. ;-)

 

[jmking33]

I love the idea of never cleaning the skimmer cup. I have to use an acrylic collection tube. No basements here in florida.

 

[Freed]

Re: DIY of my skimmer cup to sewer drain line

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13353810#post13353810 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Freed
If the air line to the main skimmer feed pump were to become clogged, the main skimmer feed pump would push way too much water into the skimmer which would then overfill the cup in large amounts. The 1/2" PVC was able to handle all water overflowing the cup with no problems.