Old house, late 1800’s. 3 apartments.
The basement floor drain is backing up when I use the shower/toilet. The drain in question was rodded with one of those big ones from Home Depot a month ago. So, is the next thing to look at the big stinky catch basin just out side of the building? How is that thing cleaned?
After a little more research I find that the kitchen, laundry and gutters are suppose to go through the catch basin, witch they do, but the toilet is suppose to go down stream into the sewer. How than can the toilet affect the water level in the floor drain. The toilet must be draining into the floor system, no? Or could sewage it be backing up from the down stream sewer through the catch basin into the floor drain?
Actually, no drains from inside your house should be going into a catch basin or storm drain system. This includes kitchen drains, floor drains, laundry, and showers. Storm drains dump untreated water into the nearest water body, including surrounding brooks, streams, and lakes.
All of these so-called “gray water” flows should be going into the sanitary sewer system, along with toilet waste (so-called “black water”).
Depending on where you live, it’s generally acceptable to pipe gutters and foundation drains into catch basins/storm drains, though.
I’m still a bit confused about your post. Sanitary sewers don’t have catch basins. And if the catch basin outside your house is “stinky”, that’s a problem. Catch basins should only have stormwater runoff in them. They need to be cleaned periodically, but only to remove sediment and leaves, etc. No sewage from your house should be going through the catch basin.
Not so, said the internet. Chicago’s one sewer line system, I understand, has it common for laundry, kitchen and gutters to grain into a catch basin on the property…not at the street where I understand the city has storm water catch basins.
Sorry I do not know how to post links.
But yes, I am still confused about how the sewer system is tied in.
Actually, that,s not always true. Blackwater–any water containing human waste–can go to a composting toilet, such as these units made by Sun-Mar. If the blackwater is always separated from the greywater, the greywater can then be used for certain other purposes (such as feeding plants), although it cannot be reused for the same purpose (no sending it through the shower again). But in your context of a combined greywater/blackwater sewerage system, you are correct.
Very dependent on where you live. The City of Toronto is currently separating stormwater and sanitary (i. e. combined greywater/blackwater) sewer sustems, because incoming stormwater surges overflow the sanitary system and lead to poop in the lake, which is the source of our drinking water. Even so, they’ve built massive underground holding tanks to hold the sewage surges.
I would assume that routing stormwater into the sewer system is NOT allowed, unless I confirm otherwise.
Maybe it’s an old grease trap?
Generally, all the drain pipes in the house will join together into one big drain pipe that runs under your yard and connects to the city sewer system.
If this pipe is partially clogged, then whenever too much water is draining from your house too fast, it will backup in the pipe, and into the house, and will appear at the lowest point. That is typically a floor drain in the basement. It can happen from any drain in the house, because they all connect together at the big drain to the city sewer.
The most common cause of such blocked pipes is roots from the trees in your yard, which will grow into that drain pipe as they are seeking out water, and will partially block the pipe. It gets worse over time, as the roots grow bigger, and solids in your waste water get blocked behind the roots and build up a dam.
The usual solution is to have Roto-Rooter or similar plumbing services come in and clean out your sewer drain pipe. They take a motor-driven plumbing snake, with root-cutting knives at the end, and send it thru your drain pipe to cut off the roots and clear out the pipe. If there are a lot of trees in the vicinity, plan on having to have them back again every few years.
Yep, that’s my situation right there. I have a HUGE redwood right in front of the house with HUGE roots that have probably invaded all my neighbors yards. We’re unable to use a simple snake, plumber comes out at least once a year with the big 'ol mechanized snake and climbs up on our roof to hit the cleanout.
I’ve tried numerous chemicals and additives to stem (get it, stem) the growth of the roots, but nothing works. Any suggestions?
Is hiring professional Roto-Rooter more effective than renting a big power rodder from Home Depot? It seems that there cannot be much skill to the work, although nasty as it can get.
Answer to my own question. Some info here
http://www.gangbusters.net/index2.html
Expansion cutters, enzyme treatments, power jet flushing. This isn’t going to be cheap.
I’m thinking that it may be time for desperate measures: laying a new pipe away from the tree.
Well, you could cut the tree down.
Dutch Elm disease killed a 100+ year-old- elm tree in front of my house, so I no longer have to hire roto-rooter every few years to clean out my sewer drain. But I’d much, much rather have the tree back, even with that expense every few years!
The value that the tree adds to your house, both in livability, and eventual resale value, is well worth the expense of occasional drain cleaning. For the same reason, I’d avoid the various chemicals that try to poison the tree roots. Just accept this as an inevitable part of having trees in your yard.