pumping wash water

[Terry Hayden]

good day all,

Here's the situation -

I am building a darkroom that has access to water coming in, but not
going out.

It is going to be in the middle of my garage - not sharing any walls with the outside. On top of that, there are no drains in the garage.

So, my thought is to put a sizeable holding tank under the sink. In the tank
will be a sump pump that will pump the water up and out, via a hose or pipes, to a point where I can connect with the house drain system.

The least invasive/destructive route would involve pumping up to the garage attic and across to an adjoining room, then down to a drain for our clothes washer.

Anyon out there have a rube goldbergian setup like this?

Thanks,
Terry

 

[glbeas]

Home Depot sells pump setups like that for the laundry room, etc. Has tank and pump with float switch. I use one myself for my darkroom. Only problem I ever had with it was when the hose clamps rusted out and the tank overflowed instead of pumping out. It pumps up to the 11 foot ceiling with no problem.

 

[dr bob]

Sounds sound. There is a design feature you might need to include. That is a "vacuum breaker" which is a modified check valve to a vent. This will allow fluid from the overhead pipe to return both to the drain and some to the sump - no problem. This prevents possible syphoning of water in your drain uncontrolled into the garage in case of a power failure - not recommended. You might be tempted to just include a forward check valve in series. I recommend against this as due to Murphy et al., it will fail when least desirable.

 

[Deckled Edge]

Home Depot sells pump setups like that for the laundry room, etc. Has tank and pump with float switch. I use one myself for my darkroom. Only problem I ever had with it was when the hose clamps rusted out and the tank overflowed instead of pumping out. It pumps up to the 11 foot ceiling with no problem.

I agree. I have the same set up, a 10 gal tank with a float switch. It runs on 110 V, draws very little current, pumps for 8-10 sec. every 10 gal. and makes fluids run uphill. All that you need are at the Home Depot: pump, sink drain, PVC pipe and glue. I did it myself. No leaks!

 

[Terry Hayden]

pumping

Thanks gang, I'm off to Home Depot.

Later,
Terry

 

[Loose Gravel]

When I was a kid, I had a similar situation. I used a 5 gallon bucket and then later I adapted my sink down to a hose fitting and ran the hose out on the lawn whenever I printed. The grass grew green.