How Are Sewer Pipes Layed Out

rckowal · Dec 4, 2006

Our home is a quad level with a small basement. The basement is 8' high with about 5' below grade. There are two drains in the floor. One is the sanitary sewer and the other is a storm sewer. As I understand it, these are two seperate systems but the storm sewer appears to empty into the sanitary sewer as it leaves the basement to go out to the street.

I pretty well understand the sanitary sewer system but I know very little about the pipe layouts that are typically used in storm sewers. Is there a ground water catching pipe of some sort on the outside of the basement wall? Are there also drain tiles or some thing under the basement slab? Please describe what this storm sewer would look like if I could see it with Supermans Xray vision.

Your help will be much appreciated

hj · Dec 4, 2006

drains

You would see whatever the plumber decided to install that day. There is no "generic" design.

Sponsor · 2022-01-29T12:20:58-0800

Got_Nailed · Dec 5, 2006

hj said:
You would see whatever the plumber decided to install that day. There is no "generic" design.

I thought it depended on what they had for breakfast.

hj · Dec 5, 2006

pipes

Or if they had a good cup of coffee, or there was a rock buried that they didn't want to dig out.

rckowal · Dec 5, 2006

Thanks for the reply HJ.

I wasn't looking for design directions; just what a storm sewer might look like in very general terms. For instance, how would you do it? Or please answer these three questions.

1. Is there a row of drain tiles (or what ever they're called) placed along the outside of the basement wall to catch ground water?

2. Are there any drain tiles used under neath the basement slab?

3. Do the storm drains deposit water into the sanitary sewer?

Jimbo · Dec 5, 2006

Hard to answer your questions sight unseen.

In most construction TODAY, you could not drain a storm sewer into a sanitary. But it certainly has been done, and there may be places that allow it.

A "French Drain" usually refers to a catchment method, like a gravel bed, around the area to be protected, such as around the foundation or behind a retaining wall. The gravel layer has perferated pipe embedded and sloped to carry the water away. The geography of the land determines where this pipe goes.

In areas of high water table, or unreliable foundation seal, a drainage trough can be located inside the basement, carrying water to a sump where it is then pumped out to the landscape drain, or a dry well, or to sanitary, whatever local codes and conditions require.

rckowal · Dec 5, 2006

Hi Jimbo, Thanks for replying - it's much appreciated.

I understand the difficulty in trying to visualize a sewer system by remote control with a green horn at the other end (grin).

After some more research, I have learned that my community does not allow storm & sanitary sewer drains to be joined. So I'm sure there are two seperate systems here. Additionally, my home is on property with a medium to high water table.

Also, from what I can see & tell, there are probably perimeter drain tiles at the footer on the outside of the basement wall. It also appears that the perimeter drain tiles could be tied into an under the basement slab drain system. Since there is a cleanout with a plug in the floor, I presume the storm drain system discharges through a trap then into a storm sewer line going out to a public storm sewer provided by the city.

Does that sound like it makes sense?

hj · Dec 6, 2006

drains

#1 and #2: The drain pipes could be on either side of the footing, and even both sides depending on the installer and building conditions at the time of installation.
3: Some areas, especially if the drain pipes and the washing machine drain, for example, go into the same pump will connect them to the sanitary system. Other areas require a separate pump for the ground water drain pipes and discharge it onto the ground outside the building.+
4. There is no "one" answer for your questions because everything depends on how the installer wanted to do it, and the local codes as far as the disposition of the water.

Randyj · Dec 6, 2006

Your mention of "tiles" is something I've not seen in many years. I doubt anyone uses them anymore. I've put in a few french drains and floor drains and almost always use perforated 4" plastic pipe. I've used the rigid kind and the flexible black pipe. It is the same stuff you see used frequently in field lines. Basically, a french drain is much like a field line from a septic tank except that it is a ditch dug against a building. I always line them with plastic then a few inches of gravel, put in the pipe then gravel to near the top which I may cover with dirt. Such drains usually run off down a hill toward a roadside ditch or just out in a yard. Basically, unless there is a provision for storm water drains provided by local government most people just run it away from the house in a manner that will protect the foundation. Requirements are very different in highly populated areas than in rural or sparsley populated areas. I've seen plenty of washing machines and kitchen sinks empty into ditches and creeks or just way out in the back yard which really is not a bad thing. In a city with lots of houses close together it would cause a bad problem very quick. I know of one family who ran a drain from their washing machine to their garden to keep it watered... it works great!

rckowal · Dec 6, 2006

hj said:
#1 and #2: The drain pipes could be on either side of the footing, and even both sides depending on the installer and building conditions at the time of installation.
3: Some areas, especially if the drain pipes and the washing machine drain, for example, go into the same pump will connect them to the sanitary system. Other areas require a separate pump for the ground water drain pipes and discharge it onto the ground outside the building.+
4. There is no "one" answer for your questions because everything depends on how the installer wanted to do it, and the local codes as far as the disposition of the water.

Thanks for replying HJ. It's appreciated.

City here confirmed that by code; storm and sanitary sewers are seperated & have been so for many years. No sump pumps here - public storm & sanitary sewers only.

But please tell me if drain tiles are ever used under the basement floor slab to remove ground water? (If it means any thing; during heavy rains the water table gets pretty high in my neighborhood.) Or is ground water normally collected at the wall & then discharged into the storm drain?

And finally, how would tree roots be killed or removed from storm sewer lines? From what I can tell, they are some how getting into the lines & then building up at a clean out trap right where it discharges into the public storm sewer. So far, it's been possible to snake out the root build up at the clean out trap but I fear what might happen in the long term.

rckowal · Dec 6, 2006

Randyj said:
Your mention of "tiles" is something I've not seen in many years. I doubt anyone uses them anymore. I've put in a few french drains and floor drains and almost always use perforated 4" plastic pipe. I've used the rigid kind and the flexible black pipe. It is the same stuff you see used frequently in field lines. Basically, a french drain is much like a field line from a septic tank except that it is a ditch dug against a building. I always line them with plastic then a few inches of gravel, put in the pipe then gravel to near the top which I may cover with dirt. Such drains usually run off down a hill toward a roadside ditch or just out in a yard. Basically, unless there is a provision for storm water drains provided by local government most people just run it away from the house in a manner that will protect the foundation. Requirements are very different in highly populated areas than in rural or sparsley populated areas. I've seen plenty of washing machines and kitchen sinks empty into ditches and creeks or just way out in the back yard which really is not a bad thing. In a city with lots of houses close together it would cause a bad problem very quick. I know of one family who ran a drain from their washing machine to their garden to keep it watered... it works great!

Thanks for replying Randyj.

This house was built in 1965, so I'm assuming that the storm water collecting drains are tiles rather than plastic which came later.

Also, please see my reply to HJ about seperated storm & sanitary sewers here - no pumps; just two public drains.

How Are Sewer Pipes Layed Out

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