Hello. I’m wondering if I can get some feedback from you guys. A few years back I had a flood in my basement due to a major storm that backed up through my main sewer line. It did a number on my finished basement and after that I went and installed a normally closed backflow prevention device. The problem I’m having is that there is never enough water pressure to push waste out past the closed gate. It’s a cast iron valve with a cast iron gate and not until there it a lot of buildup of waste and toilet paper will it finally be pushed through and out to the street. I also have a sump pump and pit so that if anything is not able to get through to the street, it falls into this pit and when the pit gets high enough the pump activates and send out whatever is in the pit directly outside to my yard. More times than I care to deal with, this happens without any storms. Sometimes the buildup by the valve opening gets clogged because there is never enough water pressure and then a simple bathroom flush will activate the pump. I’ve been doing some research and came across the normal open back flow valves. The other issue is that my plumber told me that my interior piping has very minimal pitch to it and that could be contributing to this problem. For whatever reason, he doesn’t recommend using a normally open valve because of tissue paper or anything gets stuck on top of it and then there is a storm, it will prevent the gate from floating up and closing. He stands by the normal closed ones but he’s suggesting to change to a pvc gate that’s lighter and may open a little easier with a toilet flush. I don’t know what To do anymore. I don’t think it’s normal to have to deal with my sump pump activating a half dozen times a year without any backflow just because either the pitch isn’t sloped enough or the gate is too heavy to be pushed open. I frequently test it by opening up the cover and watching it in action. I’ll flush a piece of toilet paper and watch to see if it passes through and it never does. The only time there is enough pressure is if we fill up the bathtub or if the washing machine is being used and when it drains then there is a big push of water that usually will clean out most of what’s sitting there. What do I do?
Sewer Backflow Prevention
- Thread starter CMR
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Jeff Handy
Pro Handyman, NOT A Pro Plumber
Your sump pump pit should only be receiving ground water.
Which usually means rain water, or also water which runs under the house or slab, if you have a very high water table.
This water is collected by the perimeter drain which runs around the foundation of the house.
And there is often another connection to the gravel layer under the concrete slab or basement floor.
None of these connections should be joined with the sanitary sewer, which handles waste water from toilets, sinks, showers, and laundry.
In some cases, laundry water is directed into the sump pit, but never ever toilet water.
Something is totally wrong with how your drains are hooked up.
Which usually means rain water, or also water which runs under the house or slab, if you have a very high water table.
This water is collected by the perimeter drain which runs around the foundation of the house.
And there is often another connection to the gravel layer under the concrete slab or basement floor.
None of these connections should be joined with the sanitary sewer, which handles waste water from toilets, sinks, showers, and laundry.
In some cases, laundry water is directed into the sump pit, but never ever toilet water.
Something is totally wrong with how your drains are hooked up.
As Jeff said it is illegal, unsanitary, and unhealthy to dump raw sewage on the ground. That is the bigger issue than the backwater valve. A PVC flapper would be lighter.
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Go buy yourself a Torpedo level, I have marked this level so you can see what your level should be reading.
I don’t know exact specifics but I do know that in my area almost all the houses are done this exact way but most other people don’t have the issue I’m having. The waste water is never supposed to flow back into the sump pit. The only time that’s supposed to happen is when there is a backup surge and the flap is closed for an extended period of time due to water pressure from the street. Having said this, I would like to have things done the right way. It sounds like the sump pit should not be connected to the waste line right? So if I have this disconnected and just have the backflow preventer, it seems I’ll always have an issue of backups because since there is always stuff in the flap then eventually it’ll back up into the basement tub. Or maybe it won’t back up because eventually there is always enough pressure to push it out and not having the sump pit to back into might actually help? I’m out of my league here and rambling. Does anyone have any thoughts on normally open vs normally closed valves?
I have one. I put it on the cover of the check valve and there is barely any pitch at all but I was told that there is an internal pitch to the valve that I won’t be able to see by placing the level on the cover of the backflow
Jeff Handy
Pro Handyman, NOT A Pro Plumber
I guess your “sump pump pit” must actually be a sewage ejector pump pit.
Not a ground water sump pump pit.
And I can see the reason for it, as you said it would accept waste in an emergency, if the backflow was closed and house waste water was building up.
I just can’t believe that it dumps raws sewage out onto the yard, but I guess that beats your basement toilet or tub filling up with sewage.
Not a ground water sump pump pit.
And I can see the reason for it, as you said it would accept waste in an emergency, if the backflow was closed and house waste water was building up.
I just can’t believe that it dumps raws sewage out onto the yard, but I guess that beats your basement toilet or tub filling up with sewage.
