Do I need a air gap


  #1  
Old 11-25-00, 06:53 PM
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I just recently had a dishwasher installed and was told by the "contractor" that I did not need a air gap? Is this true?
 
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Old 11-25-00, 08:40 PM
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According to code you do need an air gap. And code is very important to follow. Why?
Code is writen to protect the public from them selves and each other. That way if it is followed when a house is sold you are assured of a good quality system. I will attempt to explain the reasoning of the air gap below.
Air Gaps come into play if your kitchen sink plugs and water rises. When this happends with out an air gap there is a potential the waste water will back up into your dishwasher. Some will say the air gap prevents your sink from draining into your dishwasher. If that was all it was about that is easily avoided by running the drain hose over the top of the dishwasher and down into the dishwasher tee on the sink drain. With that said then it stands to reason if you put the drain hose right under the countertop (As high as possible without an airgap) for the water to run back into your dishwasher the sink would have to plug on the other side of the dishwasher tee, and the water level to rise above where the current hose is which is right below the counter top (the sink would almost be overflowing at this point) Air gaps are a good protection for the back flow because with an Air Gap if the sink backs up the drain hose is high enough the water will run on the floor before it runs into your dishwasher.

When plumbed like described above, the drain on a dishwasher will work fine without an air gap. The air gap has little to do with the actual functionality of the drain with the exception of making it impossible for water to backflow into your dishwasher. It is not a vent or anything else.
So air gaps are a way of making a fool proof system that will always work right for anyone.

 
 

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