Effluent pump problem

I am trying to replace an effluent pump. The original pump was a Goulds. For unknown reasons after four years the pump a PS41P1F has quit. I have to pump uphill to a septic bed. The vertical lift is 26 feet. The original set up was using a 1.5 inch discharge at the pump reduced to 1 inch inner diameter black plastic pipe and also involving one 90 degree elbow. I have purchased a Berkley EC240120TB which has a maximum head of 33 feet. at 26 feet head it is rated to produce approximately 25 gallons per minute. Will this pump do the job? Can I eliminate the 90 degree elbow using a straight connector and some braid reinforced plastic pipe at the pump end?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Greg

for starters you should not be reducing to 1"

You shouldnt try and push 25 gpm through 1" pipe - you will lose 14 psi per 100 feet. How long is your run?

Yes. make a nice big sweep with flexible poly or braided.

Effluent pumps have peculiar curves and the flow drops to zero instantly when the head is exceeded.

Since you have the pump, either test it out of the tank by hooking up with hose and seeing what comes out at the septic, or replace it with one [after determining your head loss by the length of the 1" poly] that flows closer to 5 or 10 gpm at your calculated head.

Another issue is the septic field. If you have a sand filter, you will need head to "spray" through nozzles. That head must be calculated. Most septic pump systems use 2" pvc to the leach field.

Possibly your pump failed because these factors were not correctly calculated by the installer [especially if he used 1" poly!.... quite odd]

On one installation of mine the engineer missed the head calc, and nothing came out at the top. We replaced the pump with better calc's and its been pumping for 16 years now.

Before I saw your response, Ballvalve, I was looking for plumbing connections for the pump and was sold a 1.5" ABS fitting which was suggested from the pump discharge then ABS 1.5" pipe which was to be followed with an in-line check valve (flexible rubber with stainless hose clamps). The 90 degree problem was to be solved using two 1.5" 45 degree fittings and finally a pipe-size reduction threaded steel fitting, a threaded plastic adaptor that would screw into the steel fitting and could be clamped into the existing black 1" inner diameter polypipe using a stainless pipe clamp. After all of this, it has occurred to me that with a check-valve in the outdoor application, with well below freezing here during winter, the water held in the 26 feet of polypipe might very well freeze. Is the check valve needed? Also, can glued ABS pipe and fittings hold up under the pressure of the pumping? I was told at the plumbing supply that this would be preferable to any meshed clear tubing and left feeling reassured but now I am not so confident that the choices made were correct.

Thanks also Wally, but I am trying to fix an existing system which was installed by a septic system contractor and was hoping to get perhaps fair performance if I eliminated the 90 degree fitting. If I have to, I will dig out and replace the pipe with 1.5" but was hoping that things might work out reasonably before going to that expense. Is my effort a lost cause?

You only have 26 feet of pipe so you should be okay. If its not far up hill, no check valve is fine for freeze protection. I cannot imagine going into a septic box and not using FLEXIBLE PVC pipe . Take a look at all spa shops - they carry it local and online. 1.5 an 2" are readily available and you can make a huge loop as you wish, give room to play with the union.

Forget the abs and all the joints. especially do not include any steel in the unit unless its stainless.

I run the flex right out of the pump, to a union, then a checkvalve then a shut off valve right on the outlet line. The shut off valve allows check valve service without having a bath of *&^&$ wehn servicing the valves or pump.

We only freeze about 10" here.

Take note that flex PVC glues into stock fittings just like hard pipe, so you transition quick and clean. You will be addicted to this once you start using it if you do much pump work. Be careful of its lower pressure rating, and protect from heat.

Sorry, Ballvalve, I neglected to say that the pipe length was about 95 feet with a vertical lift of 26 feet. I have also seen a suggestion that a small (quarter inch) hole can be drilled above the check valve to allow the pipe to gradually empty after the pump cycles off. I suppose that the time taken for this to happen is long enough to give the pump a break but also eliminates the freeze problem. Local temperatures here can drop to -35 Celsius, and yet the person at the plumbing shop suggested the stop-valve. He may have assumed an indoor set-up.

Have you tested your new pump to see what comes out at the field above? thats the quickest. Otherwise do the calcs for head loss in the 100' of 1" pipe at your assumed flow, plus the lift, plus any friction in fittings.

Seems like changing the pipe to 1-1/2 or 2" would be the best. How big is the pumping basin? or how many gallons do you pump at one time? Drilling a hole is fine, but not 1/4"... smaller. also the hole erodes over time. Also its prone to plug and then you get a big issue. Do you know what a "drain down valve" is ? ... These are used in wells with plain tanks, a rubber reverse check valve that mostly closes when under pressure and slowly allows water to pass out when pump is off. You could tee that in, and its much more reliable than a drilled hole. [above the check valve] Are you pumping into a dist. box or into a sand filter?

I have tested the new pump with the old pipe (1" I.D.) but with the check valve and two long arc 45 degree ABS glued in (couldn't locate the necessary braided or flex PVC locally) to achieve the necessary turn. The new 45 elbows and connectors are all 1-1/2 " and the check valve is 1-1/4". With this set up, I am getting a pump rate of about 5 Imperial gallons per minute over a 4 minute 40 seconds cycle. As luck would have it, my neighbour offered me some 1-1/4" poly pipe which he has no use for and I am sorely tempted to use this to replace the 1". The bed has a distribution box, not a sand filter. I got your post after closing time today, so am not sure if I can get a "drain down valve" but will check in the morning. Another neighbour has a digger on the rear of a small tractor so I hope to start tomorrow (15th) to re-work the set-up. When I checked with the original installer, he also told me that at the distribution box, he put in a downward facing 90 degree elbow to prevent the flow from being directed into only the one leg of the bed set-up. Until I uncover this, I won't see exactly what he means. Have you any suggestions for this? Thanks again for your help.

Effluent pump installed

Just wanted to post the information that the new pump is now in place using 1-1/4 poly pipe and the pump time seems to have been reduced to almost half of the original. Thanks for all responses.