Lifting Sewer Waste Water

[teg]

Really wish I had a photo of my neighbors "throne" which sat a couple feet up in the air. It basically was a straight line into the sewer pipe. Just a basement toilet for his shop... not for guests. Had to watch your head since the clearance was tight...

 

[heitjer]

Excellent Information - thanks guys!

My shop will be about 100 ft away. I definitively will go with a "bigger is better" approach.

 

[gwjd]

ide go with a lift due to the fact that any kind of water closet solution would not work for a utility sink and imo that is a must have

 

[jenkinsph]

Excellent Information - thanks guys!

My shop will be about 100 ft away. I definitively will go with a "bigger is better" approach.

I would wonder what you mean by that? For a workshop with limited use a small lift station in a can will work well for this purpose. I have seen them work for many years with a whole house depending on them. The ones I am thinking about had Zoeller cast iron pumps in them.

 

[Kays Supply]

You don't need a bigger pump, just more volume per cycle. If you decide on a Zoehler pump, be sure and use float switches. Their switch, that is made into the pump, will fail in just a couple years.

 

[ctgoldwing]

I have many lift pumps in and a few homes totally on sewage lift pumps. Some pump as far as 600ft. I have been installing them for over 30 years. The Gould cast iron pumps have held up for many many years. The larger the catch basin / pit, the longer run time , the longer the pump will last , and the better it will clear the pipe at each pump cycle. The larger the pit the less trouble with floats. My 2 cents worth.

I work for a very large plumbing distributor. We sell Goulds, Liberty, Sani-flow, Little Giant, Zoeller, Hartell to name a few. You can't go wrong with a Goulds or Zoeller unit.

 

[heitjer]

I would wonder what you mean by that?

Sorry for this - I meant a bigger tank, creating less on/off cycles but larger volumes to be pumped.

 

[heitjer]

I think I need some design pointers as I am starting to read up on this.

I found this system for example: SaniPlus

Page 3 picture 6 shows the 'lift' and then then 1% fall in the line. I guess this is not possible for me as from the shop to the sewer is a 100 ft distance with 1 ft higher inlet than shop floor.

Are these systems not for me?

 

[Kays Supply]

1 foot of head isn't going to be a problem. That is basically no head. You are basically going to be pumping flat. More reason for a longer pump cycle to be sure and wash out the solids.

 

[CurlyDave]

Maybe someone with more experience than I can chime in, but I see a potential problem with insufficient use.

In a workshop situation, with only one part-time user, even the smallest lift pump may go weeks without activating. At 1.6 gallons per flush and a 50 gallon tank, you are looking at 30 flushes per tankful. I can go several months if not a year on 30 flushes in my workshop.

I would be seriously considering a "comfort bush" outside the back door and a small electric water heater for hot & cold hand washing draining into a gravel sump.