Washer drain


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Old 02-04-06, 11:42 AM
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Washer drain

when adding a washer drain to en existing apartment, it is common to t-line it to the roof rain drain? Thats the setup in my place at the current time. There is no washer as of yet and when it rains heavily there is gurgling coming from the pipe, and then last night in a rain storm water actually gurguled out a bit. I covered the opening with a dish towel and that seemed to stop it... is that normal? how could water come back into a pipe and up to the drain section? if that is possible what stops my sinks, or tubs in the apartment from having the same problem when the drains are in use? Lots of questions I know, just trying to get an idea of whats going on.
THANK YOU in advance!
 

Last edited by gatorhands; 02-05-06 at 09:34 AM.
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Old 02-04-06, 12:21 PM
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Originally Posted by gatorhands
it is common to t-line it to the roof rain drain?
Depends on where you are. Do you have public sewage treatment?



when it rains heavily there is gurgling coming from the pipe, and then last night in a rain storm water actually gurgled out a bit. I covered the opening with a dish towel and that seemed to stop it... is that normal?
No. There should be a trap and riser or the outside drainline is clogged somewhere lower.



how could water come back into a pipe and up to the drain section?
Yes.



if that is possible what stops my sinks, or tubs in the apartment from having the same problem when the drains are in use?
Gravity.
So long as water can drain quickly to some place lower, there is no problem.
 
  #3  
Old 02-04-06, 06:29 PM
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What you have described is an illegal connection.

Roof drains cannot flow into the building drain system. They must be piped out side the structure to empty to the ground or to a storm drain.

Your washer needs to be connected to the building drain system which then goes into a public sewer or on lot disposal system.

Separating the washer standpipe from the rainwater downspout and connecting it to a properly vented waste pipe will solve the problems.
 
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Old 02-04-06, 08:35 PM
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legalities

Originally Posted by manhattan42
What you have described is an illegal connection.
That depends. In my area that is a legal connection; not only legal, but typical.
There has not been one documented case of graywater transmitted illness in the US.


So let's go easy on what we call illegal until we find out what law applies.
Environmentally speaking, dumping bleach and detergents into the on lot sewage disposal is a bad idea.
It could be better (as in the lesser of two evils) to divert these chemicals with the rain water to a mulch pit, biomat, or marsh.
Gray water from washer machines is hardly more hazardous above ground than below ground.

Finally, in some jurisdictions, it could be the law that gray water be diverted from the sewage system and used for irrigation.
 
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Old 02-04-06, 09:03 PM
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Thank you,
I was under the impression that all the drains (sink, A/C, and storm drains) were connected to the sewer system. How do I find out? Also how do I know if it is connected properly, meaning to the correct drain stack?
 
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Old 02-04-06, 10:09 PM
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Do you pay a sewer bill? Do you own this place? In what jurisdiction is it?
Do you have a big yard?
 
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Old 02-05-06, 09:34 AM
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I live in a condo, where my association fees pay for water and sewer. It is part of miami dade county. I was told that like you said before it is not just legal but the usual.
So I wanted to make sure about what you had said originally, the pipe is probably clogged, so I should snake it? what would be the best way to go about this?
Thanks again for all your help, I appreciate you time,
 
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Old 02-05-06, 09:56 AM
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I suggest that you contact your association. The problem appears to be in pipe that they maintain. Ask them to investigate.
 
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Old 02-05-06, 09:59 AM
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A couple of reaons why some of us are surprised by your system:

1) The cost of Municipal sewage treatment basically goes by volume of water; costs a lot, even if some of the water is clean going in, like rain water. In an area where it rains a lot ( Miami ?) we are very surprised to hear that rain water is directed to sanitary sewer, if that is in fact the case.
Here in San Diego, they have designed interceptors at many of the storm water outfalls to the beachs and bays. Routine runoff IS diverted (pumped) to the sanitary sewer. This helps keep the beaches and bays clean. HOWEVER, when it rains, the sanitary cannot handle that, and the runnoff goes directly to the beaches and bays. Many beaches have to be posted "No Swimming" for a few days after a big rain. Fortunately, our total annual rainfall is 9" average, so this does not happen often.

2) Graywater use is only very gradually being brought into play. Despite your opinions, everything I have read indicates that greywater can pose some serious public health hazards if not handled properly. What might be safe in very low density rural areas is quite another thing in an urban setting.
We do know that Miami is on the cutting edge of building technology due to hurricane issues, so it stands to reason that they might be taking the lead on graywater usage. If so, we would like to hear more details about your system.

It does sound like you may have a partial clog, so this should be dealt with before you have more serious back-ups.
 
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Old 02-05-06, 10:33 AM
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The cost of Municipal sewage treatment basically goes by volume of water; costs a lot, even if some of the water is clean going in, like rain water.
Correct.

So water from the clothes washer (lots of bleach and detergent) is diverted with the rain water to the landscape for irrigation.




> Routine runoff IS diverted (pumped) to the sanitary sewer.

Frankly, this is a good idea for water from the streets which have lots of oils, rubber, steel, and plastic.

Such is not the case with water off the roof or from 99% of the clothes washers.


> Despite your opinions, everything I have read indicates that greywater can
> pose some serious public health hazards if not handled properly.

The hazardous thing to do is to attempt to store it.
It needs to be turned over to aerobic bacteria, plants, and worms immediately.

In anaerobic storage it can putrify.

But don't confuse gray water from sinks, tubs, showers, and dishwashers with the water from clothes washers.
There are far fewer organic components in the latter.




> What might be safe in very low density rural areas is quite another thing
> in an urban setting.

Quite safe if immediately discharged into a mulch pit, etc.

Of course, the area must have ample green space to handle this.
Such green space is woefully lacking in high-density urban areas.
 
 

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