Basement sump plumbing question

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I am having a house built with a 300 gallon tank on the first floor and a basement sump room. The tank will be plumbed for a bean animal overflow. The basement sump room will be about 50 feet away from the tank requiring pipe to be run horizontally. The basement will be finished.

I will be running 4 1.5 inch pipes through finished ceiling and am nervous about clogs/doing maintenance. I have suggested a drop ceiling so that I can get to the pipe. My builder is suggesting access panels where bends will be in the pipe with clean outs on the pipe.

Has anyone ever used clean outs on their piping.

Am I blowing up my concern. I’ve never had a pipe clog but don’t want to begin over a finished basement.
 
I'm a contractor, of course if I was your contractor building your home I'd recommend access panels. More cost involved, more money for me as contractor. That's one reason commercial properties go with drop ceilings, co$t. Easy access to piping, hvac, etc....

Unfortunately your contractor already included drywall in bid.
 
1.5 PVC or ABS drain with swept corners? The latter can be easily snaked and rarely fail on kitchen sinks (with all that goes down them) so I wouldn't think a reef tank isn't going to send anything down the drain that is going to stick like grease and make a clog?

Access panels are easy to add and I don't think they look as bad as a drop ceiling, imo. Probably don't need them, but if they help you stay calm now and later, add them.
 
Forget cleanouts. They probably cause eddys that will disrupt the flow.

I have 1x1.5 and 3x1” going through my floor and across 22 feet. I put unions immediately after they go through the floor (basebent side) then right before they go through fishroom ceiling. I can remove the whole section if I wanted to, but don’t really see when I’d want to do that

81252e5db8122480e355c10bddc5d6ac.jpg


No pics of the unions unfortunately
 
Forget cleanouts. They probably cause eddys that will disrupt the flow.

I have 1x1.5 and 3x1” going through my floor and across 22 feet. I put unions immediately after they go through the floor (basebent side) then right before they go through fishroom ceiling. I can remove the whole section if I wanted to, but don’t really see when I’d want to do that

81252e5db8122480e355c10bddc5d6ac.jpg


No pics of the unions unfortunately
Did you finish your ceiling over this? I'm planning on finishing the ceiling.

Thank you for all the comments. That is a good point about the clean outs causing flow restrictions...I was worried about a possibility of them leaking as they are just one more point of possible failure.
 
I haven’t finished it yet, still WIP, but I don’t think we will. Likely paint everything black and keep the industrial look.
 
Forget cleanouts. They probably cause eddys that will disrupt the flow.

I have 1x1.5 and 3x1” going through my floor and across 22 feet. I put unions immediately after they go through the floor (basebent side) then right before they go through fishroom ceiling. I can remove the whole section if I wanted to, but don’t really see when I’d want to do that

81252e5db8122480e355c10bddc5d6ac.jpg


No pics of the unions unfortunately
Does the horizontal run present any issues starting a siphon?
 
Does the horizontal run present any issues starting a siphon?

Nope.

BA works great. I’m still dialing it in (plumbing in the box needs work, but I got sick) but it gets siphon in about 35 seconds.

I did use flex pvc for all turns and there is decent grade on the pipe- I think it was 4” per 8’. 0.5” per foot. Residential minimum fir your waste stack for example is 0.25” per foot.

Keep the slope above 0.25”/ foot and I think it’ll keep up.
 
Last edited:
Thank you! I appreciate it
Nope.

BA works great. I’m still dialing it in (plumbing in the box needs work, but I got sick) but it gets siphon in about 35 seconds.

I did use flex pvc for all turns and there is decent grade on the pipe- I think it was 4” per 8’. 0.5” per foot. Residential minimum fir your waste stack for example is 0.25” per foot.

Keep the slope above 0.25”/ foot and I think it’ll keep up.
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

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