Trench floor drains to a catch basin with a sump pump?

[kckadi]

Is anyone running their floor drains into a catch basin and then pumping it to the sewer? I just cracked open the concrete floor of my building and found that the drain pipe is just below the slap. The is very shallow (the drain pipe should of been much deeper) and the lack of depth means my floor drains cannot empty directly into the drain pipe (even with a zero pitch on the trench).

My thought is to have a small sump pit at the end of the drain run with a good grade grinder sump pump and pump it up into the drain. My biggest concerns are smell but if I do a heavy clean water rinse after use it should work okay. Anyone have experience with this technique and can anyone think of any potential building or health code issues I might run into using a sump pit and pump.

[JohninWV]

We are below grade and pump all of our sewage with the use of grinder pumps (two of them) and a holding tank. It's basically a pump station. It was expensive and, of course, something else to maintain and worry about.

If you have an option to remedy that situation, I would correct it and not use pumps. But that's just my opinion.

[kckadi]

Thanks! I'm going to use the pump solution as a last resort. I'm thinking about using a standard trench drain but fill it about half way up with concrete (pitched so the trench depth and the sewer line match up correctly. I'll still need a trap and an anti-backflow valve/box. I'm a little concerned that the flow rate will be reduced too much. I'll definitely test it out before I fill in the concrete in case I have to go with the pump solution.

[Sudzie]

We have several tunel car washes too and I have been dealing with drains and pits since 1983 at them. If you need to go with a pit and pumps, (this comes from wisdome, which comes from making mistakes) make your trough at least 26" wide (to get a snow shovel in it with its operator) wider will also help with minimal pitch. You want to be able to move around in your pump pit, make it at least 32"x32" x what ever depth. (ours are 38" deep) Trust me you'll be in there. Oversize the pump by a factor of three times anticipated flows. Make it a grinder. Have two of them, one in the pit, one on the shelf. I used to put both in the pit and cycled them ever other cycle. You just going through pumps twice as fast. We only have one wash that still needs pumps and we change them out about every two years. Use the shelf one and put the new on in it's pace. I can offer pit designs that we use that really work good if you wish. Oh, use a fiberglass great, they can hold 4500 lbs and clean up in a snap. Another oh, you will want to clean it out every week and don't ever let it go dry.

Feel free to contact me if you wish to talk more on pumps and pits.

[Oregon Spirit Distillers]

I am 12 feet below the sewer main. Our waste goes into a pump station. The landlord did not use grinders and it is a problem. The grain collects at the bottom of the sewage tank and clogs the pumps if we are not diligent at keeping it clean. Additionally, we have to be careful because the pipe that goes to the sewer from the pump is 100 feet long as it rises 12 feet. Grain settles if it doesn't get pushed all the way up. Eventually it gets impacted. and that sucks. I wish I considered this when I moved in.

Brad Irwin,

Oregon Spirit

[kckadi]

How are you cleaning the sump? Shop Vac?

[JohninWV]

Looks like Sudzie has you covered with all the experience you need. I'd start there.