Reply With QuoteHave you ever seen the show "Dirty Jobs" episode dealing with the toilet back-up in Queens, NY?
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design proposal
Hello all,
I am just brain-storming about design ideas. One thought that I have is to fix the problem of when a main sewer gets backed up and ends up pouring sewage out the first fixture in the house. Couldn't a drain (that is not part of a fixture) be installed just for this purpose to catch everything in case of a backup in the main?
Molo
Have you ever seen the show "Dirty Jobs" episode dealing with the toilet back-up in Queens, NY?
They do make check valves for this, but I'm not sure how well they work and how many problems by themselves that they might introduce.
Jim DeBruycker
Important note - I'm not a pro
Retired Defense Industry Engineer; Schluter 2.5-day Workshop Completed 2013
You could use a backwater valve. These are required for the sanitary side on buildings in/below the floodplain in this area. This will only benefit you if it's the main sewer (outside of the structure). Won't help you if it's your fixtures backing up but it will/can keep the sewer from the city side backing up in your house.
Matt
Semi-professional plumbing designer
Enjoying life in SW Florida
A floor drain? Where would it drain to?
drain
It would be a good idea but where would it drain to. If it connected to the backed up sewer, then the water would come out of it before it got to the "first fixture", which is not necessarily where the water would come out anyway. The water comes out of the "lowest fixture".
Even if it were a barrel with a 50+ gal. capacity. It would stop the nasty mess that so often occurs at the first fixture. Just brainstorming here.
Molo
My point was really that it's better to prevent the backflow than to try to handle it.Originally Posted by TedL
backflow
You were not listening. It does not necessarily occur at the "first fixture" it occurs at the lowest fixture, and you don't seem to understand how little 50 gallons really is when a sewer starts to back up. And when the backup is repaired, what are you going to do with the water in the barrel? Prevention, and a backwater valve is not a panacea, is better than coping with the symptoms.
LOwest fixture.. understood. yes, 50gal aint much. But it sounds like the backwater valves aren't a great solution either. What is the best way (other than the obvious no big things down the drain) to handle a backup and avoid it coming into the home?
Molo
backflow preventors do work
I agree ...backflow preventers do work... if the sewers overflow any more than the preventers can handle then the whole floor and the lawn is going to be covered with sewerage.
Ok thanks guys,
I have never seen a backflow preventer. Can they cause problems with catching waste and causing clogs?
Molo
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