Grey water drain

   / Grey water drain #1  

Bamaram

Bronze Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Messages
56
Location
North Alabama
Tractor
Ford 4000
Hey fellas. I need some advice on replacing a grey drain water pipe. The pipe only contains the washing machine and garage sink effluent. The pipe is 2" PVC coming out under my home and then is tied to a 3" corrugated drainage pipe under my back patio and into the back yard. I suppose I'll dig with a rented Deere 110tlb Diesel and tie into the drainage pipe as it exits the concrete patio. My plan is to tie into the drainage pipe with this Shop FLEX-Drain 25' Perforated Drain Pipe with Sock at Lowes.com I plan on lining the trench with drainage rock or some sort of cheap gravel.

How long of a run should I lay? I've got several acres so no problem there.

Should I use some sort of drain fabric under the gravel even with the sock?

What type of rock should I use?

Any other suggestions/wisdom?
 
   / Grey water drain #2  
The least expensive rock is called sewer or leach field rock.

The longer & deeper the better. 50' Is about the least I would run.
 
   / Grey water drain #3  
Do you drain it above ground or below? I drain my wash above ground, where it exits the house, I have a 25' water pump hose I bought at TSC for like $12. I worried about the non-degradable fibers clogging up the sewer. With the hose I can move it around the side yard .
 
   / Grey water drain #4  
Don't know the lay of your land, but I had a grey water line take most of the gray water. I ran it to the edge of the lawn where the woods started. I was underground 'till the woods. My woods sloped away so it was fine.

If you can do that, rent a trencher and don't make a septic field.

Patrick
 
   / Grey water drain #5  
If I were making a grey water drain and had the acreage like you speak of, I would just use solid pipe and pipe it to a sloping area (wooded would be nice) and let if diffuse naturally. As long as you put nothing in it that isn't biodegradable, you should be fine. Depending on your discharge amount, you may want to Y off at the end and split the effluent to more than one location so it doesn't create a cesspool especially if you have clay type topsoil. Sandy soil would soak up the water pretty easily. The less percolation you have the more you need to split it off.
I wouldn't mess with that type pipe either as it has very little crush resistance and is about the same price as Schedule 20 PVC. 2" solid pipe will handle any water discharge easily. If you are shallow burying it, you may even want to use Schedule 40 pipe for even better crush resistance.
 
   / Grey water drain #6  
One other thing, solid pipe is more likely to not settle into low spots in your trench and remain level thus not creating standing pockets of water.
 
   / Grey water drain
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Thanks for the advice guys. I like the idea of running pvc, but how would I couple the corrugated pipe with pvc? I cant get to the solid pvc without cutting concrete. I was worried about the crush resistance of the corrugated pipe. I will have to run quite a bit of pvc to get to an area where it would be ok for the water to drain. What do y'all think about running the grey water to my garden area? Shouldn't be anything in the grey water,but off brand tide and rinse water.
 
   / Grey water drain #8  
Thanks for the advice guys. I like the idea of running pvc, but how would I couple the corrugated pipe with pvc? I cant get to the solid pvc without cutting concrete. I was worried about the crush resistance of the corrugated pipe. I will have to run quite a bit of pvc to get to an area where it would be ok for the water to drain. What do y'all think about running the grey water to my garden area? Shouldn't be anything in the grey water,but off brand tide and rinse water.

Just anther :2cents: I say no, no, no.
You don't want it in your garden.
Over time gray water that just runs out on the surface will puddle up some place and after time it will start to stink.
The make adapters that will connect PVC to corrugated pipe.
Schedule 20 pipe needs to be 2 feet plus below the surface. Even 40 should be 2 feet if it is in an area than may be driven over, car of tractor.

Just me
 
   / Grey water drain #9  
Hey fellas. I need some advice on replacing a grey drain water pipe. The pipe only contains the washing machine and garage sink effluent. The pipe is 2" PVC coming out under my home and then is tied to a 3" corrugated drainage pipe under my back patio and into the back yard. I suppose I'll dig with a rented Deere 110tlb Diesel and tie into the drainage pipe as it exits the concrete patio. My plan is to tie into the drainage pipe with this Shop FLEX-Drain 25' Perforated Drain Pipe with Sock at Lowes.com I plan on lining the trench with drainage rock or some sort of cheap gravel.

How long of a run should I lay? I've got several acres so no problem there.

Should I use some sort of drain fabric under the gravel even with the sock?

What type of rock should I use?

Any other suggestions/wisdom?

I have been researching a grey water system for our laundry (It is in the barn, so it is an easy conversion).

A couple of website I found interesting:

Laundry to Landscape Graywater Systems; Design and Parts

Backyard Graywater System

Most of the sites do not recommend using a perforated pipe for the grey water system. Supposedly they will clog with the suspended solids (lint, etc) in the grey water. Most of the sites recommend having some type system where you can inspect the discharge.
 
   / Grey water drain #10  
Run it to a buried collector with a pump connected to a float switch and have it water the lawn/garden. The collector could be a 55gal poly drum and you already have fittings. Would also let some of the sediment settle. Just make sure you can clean it out from time to time.
 
 
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