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Pumping....it up hill


Construction Channel

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I need advice on what to buy to pump sewerage up hill.

We installed a new bio disc/ clargester at the parents house a few years ago which we made big enough to take my new house as well, so installing my own sewage treatment plant seems a bit of a waste. 

Problem is the inlet to their plant is above my drains by about a meter or so. So I need to pump my sewage up hill. The last thing I want is to have restrictions on what I can put down my toilet (lady products) like a saniflow. Nor do I want to have to replace the pump anytime soon as that will be a foul job. 

 

I have heard stories of pumps that can shoot a full sized nappy out of a 2” pipe which is the kind of thing I’m looking for but how would I go about searching for that?

 

had anyone already got or installed such a system?

 

i have briefly searched eBay and this seems promising but it all seems a bit cheap and non descriptive to be any good. 

 

Any help appreciated.

Tia 

Ed

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112675960892 

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8 minutes ago, Construction Channel said:

Any reccomendation on litreage? 

 

Depends on the usage, but my inclination would be to try and over-size the tank, or keep a spare pump that can be swapped over quickly.  The tank size really depends on how long you want the system to collect waste in the event of a pump failure.  Two people probably generate around 300 to 400 litres per day of waste water, I think, so if you think you'd be able to swap the pump over within 24 hours if one failed, then you could probably get away with a tank of around this capacity.

 

The other advantage of a larger tank is that the pump wouldn't turn on and off as frequently, as they operate with a float switch.  a larger tank will take longer to fill to the point where the float switch turns the pump on, so in theory the pump should last longer, as it's probably stops and starts that cause the most wear.

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I fitted one with a 3" pump to avoid issues with solids.  The tanks are fairly cheap so bigger is better, but make sure you backfill with concrete.

 

Our neighbours have a dual pump system and they often have breakdowns, whereas a single pump is far simpler, but also bad news if it fails.  If in the event of a failure you could pump to a nearby drain with the replacement pump you would save a load in call out charges.

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Regardless of the pump set up / capability I would try and avoid putting anything down the toilet that is not human waste or toilet paper. Sanitary products, baby wipes, contraceptives etc do not break down and will not do your treatment plant any good at all. 

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3 minutes ago, Stones said:

Regardless of the pump set up / capability I would try and avoid putting anything down the toilet that is not human waste or toilet paper. Sanitary products, baby wipes, contraceptives etc do not break down and will not do your treatment plant any good at all. 

 

Tbh it wouldn’t be me that’s putting any of those things down there. But what I want to avoid is having to replace or unclog the pump because someone has accidentally. A friend had a saniflow years ago and constantly had problems, 

I want to visit that tank and pump as few times as possible so a “deal with anything pump” is what I’m looking for. Weather or not it has to deal with anything other than the standard depends how good faye is at following the rules. 

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52 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

 

Depends on the usage, but my inclination would be to try and over-size the tank, or keep a spare pump that can be swapped over quickly.  The tank size really depends on how long you want the system to collect waste in the event of a pump failure.  Two people probably generate around 300 to 400 litres per day of waste water, I think, so if you think you'd be able to swap the pump over within 24 hours if one failed, then you could probably get away with a tank of around this capacity.

 

The other advantage of a larger tank is that the pump wouldn't turn on and off as frequently, as they operate with a float switch.  a larger tank will take longer to fill to the point where the float switch turns the pump on, so in theory the pump should last longer, as it's probably stops and starts that cause the most wear.

 

41 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

I fitted one with a 3" pump to avoid issues with solids.  The tanks are fairly cheap so bigger is better, but make sure you backfill with concrete.

 

Our neighbours have a dual pump system and they often have breakdowns, whereas a single pump is far simpler, but also bad news if it fails.  If in the event of a failure you could pump to a nearby drain with the replacement pump you would save a load in call out charges.

 

Thanks for the advice, and more importantly numbers. I’ll do some more searching and see what the most cost effective solution is. 

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FWIW, I once lifted the lid and pulled the pump up on our system in Scotland, just out of curiosity, so I could see what was in there and how easy it would be to fix if it went wrong.  The pump was hanging on a chain, with a length of flexible hose that was around 2" in diameter connecting it to the outlet via a bayonet connector with two levers to disconnect it.  It looked easy enough to change, just a matter of turning the power off, disconnecting and lifting the pump out, opening the watertight cable connector and disconnecting the cable, then doing the reverse to drop a new pump in. 

 

We never had any problems with blockages at all, although we did take care to treat it just like a septic tank, and not put anything down the drains that wouldn't break up or dissolve.

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I looked at these for a project and BCO wanted 250l per person space - so for a 2 bed he wanted 750 litres, 3 bed 1000 litres etc. 

 

If you want some good advice, try these guys who I have used before and are very good and will give you advice on what to buy. 

 

MPC Services

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